|
The
first ever Blue Sheets Poker Run was a great success with fantastic
weather and a good turnout for the weekend.
The
idea behind the weekend was to bring boats from different racing
disciplines together for a weekend of mucking around on the water,
away from the serious championships.
The
boats attending ranged across the board from Zapcats and Thundercats
to X-Cats and Ceasers.
 A
few of the crews turned up on Friday night and built up their energy
with a barbeque before plumbing into the beer. Everyone agreed an
early night would be a good idea so decided to party until nearly
4am before dropping into whatever pit they had brought with them.
Saturday
morning got off to an understandably slow start. More teams arrived
in time for breakfast before heading down to Kimmeridge Bay. We
had nine teams in total with two safety/point boats, eleven boats
in all.
The
teams got underway after an hour of pumping up tubes, fiddling with
engines and general faffing around, and left the bay in a plume
of rooster tails towards the first point.
Many
teams then totally missed the entrance to Lulworth Cove and ended
up in Weymouth (a later point) before having to turn around and
retrace their steps.
 The
sight of 10 cats and a RIB pulling up on the beach in Lulworth attracted
a crowd of onlookers which I'm sure the teams enjoyed.
Being
a healthy bunch, most headed for the nearest pub for a quick sandwich
and a pint (only one for the pilots) before getting back to the
boats.
After
collecting more cards at Weymouth, the run back to Kimmeridge was
glassy smooth and the teams could really open up the throttle and
enjoy the ride.
 Once
back at the campsite the barbeque got underway and teams relaxed
around the campfire with a drink or two.
The
poker hands were totted up and the winning team, Si and Lucy received
£90, second place was Mike and Candice who received £40
and third was Chris and Dina who got £20. Richard Fabbri got
the Joker and received a bag of boat goodies.
The
farm was laying on a barn party and our whole group arrived, en
masse, to see the live bands show the locals how to party properly!
Most
teams crashed out by 3am but a notable exception was Paul who'd
decided to come by Zapcat from Southampton as the traffic looked
bad on the A31!
After
ditching the boat on the slipway and joining the party, he ended
up in a teepee at 5am and we found him asleep under the table in
our marquee in the morning.
We
left the recovering teams after breakfast but many went out to play
in the St Albans Head tidal race, with two crews taking the boats
back to Southampton by sea.
 All
in all, a fantastic weekend and we'll definitely be organising a
follow up event in the near future.
Many
thanks to everyone that attended and made the weekend what it was.
Without you, we would've simply been two numpties sitting in a field.
Special
thanks go to Fiona Pascoe and all at Thundercat for putting together
the Run itself, and for such a good turnout.
All
the best
James & Ali
|
