So we came 1st in our class, which was Cruising Class A and we came 11th overall out of a total field of 50+ boats.  See the full divisional results below:

Ioannideia_RESULTS_Offshore_Divisions_2017

and the overall result is here Ioannideia_RESULTS_Offshore_Overall_2017.

For me this is as good as it gets.  Before we started I said to the team that I would be happy with an overall finish in the top third.  In fact we ended up in the top 20% and finishing first in class was just an unexpected but brilliant bonus.

First of all congratulations to the team.  We had a few new faces this year as, sadly, Paul and Hanna could not join us.  Looking from the left, standing – Kay Melville (new), Alistair Cameron, Jon Over, Mike Melville (new), Nick Geary (new), Henry Castledine and his fiancé Phoebe Griffin-Beale (new).  Kneeling are my daughter Ruth and yours truly.  The furry interloper at the bottom right is Cat.  We don’t know him by any other name, but he is now our official mascot!

Unfortunately, Ann Cameron – a stalwart of last year’s race – was left on the physio’s table with a bad back.  She did however enrol as one of the back-room crew (no pun intended) together with my wife Joan and her sister Isabel Over, without whom nothing would have been achieved.  For reasons not entirely clear to me we do not have a photo at the moment of the girls in the back room.  I’ll put that right later.  Sailing in an average of 35°C, working hard on deck for up to three hours at a time takes a heavy toll, and I cannot tell you how grateful we were for the rolls, water, coke, fruit, crisps, Harobos, whatever supplied on a daily basis by the backroom.  And of course when we got home in the evening dinner was served.  Champion!

So my personal thanks to all of my team mates and everyone involved who made this Regatta a very special time.  We worked hard and had great fun and hardly anybody complained!  My special gratitude once again to Henry, whose exceptional seamanship, extraordinary leadership and all round racing brilliance delivered one of the best weeks of my sailing life.

Finally, a word for the beautiful Lothian Sky.  Once again she did all she was asked, and once again surprised me with her versatility and style.  I am now “cock of the walk” in the marina …… well at least for the next week!

In later posts I will touch on some of the lighter moments of our regatta week and some of the preparations, inspired moments and ‘I wish we could have that one over again’ moments!