The Transmanche goes on growing!

French crews relax on the terrace before their trip home.Cheryl's wonderful cake celebrates the occasion!The Cherbourg Fleet start the race home

A new record - 120 French sailors joined us for lunch at the club on Sunday after their race from Cherbourg on Saturday and our own race on Sunday morning, so there'll be plenty to chat about! Crews from St Malo, Granville, Le Havre and Cherbourg make this the biggest Transmanche yet, as more and more French sailors see Weymouth as the place to come to.

With a JPK960 and a couple of SunFast 3200s at the sharp end, as well as YCC's very competitive Sigma 33 Carabot, there are some interesting comparisons to make - they also got the chance to view the WSC fleet going out and coming back in on Sunday morning, and there were even three French sailors who wanted to join in our race as well - Alain, Olivier and Sophie, who crewed on Saskia and Jura in a closely fought match race within the race which everyone really enjoyed.

The steep learning curve included terms like 'big bear!' at the windward mark, and 'dump!' in the gusts, neither of which is obvious, even to a fluent English speaker. A first for Weymouth to have French crew aboard, and hopefully the beginning of greater participation between the clubs on the water.

A big thank-you to Penny and her helpers for providing a sumptuous meal, and to Cheryl for another of her legendary cakes!

The race back on Sunday night meant that crews left to get their heads down in the afternoon before a long spinnaker leg home in the moonlight, and so the cake has travelled on the committee boat to be enjoyed at the prizegiving in Cherbourg on Monday.

Steve Fraser

Submitted on 14th May 2016