My friend James and his brother Richard got me hooked on sailing. They had a Contessa 26 sail boat at the time and invited me to sail with them out of Southampton. What fun that was. The Contessa is a super sea worthy boat and can sail across the Atlantic or around the world in fact.

Contessa 26 below

I hated being a free-loader as it were, they wouldn't let me give them anything for days of fun. We decided to buy a slightly bigger in a three way split. We got a Sigma 33, more of a racing sail boat. We entered the round the isle of Wight race most years after that. Cowes week a few times too.

A pair of Sigma 33's in action below