Rally Reports 2018
Blessed with sunshine and light winds, the annual rally at Shepards Wharf was attended by 11 Maxis and 25 crew. As before, Shepards had us raft up and non-Maxi boats were moved away to ensure a convivial rally atmosphere. Organized this year by Andy and Pam Verdon in Ariam, the other yachts were Pell Mell (Sarah and Peter O’Donnell), Suive (Richard and Lorraine Sams, with Rod and Carole Minkey aboard), Genepy (Tricia and Richard Morrison), Walk of Life (Peter and Joan Lloyd), Blue Lightning (Peter and Sarah Sands), Moondust (Rob and Julie Powter) and, joining a Maxi rally for the first time, Kevin Manville in Eye of Horus and Tony and Therese Rice in Freya. Bill MacFarlane elected to leave Out of the Blue on her berth in East Cowes, but made sure that he did not miss the pontoon party! A slightly surprised Gavin and Clarissa berthed alongside in Amazing Grace and, as MOA members, found themselves invited to (and already paying for) the pontoon party. As the sun went down, the Cowes water taxis ferried the team to UKSA where dinner was served, followed by a short talk on the amazing work done by the charity. The extremely reasonable price for dinner included a donation per-head to UKSA, which many people topped up with a further offering. The MOA enjoys an excellent relationship with UKSA, which provides an ideal facility for this kind of event. Without losing anyone into the Medina, the water taxis returned us in the dark to Shepards, in time for cocoa and bedtime stories. Good sailing conditions the following morning saw the participants sail away, some with cruising chutes up all the way to Chichester! A really nice final rally for the season.
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 |