The forecast for the weekend could not have been better, and turned out pretty accurate as well.

Through a combination of careful work planning, ducking and running when no body was looking, and playing hooky, the four members of LB's crew gatered in Warsash by about 4pm on Friday afternoon.  The sky was clear, the sun shining and a gentle south westerly blowing.  Setting the boat up was interrupted by a brief, and unsuccessful attempt to get the new halyard jammer fitted, before we spun the boat round and gently sailed off the pontoon.  It soon became clear that this crew were not going to be keen on using the outboard if they could possibly avoid it.

We then had a perfect evening sail across to Cowes, on the wind in a force 3.  Approaching Cowes we coasted in past the Trinity pontoon - losing wind and pumping the tiller hard to make it onto the ISC buoy.  Lutine motored past whilst we were tidying up, and it was good to see the LLYC team gathering.  A pleasant evening in the ISC followed, before retiring ready for an early start on the Saturday.

We had a bit of a sticky start on Saturday morning, but fortunately the club launch pulled us off the mud that we had found within 3 foot of the buoy that we had been moored on!  It was a brief sail to the start area, assess the simple course that had been set - Nab Tower to port.

The Finn Trophy is an annual competition between the Stock Exchange and Baltic Exchange Sailing Associations, and Lloyd's Yacht Club, orginally devised in the 1930's to encourage camaradery and competition between the key London Markets.  It is held within the auspices of the ISC Nab Tower Race, with the results based on the fastest 2 yachts from each club within IRC, and fastest yacht within ISC.  LLYC have held the trophy for the last two years.

We had a good start, trying to stay north in the tide, but slowed by a number of larger yachts rolling across the top of us.  However, as the fleet reached Osborne Bay, the wind ran out, and we all sat trying to ghost along for the best part of an hour, whilst the tide carried us down towards Ryde.  A lovely easterly breeze then filled in, from the east and the north, givng th leaders a chance to build a strong lead, as the rest sat becalmed.  The breeze held though, so we were all hard on the wind out to the Nab.

It felt like the Nab Tower was a long way offshore for a small boat such as the 707, but that feeling was largely dispelled by seeing a couple of International Moths, up on their foils, also using the tower as a turning point.

The spinnaker hoist proved that some of our skills were a little rusty, so it was fortunate that we only had to do it once!  We had a good run back, enjoying the sunshine and battling with a number of others in the fleet.  We crossed the finish line after a long but very enjoyable race, in near perfect conditions - something rarely seen this season. 

The tide and a busy afternoon in Cowes gave an entertaining approach to the ISC buoy, but we were soon safely tied up, and repaired to the bar. 

The overall results showed that we had achieved 4th in our class of 16.  The Finn Trophy results were announced at the dinner held at the RYS in the evening.  Unfortunately the LLYC has relinquished the Trophy, losing by 4 minutes to the Baltic, but 3 minutes ahead of the Stock Exchange - talk soon turned to tactics for winning it back next year!