IAN BLACK
“That was probably the coldest I’ve sailed in for years, it was Baltic! More than one run and your hands were screaming. And then when the hail and snow showers hit, man it was brutal! When we first went in, the wind wasn’t too bad, 4.7 was good for me, but unluckily, just as the tide hit primo, it nuked! It just went extreme. By then my whole body had started to shut down and everything got a bit slow, nobody had it in them to change down. I think we called it a day at the right time and it was good we all made it home in one piece. Marky Meardon is the master of the pushy and lay down bottom turn! He literally does nothing by halves. This pushy was classic Meardon. Bear in mind, it was right on high tide and it was freezing, gusty, choppy, backwashy hell, when he boosted this bad boy. I saw him catch a gust and instead of taking it easy, he just went at it in his usual 110% way and launched. I love it! Sometimes I just wonder if he is just oblivious to the consequences! He’s a good guy to sail with ‘cos you have to step up! On the way back up I thought I was never going to make it! Fortunately JC didn’t see the bit where I slipped over and ended up starfish on my back in the mud!”