With limited resources and with the local clubs unwilling to get involved, we happily dispensed with most of the normal pointless complications. No Sailing Instructions, with the course given at the briefing. Minimal mark laying, with courses set so they could be finished at the start line on every lap. On Sunday with the shifty winds we just set a single windward mark and hooked back up through the start/finish line each lap. This may be shocking to the purists, but the course could be relaid easily by one person in a RIB before the last boat finished, so we reliably managed repeated 25-minute races with zero waiting around.
In the evening we gathered at Lymington Town Sailing Club, where there seemed to be a great backlog of beer to be drunk, friends to catch up with and rubbish to be talked at a safe distance. It was fabulous weekend, and we are very grateful to those who summoned the nerve to travel, and to our very few volunteers who did an excellent job. For those who care, Nick Craig won, but not all the races, so even he must be a bit rusty.
We look forward to doing more of this, and recommend the approach to other classes who wish to sail with friends within the rules. Welcome back to D-One sailors and D-One sailing.
