The possibility of a two handed, Corinthian, transatlantic race seems to have evaporated, probably as it would detract from the Ostar and maybe the lack of enthusiasm on the part of other potential competitors, so that’s one that will have to go on the back burner for the time being but never say never! 

We decided we would take the opportunity to do a couple of North Sea Races, the first being the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association's one, Harwich to Scheveningen in Holland (2handed) and our clubs race from Scarborough to Ijmuiden (crewed) and the Rorc Fastnet (2handed).

Our preparations for 2009 are well on schedule, along with Martin Donnelly we took Ruffian up to Whitby, where we once again lifted out and after a thorough wet and drying, and a little work on the keel, we re anti-fouled, ready for the summer racing.

Our main aim however was to remove the rudder and fit another arm, attached to the rudder stock, to facilitate our new Raymarine  inboard autopilot. The yard had agreed to leave her in the slings until 10 o’clock the following morning so we could drop the rudder, remove the existing arm, weld another arm to the existing one and refit it, before putting her into a cradle. With the arm removed we sailed back to Scarborough with Martin in his boat, Dash, arriving around mid-night, our first night sail of the year even if it was under engine due to lack of wind!

Our friend Bill Foster had agreed to weld the chunky fabrication as my welding kit would struggle to cope with the thickness, with the job done we returned to Whitby, fit the new part, replaced the rudder and whilst the lads from the yard put Ruffian in her shore cradle we paid a visit to the local café for a well deserved fry up, all before 10 o’ clock!  The rest of the week we spent cleaning, polishing and repainting until lifting back in and once again made ready for an evening departure. The 30/35 knts of wind on the beam ensured us of a fast return passage but once again re affirmed our beliefs that distance races are won and lost overnight and made us vow to get some two handed over night practice in, before our first North Sea Race.

We have since fitted and commissioned the autopilot and hope it will make a big difference to us, allowing watch time to be devoted to trimming, instead of hand steering most of the time.

The B&G instruments decided to finally retire for good and we decided that at their age they deserved a long earned rest and committed their remains to the shed and have now fitted the new ST60 + range

Unfortunately our plans were to go completely awry the week before the first EAORA race, due to serious unexpected family illness we were unable to spend so much time away from home, so had to drop the EAORA and Fastnet.