UPWIND? OK let’s see; flat crystal clear water, perfect trades and complementary gear provided and rigged by Eli!. Yep we were doing this VIP, far away from the poor lads back at home at Yaverland on the Isle of Wight which would most likely be zero degrees, brown and blown out. Nicely powered, Dave duly worked his way into the straps and headed out towards Prickly Pear Island a few km offshore. Looking upwind I noticed a huge rain squall looming, which could potentially kill the wind but I am sure Dave was oblivious to what was coming from elsewhere while he was having a blast on the beautiful turquoise water. ‘Blimey’ I exclaimed to Eli, ‘I think Dave just made his first gybe and he is headed back towards us’. Was this to be a new chapter in Dave’s eulogy of downwind tales? ‘Upwind Dave’, surely not! I was so sure Dave would end up at least half way down the bay, I had walked along the beach to grab a shot of him on the inside, but sailing with determination like I have never witnessed before, Dave was pointing straight back towards the launch area like a man possessed. I knew already I was never going to hear the end of this; despite a total lack of style and technique Dave had outdone Eli with his first dry run and even stayed comfortably upwind. To make matters worse Dave unhooked and wobbled his way through the inside turn and strutted straight back out ostentatiously like a peacock with its tail spread apart like a fan. For the next twenty minutes I had to endure two more runs as Dave proved this first act of glory was not a one off. Finally I felt the first spits of liquid sunshine from the impending rain squall and after watching Dave drop off the plane half way out to sea I knew the inevitable was about to happen. Sure enough Dave lived up to his reputation this time around with a decent splash on the outside as he crashed and burned followed by a slow crawl back into the beach towards the rocky shallow end at the other side of the bay. Despite the walk of shame back upwind, I could see that Dave was grinning like a ‘Cheshire cat’ and was more than satisfied with his first Antiguan session. Without pushing our luck, we decided to head back to our Caribbean queens, before they noticed we were missing and within half an hour we were back at the hotel delivering a tray full of Pina Coladas with our mission accomplished. ‘Yeah those tourist shops were a real rip-off, I decided to save the money and buy your mother some flowers at home darling, let me go to the bar and fetch you another cocktail. I look over to Dave as if to say, ‘I think we got away with it’, but moments later I hear the shrill of Dave’s wife voice hollering at him ‘I know what you have been up to you sneaky rat, that bloody Carter has been leading you astray again, go fetch me another Pina!’
