Allez Lizzy....ALLEZ!

It's really started!

I'm so pleased to have been able to spend the past two weeks sailing the Mini solo, training with the group here at Lorient Grand Large. We are a group of 5-7 series boats, from France, Switzerland and England; I'm the only English person and the only girl in the Mini group.

A typical day starts with a briefing at 09.30 on the pontoon, and from then on its go go go... usually Tanguy has us getting into the first exercise while sailing out the river, so you have to be quick getting your sails up, fenders in and mooring lines off. On top of that there is the traffic to look out for (quick ferries and fishing boats) and a large number of rocks to avoid, as well as your fellow Mini sailors!

Up the rig again- fixing the NKE anemo

Training usually follows the same pattern of speed testing, sail changes, a short tacking exercise and then VMG sailing. There is no time to eat and barely time to get a sip of water, so the training really is pretty intense. The end of the session is wrapped up with a race back to the harbour, where I get to park next to Banque Populaire - with three very racy hulls to potentially hit this manoeuvre has to be pretty slick!

Once parked, we have 10 minutes to pack up the boats ahead of the debrief, which sometimes lasts as long as 1 1/2 hrs. Most of the session is held in French, which took a few days to get used to; but luckily the main points of the debrief get translated. 

I think the highlight over the past two weeks has been seeing a definite improvement in my sailing; I can be quite quick upwind (in light airs at least), have just about got the hang of gybing (it is definitely easier in 5 knots than in 25!) and have somehow managed to tune my rig properly. The number of elementary mistakes I make is also gradually reducing, but I've still got loads to learn to get the sail cross-over right and to trim the autopilot properly. Unfortunately a lot of things keep breaking on the boat, so I've just got to keep it all together for another week before I put the boat into the yard for a small refit ahead of the race season.

Tanguy (5th series in 2013 Mini Transat) measuring the mast rake

The scariest moment of this week was probably when I was heading towards a large crop of rocks, with the big kite up in 25 knots and the halyard twisted around the forestay. One particular French word came to mind at the time, and the coach was soon shouting ''luff Lizzy, Lizzy....LUFF!!!''. 
There are a few more dangers here than in the Solent!

Around all of the sailing I still have a lot of 'admin' work to do - there are always phone calls to make, emails to write and things to plan and organise until bed time every day. I'm still getting items repaired - this week I tore my solent along the foot, ripped the bolt rope in the mainsail, broke my NKE anemo and busted the cleat for the pole downhaul! When will it end?!

Being towed out for the day

Luckily on the 10th March my title sponsorship with Hudson Wight Performance Sailwear was announced, which is a big help towards my campaign costs. This week has been a particularly busy one as I have been getting quotes for branding the boat and sails - which takes quite a bit of organisation with two races coming up and a delivery to the UK! To have the support of Hudson Wight is really fantastic, as it had started to be make or break for the campaign without any additional funding beyond my life savings. I'm really grateful for their support and to be an ambassador for the Hudson Wight clothing range; I've worn my set of HW1s everyday on the Mini and I haven't been let down.

Next week I have another three days training with Lorient Grand Large and an offshore race on Wednesday night (this week's was cancelled due to thick fog and a lack of wind) before getting the boat out of the water to go to the yard. I've got some reading to do to remember all of the main points from the past two weeks' training, and can't wait to get out on the water again!