This Week In Sailing – IYCH Winter Challenge Pt. 2
Back in France, this time, after a quick check with Zen’it and a quick nap aboard, I hopped on the train to Hyéres to meet up with Jerome and his crew aboard Eden another member of the First 31.7 family down here. The plan was to crash on his boat and to join in the 2nd stage of the IYCH Winter Challenge, a coastal regatta with a friendly vibe. I think there were 3-4 other 31.7s participating and maybe 30 boats in total. The weather was perfect 12-18 knots, sunny and warm on the sunny side of the sails.
I hadn’t been to Hyéres before. It’s pretty cool with 1000 or so boats in the harbour. On arrival, we grabbed a drink, dinner, then off to sleep in the aft cabin on Eden. It’s cool to hang out on boats that are exactly the same but so different. I also got a few cool tips: Sail tie centipede and barber haul set up.
The race was great fun and the crew was quite patient with my lack of French language prowess. I was manning the port side wench for genoa and spinnaker. The race was a coastal out and back and presented a beautiful view of the coast and islands off Hyéres. I didn’t take many pictures but did record some GoPro video of the start. I am sensing that footage will rest unedited in the cloud somewhere. I need to get some editing help as some of the scenes are pretty cool. Especially the start.
Strava Details Below
| Elapsed Time | Moving Time | Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Elevation Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
04:01:55
hours
|
02:52:37
hours
|
41.76
km
|
14.52
km/h
|
59.60
km/h
|
36.00
meters
|