Rally Reports
In summary, fabulous weather with 9 boats and 22 people plus several four legged friends.
Note – David Lemare deep in thought, “Suive” is in the mud & our Chairman is looking contented.
Berthed in two rafts, one of 5 yachts & one of four. Aloni with hatches wide open & David Brown’s (Leda of Hamble) with very effective sun awning in the background.
Final attendance – Aloni (2), Amylou (4), Atlantide (3), Genepy (2), Lady Penelope (2), Leda of Hamble (2) Looking for Kloos (2), Suive (2) & Sea Wolf (3)
Following the pontoon party on Suive (yes, we did manage to get everyone on our boat) Saturday evening dinner was at the Brading Haven Yacht Club. Our host from the YC turned out to be a regular Maxi sailor on Dodger of Gosport, a Maxi 1100 based at Portcullis Sailing Club in Gosport. We are also pleased to note that the boat share has MOA membership.
During the pontoon party the water taxi driver broke the news that there wasn’t enough water for the trip to the YC; fortunately, most of us were happy to walk. Our only injured sailor was given a lift in the water taxi driver’s car. Really good customer care by the Bembridge Harbour personnel.
Bembridge was incredibly busy; the convenient tides and the amazing weather made it a great weekend. Three yachts arrived on Friday and there was a carnival atmosphere. The marina was completely full. Some of us walked into Bembridge and/or Seaview whilst others went to the beach.
Special mention of Tricia, from Genepy, who worked hard to produce impressive, colourful bunting especially for the occasion. We still have to decode the flags – a prize will be given to the first person who manages to translate the signal. Gary Heward, Amylou, has new racing sails and we are very envious. We were pleased to welcome David Lack (Atlantide) and his crew to his first MOA Rally and hope that he will come again. A fun and very enjoyable time was had by all and we are now looking forward to Itchenor in August.
Happy sailing
Richard & Lorraine Sams
“Suive”
MOA Cherbourg Rally Weekend 23/24th June 2018
Forecast: Sun, very little wind, hot
Pretty good forecast – it would have been nice to have a bit more wind but at least we all had good crossings:
There were 7 boats with 19 sailors attending the rally in Cherbourg with a variety of passages from the Solent area.
Out of the Blue travelled from East Cowes to Cherbourg on Friday 22nd
Asante and Blue Lightening left Hamble about 6.30pm on Friday 22nd for a night crossing – with a good sail down the Western Solent and around the Needles, then the wind died giving a very calm motor overnight arriving in Cherbourg about 8.30 am. A very clear night with both Mars & Jupiter lighting up the skies along with a bright moon made visibility good.
Figure 1- Passing Hurst Castle on Friday Night
The remaining boats sailed across on Saturday, Moondust and Leda of Hamble having gathered at Yarmouth on Friday evening set out from there, Lapis Lady set off from Portsmouth and Walk of Life crossed from Poole having picked up crew there on the Friday, all arriving late afternoon/early evening.
The plan for berthing together on J pontoon was disrupted and the early arrivals were moved off due to a Coastguard demo and some expected dignitaries. There had clearly been some communication issues within the marina’s booking system but in the end they found us 7 finger berths close together on P pontoon. A bit further to the showers but no rafting so it all worked well and the marina staff were very apologetic!
Following a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies there was a “pontoon” party aboard Asante:
Figure 2 – “Pontoon” Party
Following plenty of French wine and nibbles people went off independently to find some food! And then a good night’s sleep.
On Sunday lunch was arranged in “L’Equipage” restaurant at the marina. As ever with a large group there plenty of confusion in ordering however we had a most enjoyable meal with good company, plenty of sailing tales plus a few monitoring the England’s amazing score against Panama in the world cup which was going on at the same time….
Figure 3 – Lunch in L’Equipage
Sunday evening saw Moondust departing for a night crossing back, with Blue Lightning and Leda of Hamble crossing back Monday day time with another very calm motor back:
Figure 4 Glassy Seas
The remaining boats set off to the Channel Islands ready to set off on summer cruises.
A great weekend!
After good weather in the week, Saturday bought cool air and overcast skies with no wind meaning that the iron jib was the order for the day for most Maxis heading down to Poole on May 12th for the Maxi rally. Misty was the exception, coming later down the Solent, Nigel and Geoff persevered and sailed most of the way across Poole Bay.
In the afternoon, we were joined by Chris Holloway and Dave from RNLI, invited to help us inspect and repack lifejackets. We all learned something from them including the first thing to do with a man overboard – call in a MAYDAY! Inspection of lifejackets identified loose gas bottles, loose firing cartridges plus a number of out of date firing cartridges. I will leave it to others to own up to who’s were most out of date! Only Misty passed with flying colours.
