Gale 8 forecast for the Friday start so postponed till Saturday morning which gave us a chance for a Cowes curry and too much to drink.  First over the start line, beat up the Solent and out around Bridge.  On starboard tack and that was about it for the rest of the race.  Course took us around the Casquets and were pretty spot on the rhumb line although little concerning as we headed off to the Little Russell and the depth  suddenly went down to 6m but just a small rock and not one of the nasty ones.  Normal spot the light competition coming into the finish off the Castle for a 18 hour wet and windy race.  Set off back at 15:00 on Sunday for 14 hour crossing with a force 6 up our chuff.