Laser me, Baby ... ouch!

I went sailing in a Laser this week and I still haven’t recovered. It was one of those snap decisions; the keelboat we usually take out on Tuesday afternoon was stuck at the far end of the lagoon. Evidently the family who had rented it had ripped the jib and found it impossible to beat back with just the main. Kathy, my sailing partner, said: “How about you join us tomorrow on a Laser instead?” and without thinking, I agreed. I last sailed a Laser 25 years ago when under the influence of strong drink. A friend and I ‘borrowed’ one from a beach in Antigua and took off on a New Year’s Eve cruise around Falmouth Harbour. Lasers, drunks and Christmas trade winds are a wonderful combination and we spent half the time trying to climb back into the boat. Great fun until I realized my once full pockets were now empty and my wallet stuffed with cash, cards and various forms of ID was now being dragged across the sea bed by a crab. Anyway, I’m now sailing a laser and if my cuts, bruises, and sore backside have healed by Wednesday, I’ll be out there again. The reason I’m telling you all this is that when it comes to sailing it’s never too late to change direction and although I’ve been hobbling around like a cripple for a few days, when the wind filled the sail and I took of down wind, I felt like I was sixteen again :)