We had 6 MOA boats alongside in Poole Quay Boat Haven plus one guest and when Neil and Debbie Niven from Ruby Max joined the pontoon party (aboard Lookin Foor Kloos as it was cold in the evening), we had 18 members and guests present which I understand is still not a record for a Maxi 1000!
Dinner was at the Rancho Steakhouse just opposite the marina – the food was great when it arrived but enough said. The company and discussion as always was the star of the evening.
Sunday saw a complete change in the weather – brilliant sunshine, clear blue sky and with most Maxis leaving at 10:30 – 11:00 to catch the tide back through Hurst, we had a brilliant sail back across Poole Bay and up through the Solent in force 3-4 SW winds – the type of sailing Carolyn likes and makes us all look forward to the rest of the season!
Maxi owners present
| Maxi | Members | Maxi | Members |
| Lookin Foor Kloos | Carolyn and Julian Trimming | Asante | Andy and Sara Horwood |
| Ariam | Andy and Pam Verdon | Leda of Hamble | David Brown & Kate |
| Suive | Richard and Lorraine Sams | Neroli | Rod and Carole Minkey |
| Ruby Max | Neil and Debbie Niven | Misty | Nigel Chilcott and Geoff |
They now call depressions hurricanes and by names. Well we were so lucky to miss Ophelia and Brian. For the rally we enjoyed brilliant October weather. It was an especially successful event. We were booked into Shepard’s Wharf and members new and old (mind the ‘old’ bit) signed up. 16 member yachts all arrived and stacked 5 across the bay berthed together 3 lengths deep. Shepard’s Wharf was friendly too, loaning us the Sugar Store for the pontoon party for 37 crew. Sue & Peter with help from Sara & Lorraine prepared a spread of canapés and wine for us to enjoy as we mixed and discussed the important matters of life.
After what amounted to the first course of a dinner we perambulated to a new and interesting location. UKSA is a novel sailing centre as a “youth charity offering transformational opportunities, as well as professional yachting and watersports career courses”. This means it has hostel accommodation, dining and classrooms. We booked the dining room to follow after the residents for a splendid 2 course multiple choice menu with coffee to follow. We were invited to use the bar as well. The special characteristic of the mix of Maxi owners was obvious in the variety of bubbling conversations.
UKSA allowed us to use a classroom for the finale of the meet – A presentation of how a Maxi 1100 wins the gruelling Triangle race. This was delivered by Gary Heward to an extremely high quality and good humour enhanced by David Lewis & Gary Revell ripostes from the back of the room as they too were competitors in the same event. Then, more, we found the bar was open and entertainment. Even for one of our Maxi skippers who joined in with the Ladies’ Barberettes from Reading who had been singing before our dinner and were still going. Sadly it then was time to leave.
Peter Stonestreet
| Skippers and crew | Boat | Model | ||
| Brown | David | Leda of Hamble | 1000 | |
| Verdon | Andy | Colin Tebbs | Ariam | 1100 |
| Tomkins | Alan | Peter Chignell | Brent Goose | 1100 |
| Niven | Neil | Debbie | Ruby Max | 1100 |
| Horwood | Andy | Sarah | Asante | 1100 |
| Lloyd | Peter | Joan | Walk of Life | 38 |
| Minkey | Rodney | Carole | Neroli | 1000 |
| Ledger | Robert | Sally | Moonshine Blues | 1100 |
| Huxford | George | Sarah | Sea Wolf | 1000 |
| Heward | Gary | Carole | Amylou | 1100 |
| Stonestreet | Peter | Sue | Blue Rider | Moody38 |
| Stokes | Richard | Claire | Skybird | 1100 |
| Thallon | Jeremy | Gill | Sunfish | 1000 |
| Lewis | David | Gary Revell | Resolute | 1000 |
| O’Donnell | Peter | Sarah | Pell Mell | 1000 |
| Morrison | Tricia | Tim | Genepy | 1100 |
| Sams | Richard | Lorraine | Suive | Sweedstar |
The rally enjoyed a beautiful hot August weekend, which did mean motor-sailing for both Friday evening and Saturday arrivals. All six boats hung off one visitors buoy at Itchenor, with the approval of a slightly surprised Harbourmaster, which made the safari supper simple!
Some zoomed off to the pub at high engine speed, avoiding the Paddle-Only race to the pub against a strong tide which was won by Robert on his paddle board. However all managed to dry out, as you can see, with the tide unaccountably continuing to race out while we were in the pub.
We split into two groups for the first two courses, then all 14 joined up for pudding on Moonshine Blues and a very enjoyable and social evening was had!
People left from noon onwards and after a bit of motor-sailing, some picked up a good breeze and finished the weekend with a fine beat home.
I am working on negotiations for similar weather next year.
Sally Moulsdale
