Rally Reports
After two years absence due Covid, the beginning of 2022 provided the opportunity for an “in-person” AGM, returning to Marchwood Yacht club. AmyLou being club member and hence having the dual role of YC club rally Officer Of the Day and MOA rally organiser. A pleasant spring weekend saw 9 Maxi’s moor up on the club pontoon, with 5 other boats crews partaking in a “wheel’s” rally. In all 27 people attend, after a couple dropped out last minute of covid.
Due to the later afternoon chill the obligatory Saturday pontoon party was convened in the club house, with MOA providing an arrival a drink for everyone. Marchwood YC bar prices are renown around the Solent and never disappoint! With much to discuss, the formalities of the AGM were timed perfectly ready to adjourn for the evening meal. Over the winter Marchwood YC had engaged new caterers and this was the first visiting club test for Mairi and her team. The initial nervousness was unfounded and Mairi provided an excellent rally menu, with good selection of dishes, for each of the 3 courses. All of which was served effectively and efficiently by her team.
After the meal on behalf the MOA Gary thanked MYC for their hospitality and warm reception. Many returned to a chilly night onboard and the “wheels” rally attendees returned home. Being the first MOA get together of the year it is always a pleasure to catch up with old friends and new, making plans and checking diaries for the rest of the year’s rallies.
Sunday morning once again saw pleasant but chilly weather with all 9 Maxi’s returning to their home ports. The AGM attendees were AmyLou-car, Asante- car, Blue Lightening, Lookin Foor Kloos, Suive, Ariam, Blue Rider- car, Lapis Lady, Amazing Grace, Aloni, Caribou-car, Cava, Leda of Hamble, Lady Penelope, Good Time Girl-car.
The weather again smiled on us for the annual MOA rally at Shepards Wharf, hosted by
Pam and Andy Verdon. Sunshine and a Force 3 – 5 in the Solent made for some excellent
sailing to and from the event. Early booking ensured that the MOA rally again had pole
position inside the northern basin; conversely the several boats rafted up outside suffered
from an uncomfortable chop overnight in the northerly wind. The decision was made to
have dinner at the ISC again rather than at UKSA, as had been the choice in previous
years. The ISC exceeded expectations, providing great value for money and excellent
service. A minutes silence was observed there, in memory of The Queen followed by a
toast to King Charles III. Boats taking part were: Ariam, Blue Rider, Good Time Girl, Walk
of Life, Lookin For Kloos, Windhover, Huggy Bear, Ruby Max, Maxi Magic, Iona and
Asante.
The MOA managed to choose one of the hottest weekends of the year to hold the 2022 mid-summer rally. Despite the hot dry weather some managed to sail using the mid-afternoon solar breeze. Royal Clarence proved to be a popular venue.
Watched over by the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers, eleven boats attended the rally on Saturday, including three berth holder boats; six boats came on Friday to make a weekend of it.
Attendees were: Eye of Horus; Pell Mell; Leda of Hamble; Genepy; Blue Lightning; Asante; Amazing Grace; Lady Penelope; Out of the Blue; Zuma Blue & Suive.
The hot weather resulted in one of the yachts taking time out whilst on passage to Gosport to anchor off Hillhead, to allow time for the crew to cool off with a spell of Solent swimming. Brave souls!
The rally hosts, Lorraine & Richard Sams of “Suive”, provided a pontoon party, helped by Sarah (Pell Mell). Twenty six people managed to gather on the pontoon to demolish nibbles and liquid refreshment.
The evening dinner was held in the upstairs room of the “Bakers Bar & Kitchen”, just by the marina. Despite the windows all being open, with even better views of the two aircraft carriers, the temperature continued to stay hot. This did not quieten the overall hubbub of sailing adventures and future plans.
