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!
| Date | Marina | Host yacht & Rally Organiser | Contact details | Notes |
| 1st Rally
Sat April 21st Sun April 22nd
Wheels option.
|
Combined Rally & AGM – Marchwood Sailing Club
(River Test – opposite Herbert Walker Docks – the Cruise liner wharf)
Pontoon Party @ 1700hrs then.. AGM starts @ 1730hrs, max 2hrs. |
Gary Heward
(AmyLou) |
Please confirm attendance ASAP to “gary.heward@btinternet.com”
Skittles match – MOA v Marchwood sailing Club + tbc “The Salty Dogs” singing sea shanties |
Provisionally booked.
.
|
| 2nd Rally
W/End Sat 12th May |
Poole Harbour – exact location tbc. | Julian Trimming & Niel Niven | jtrimming@hotmail.com | Tide turns to ebb @ Hurst Point approx. 0850hrs |
| 3rd Rally
W/End Sat 23rd June
|
Cherbourg – provisional
Port Chanteryne. 00 33 2 33 87 6570
Contact – Magali Hamon (magali.hamon@cherbourg.fr) |
Andy & Sarah Horwood | saraandyh@yahoo.co.uk
Provisionally contacted. Discount of 20% if 5 boats or more. Wine event available
VHF Channel 9 |
.
Tide turns to ebb @ Hurst Point approx. 0630hrs
|
| 4th Rally
W/End Sat 14th July
|
Bembridge |
Richard & Lorraine Sams | Sat HT 1226hrs
Sun HT1316hrs (Will check) |
|
| 5th Rally
W/End Sat 4th or W/End Sat 18th Aug
|
Chichester | Sally & Robert Ledger | Flood tide at the bar starts approx. 0927hrs Sat 4th Aug & on Sat 18th @ approx. 0952hrs | |
| 6th Rally
Sept 29th-30th
|
Cowes – Shepards Wharf | Andy Verdon | The rally will be hosted by Pam & Andy Verdon (Ariam), with the usual Pontoon Party starting at 1800hrs followed by dinner in the UKSA canteen | High tide at Cowes is 14.18hrs on Sat 29th & 14.37hrs on Sun 30th Sept (BST). |
| 7th Rally
14th/15th Oct
|
East Coast Rally – Yacht or car | Peter & Sue Stonestreet + David Bronwick | peter@stonestreet.me.uk |
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 |
Many thanks to those who have entered the 2018 photo competition. We have 8 entered photographs of “Maxis at play” which clearly show how we enjoy our yachting and have a few close calls along the way!
We will present the prize at the AGM on 21st April so I would be grateful if you could cast your vote by April 18th to jtrimming@hotmail.com giving the picture number you are voting for.
For those of you attending the AGM, we look forward to seeing you there.
Photo 1 – Caught on port – Solo
Photo 2 Chichester Rally
Photo 3 DB 1
Photo 4 DB2
Photo 5 Isles of Chaussay
Photo 6 Maxi Magic prepared to play
Photo 7 Maxi Magic at play
Photo 8 Trawling for the mark
MAXI OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Annual General meeting – 19th February 2017
Held at The Phoenix Inn, Twyford. Meeting Opened at 12:00hrs
Present: Continue reading