Channel Pogo Meeting 2023

Barneville-Carteret, june 17th

The participants are delighted with their meeting. However, the weather conditions were not great. But at the Yacht Club, people from Carteret are welcoming and the company is pleasant. So we spend a good evening discussing pogo.
The next day, the race scheduled for the morning was postponed to the afternoon, due to lack of wind. Instead we sail partly under motor, partly under sail to reach Les Ecrehou, an adorable group of islets (some would say a pile of scattered stones) which has only the defect of being subject to the British crown.
A good swim (optional because the water is 14°C!), a lunch with all boats together, and we are ready to fight.
The wind allows it and Philippe gives the start at the Ecrevière buoy. Departure downwind. Shah thinks he is doing well by moving away to windward to calmly hoist his spinnaker and arrive on the line at full speed. It’s successful … except that he crosses the line after all the others. Little by little, Shah is closing the gaps and catching up with his competitors one by one, playing intelligently with the water. IziPizi and Loulou still have a significant lead. That’s when the wind died down. We can gradually see the spinnakers deflate.
Do you have to luff to keep up speed? Should you jibe? Should we get closer to the coast to avoid the current? Or go starboard? We don’t know anymore! All our efforts seem in vain. The weathervane turns around its axis and the spinnaker dangles miserably. All the boats are grouped in the same area and it is impossible to know who will succeed in reaching the finish line. We hoisted the gennaker in place of the spinnaker and a little air ended up pushing us towards this finish, in front of Portbail. Against all expectations, we finished upwind.
IziPizi crosses the line first, followed by Cleobulle and Maricha. Zorba brings up the rear. But the time differences are small. In corrected time, there are only three minutes between the first four. It is the little 6.50 Zorba who wins the game ahead of Loulou then Maricha. Something to discuss in the evening.
And it is with a banquet of grilled meats that this pleasant and friendly meeting ends.
we leave the conclusion to Thierry (Zorba), proud of his mini:
I will remember this image which symbolically corresponds to the genius of the Structure shipyard: It was the first model that made the shipyard known and established its reputation that won. Like what the know-how of Structure was there from the beginning! To be renewed therefore, with different conditions which will show that the know-how is still there in the latest boats.

We would like to thank the generous donors who endowed the participants with numerous prizes:

  • Structures
  • Nautix
  • villa Tri men in Sainte Marine
  • Volvo Penta
  • Navicom
  • All Purpose
  • 3M
  • Axxon