Since Dan was the only one in the group who actually knew how to sail, starting out with a small amount of wind actually turned out to be a pretty good idea.  We booked in for 11am on Saturday morning, although we had to wait a little longer to start due to a sailing race which was happening on the same day.  After arriving at 10:30am, watching the professionals rig up their boats, playing a little Frisbee and enjoying the sun of what turned out to the be hottest day of the year so far, we we eventually wheeled out boat…

Once we (well, Dan) had got the sail set up, Mark and I boarded the boat for the first sail with ‘Captain Dan’.  Mark and I had literally ZERO experience sailing, so had to be taught which ropes to hold, when to pull and when to let go.  Dan got a little frustrated with us – although mainly when we were not taking it seriously and arguing over who was a better sailor.  Eventually we go the hang of it, and managed to have a lot of fun whilst also taking our job of ‘owning the front’ sail seriously…

Lessons learnt from captain Dan…

• A flappy sail is an unhappy sail
• ‘Li ho’ – actually, all I learnt was the phrase, no idea what it means
• Starboard=right, Port=left (although I did not learnt why they don’t just say right and left
• When the captain shouts “Ready about”, everyone is supposed to shout “Ready” to let him know they are ready to duck the mast as the boat turns

In addition, I learned that the wind can actually pull that boat, rather than push it!  I really had no idea about this before Dan explained how it worked.  The sail acts in a very similar fashion to a wing (or I suppose more accurately, a wing works in a similar fashion to a sail, since a sail has been around much longer).  So the boat actually sails IN to the wind when it’s curved surface produces a different in wind speeds on each side and results in a pulling effect.  Fascinating! Looking forward to getting some more experience sailing.

Despite not having much wind, we did manage to pick up speed on several occasions.  It was quite exciting each time we had to lean off the edge of the boat in an attempt to balance it each time we picked up speed.  Whilst I have not yet experienced sailing in strong winds, I can see that it requires team work, quick reactions and provides a great adrenaline rush.  Really looking forward to sailing properly in the sea

There were too many of us to all go on the boat at once, so we also had a picnic, Frisbees (which I somehow lost ) and kayaks…

Mark and I went for a circuit of the lake and thanks to the light winds actually managed to beat the boat around.  It was only when we go back to land that we realised we had been using the kids paddles!  Still lots of fun though   Whilst not quite the same, it reminded me of when Ali and I did sea kayaking in Thailand.  Definitely going to do more kayaking this year – maybe down the river in Reading next time.

The rest of the time at the lake was spent enjoying the sun, messing around and getting some awesome shots of (my now lost) Frisbees…

Tonight was a sausage fest at Windsor race course!  Yes that’s right, it was the ‘Best of British Sausage Festival’ horse racing night. 

Despite living just down the road, I have never been Windsor race course before tonight, so wasn’t sure what to expect.  We got Club Enclosure tickets, which got us entry to a nice section of the course with champagne/Pimms bars, plenty of space to watch the finish line close up and of course – the sausage festival…

10 or so English sausage producers proudly cooked their speciality sausages and handed out free samples to the visiting crowds.  All guests were supposed to vote for their favourite sausage, and the winning company supposedly was rewarded with an annual contract to sell their sausages at Windsor race events.  My personal favourites were from ‘Lewis of Sunningdale’, who cooked some lovely soft pork sausages which exploded and melted in my mouth with every bite…mmm…it’s nearly 11pm but I could still some now if I had any.  I think I will have to pay their farm shop a visit some soon!  

I also tried the Mexican food, which was OK, although I was slightly disappointed with the American style liquid cheese rather than good old grated Monterey Jack!

We were told that Lewis won the competition – no doubt partly down the very entertaining pair running the stall, who kept asking if there were any vegetarians and then offered anyone who put their hand up a bread roll

The Racing…

The event lasted for two and a half hours, featuring about 15 or so different horses over 6 races, with 30 minutes gaps in between to place bets, eat and drink champagne…

None of us had any idea what we were doing, so most of our selections were based on either how ‘pretty’ the jockey’s jersey looked, random numbers which popped in to our head or those horses with the most amusing names.  Keith and I did try to pick those with average odds, but quickly learned that it’s VERY difficult to successfully bet tactically.  We missed the first race because we arrived to late, and I mistakenly bet on the wrong race for my first bet, so I also technically missed the second race.  By the fifth race, none of us had one a single penny, but we decided to give it one last try for the sixth and final race…

I placed 3 bets, which totalled up to £7 (we had some vouchers to get free and discounted bets).  For one of my voucher discounted bets I was asked to choose three horses, so I selected three with varied odds – not actually having a clue what the bet meant and what I needed to win! 

The race finished, and 2 of the 3 I had selected came within the top three.  Zoe and I had similar, but slightly different bets, but neither of us thought we had actually won anything.  We went to check anyway, and I was VERY surprised to hear that I had won ‘52’, but then even MORE surprised to hear that it was 52 pounds, rather than 52 pence as I had initially thought!

It’s nice to actually get back from a night out in profit

It is the warmest day of the year in the UK so far (28 degrees or so), so it was a great evening to be outside, drinking champagne and watching the sun go down to the sound of horses galloping and people cheering.  Windsor is a lovely place, and the racecourse is a great place to spend any evening in the sun.

For the first time in months, last night I went along to Mango in Reading (Berkshire) last night for the re-launch of Lunar.  The night promised to to provide some ‘exciting new developments’ for the main room and the garden.  I have lost track of the number of club nights which have promised to provide something ‘different’, ‘new’, ‘fresh’, ‘surprising’, etc…, however Lunar really did deliver on it’s promise by providing the audience with a huge surprise half way in to the evening!

In a club known for a stomach rumbling sound system, stunning lighting displays and a packed dance floor full of dance music fans shouting ‘TUNE!’, the last thing everyone expected was a Spanish (as a tribute to Ibiza) dancer to inject a little bit of culture in to a House/Techno night, but that’s exactly what Carrie and Sam arranged for their Lunar Cosmonauts. . .

Click the image below if you would like to see the flyer the night. . .