Written by Jonathon Law (J-Law to the crew).
This was the club’s first overnight race on Jeepster, the J/109 we had acquired in the second half of 2025, with the assistance of the Maurice Gates bequest. Most of the six on board had not sailed Jeepster before, so we were excited to see how she would handle the light but variable winds forecast for the St Vaast JOG. The race started at 1910 hours (for Class 2) on 1st May 2026.
The course was from the JOG start line off Cowes, then east between the forts and past Bembridge before making a long beeline for St Vaast. Winds were seldom above 12 knots, but at least the forecast switch-off on the approach to the finish did not happen – or if it did, we weren’t there to be bothered by it. Once past Bembridge, the wind was a fairly steady southwest by south and we were surprised by how well Jeepster’s asymmetric kite performed at just 45 degrees off the wind. The night was dry, the moon was full and once it was light a pod of four curious dolphins treated us to a memorable display of formation swimming around our bow for over 30 minutes.
Only as we approached St Vaast did the murk and rain descend and it was a shame that the prize-giving and pontoon party on the old harbour wall was spoiled by a very sharp shower. Despite that, there was the usual catching up with friends from other boats, oiled by the wine and beer provided by JOG – thanks as always for their excellent organisation.
We may not have won this time, but in a parallel universe there is a boat like Jeepster and a crew like us who did shoot off the start line and leave the competition in our wake. And it often felt as exhilarating as if that had actually happened, such was the mood on board. Meanwhile back in our universe, we did spend a little too long having dinner on a mooring off Cowes, so that when we cast off we had insufficient time to motor west against an unexpectedly strong tide to get the right side of the start line while avoiding the boats with an earlier start time. Doh!!
The windless return journey allowed plenty of time for more eating, including an afternoon tea of finger sandwiches and cake, and we also invented a game called mainsheet macramé – how few attempts does it take to rethread the thing to remove an annoying twist.
