18
FOLKBOAT WEEK 2018 - 53rd - Royal Solent Yacht Club
Crackerjack - Folkb
oat Week Open Overall Winner
W
ow! What a Week! We saw all
extremes of weather from sunny
days with little wind and then too much
wind, as we watched a storm filling in
over the Island shore with rain and 30
knots of wind that brought visibility down
to 15 meters! Although short lived, all of
20 minutes, it also whipped up the sea
so that boats were falling down into the
two-meter troughs caused by the wind
over tide conditions. Not good for boat,
crew, or speed! (This was a little wetter
than usual!)
However that’s only one part of the
overall Folkboat Week experience, so
don’t be put off!
A week of social activities with daily prize
giving (and perhaps a drink or two) does
allow for 'on-the-water' competitors to
become friends and that means, despite
being tired by the end, the overall
feeling is one of a great week and good
company.
There is a mixture of racing from
Windward/Leewards, Round the Cans,
and a long passage race out past the
Needles to find an elusive small buoy
called Christchurch Ledge (it really could
do with a large flag on it!).
The Windward/Leewards races always
seems to bring out an aggressive side at
the start line and, as such, the dreaded
Black Flag gets raised. This doesn’t
necessarily dampen all the starters'
enthusiasm but it does affect some of
their results!
The final Saturday night dinner and the
presentation to the overall prize winners
is always very well attended and the
proceedings, thanks to the generosity of
our sponsors Lymington Yacht Haven,
allow us to keep all costs down; even the
harbour fees are at reduced rates.
Whilst the largest part of the fleet is
the one design Nordic Folkboat, we do
have several Folkboat cruisers. They
have their own starts and handicaps and