Attendees were reminded that there are three more rallies this year: River Yealm (Sat 3rd Sept); Shepards Wharf (17th/18th Sept) and Lymington (Sat 15th Oct)
Sarah Horwood (membership sec) advised us that the MOA membership has increased to 123 and that the MOA “Whats App” group is proving a great success with 84 members participating currently.
On behalf of the participants, Peter Sands gave a vote of thanks to “Suive”.
At this point we all successfully negotiated the spiral staircase down to the ground floor without any mishaps and returned to our respective berths to try and cool down.
The first MOA rally of the season took place on the weekend of 14th/15th May 2022. Earlier in the week the forecast had promised a mini heatwave but true to form, as the weekend approached the weather forecasts were less optimistic for the Sunday. Nine boats gathered in a sunny Bembridge on the Saturday; some having arrived the day before to make the most of the weekend. The tides dictated an early arrival and so all boats were tied up in the harbour before midday. Our boats were spread out along the marina and it was a little disappointing that, having booked as a rally, the harbour didn’t berth us all together.
A treasure hunt was organised with clues spread out around the Duver. Crews set out in search of the clues and an enjoyable couple of hours were spent walking around in the sunshine. As quizmasters, we on Asante were able to relax in the sunshine and sneak in a quick pint at Steve’s Bar (Bear’s Vest clue 18!!)
A pontoon party kicked off at 6 o’clock alongside Asante, the answers to the treasure hunt were read out and scores taken. There was some friendly rivalry and questioning with some crews feeling rather hard done by, but the judge’s decision was final and in any case, we had clear winners with Chris and Margaret Bulleid (Cava) getting correct answers to almost all of the clues, thus vindicating the judge’s decision.
Following the pontoon party, a safari supper was held with crews spread around different boats for each course. A great evening was had with delicious food and drink and great company.
Sunday morning dawned grey and breezy. Julian and Carolyn on Looking for Kloos were the first to leave, sneaking out across the bar as soon as the tide allowed. By the time other boats made to leave the rain had well and truly set in leading to Aquarius Ventures, Cava and Suive sensibly electing to sit it out in Bembridge for another day. Meanwhile Ariam, Blue Lightning, Moondust, Wild Blue and Asante braved the elements and ‘enjoyed’ a wet and breezy sail back to home ports.
Boats attending:
Aquarius Ventures
Ariam
Asante
Blue Lightning
Cava
Looking for Kloos
Moondust
Suive
Wild Blue
For the first time MOA held a rally on the River Yealm over the weekend 4th and 5th September. Initially the harbour master suggested restricting numbers to 5 boats but there was so much interest in attending this great location that 10 berths were arranged and 8 boats attending. The rally was perfect for bringing maxis from the Solent and the West Country together. Unfortunately, not all the Maxis could be accommodated together, half were on the visitor’s pontoon and other half on visitor buoys.
The Solent boats arrived in advance and made the most of the fine weather, giving some the opportunity to explore the wonderful coastline on foot. With all 8 boats on the River to enjoy the warm sunny Saturday afternoon, the obligatory pontoon party was held on the visitor’s river pontoon and aboard AmyLou.
In the last of the sunshine and suitability lubricated, a fleet of inflatables headed for the harbour office pontoon, making the walk along the river path to the Dolphin Inn at Newton Ferrers. With Covid plans in place we had the Pub to ourselves and had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner. The return to the dinghies was slightly more challenging with no moonlight and the remoteness of the River, the river path was interesting to negotiate in the dark. With the low tide, some returned to find their dinghies aground even though tied up on the dinghy pontoon! The final hurdle was to find your Maxi in the dark, oh the benefits of mobile phone torches.
Many new friendships were formed, with local members enjoyed their first rally with the MOA.
The weather on Sunday continued to favour us, allowing some an easy return for the local ports, other to continue with a few days cruising and the remainder a couple of days beating back east to the Solent
Maxis attending were AmyLou, Asante, Cava, Genepy, Lookin Foor Kloos, Reflection, Skyfall, and Vouvray.
