The rally was changed to a two-day cruise to better suit the tides and make the trip more manageable for sailing boats. The one-day option that the motorboats could have taken wasn’t taken by anyone. The weather was very much as forecast, with good conditions on Sunday 23rd, strong winds on the 24th, moderating on the 25th.
The result was that the intrepid sailors travelled east from Lymington on the Sunday and one of the motorboats decided not to set out on the Monday, wind being up to 30 knots at the Starting platform, this crew travelling to Hamble by car instead. Alex and Jenny brought Vorste round from Hythe. It was good to see them. The trip home on the Tuesday was easier for everyone, with a strong easterly giving a ride home that, at times, was exhilarating.
The boats who made it there were:
| Unity |
Richard Truscott |
| Hourglass |
Hugh and Delma Evans |
| Vorste |
Alex and jenny Hall |
| Aloni |
Sue and Steve Harridge |
Derek, Clive, Trish, Denise, Graham and Jane Clarke came to the dinner by car.
We started with a pontoon party which, in practice, was held in Aloni’s cockpit, quite a tight squeeze but more practical than the pontoons which, at Port Hamble, are both narrow and tippy. The picture shows it’s possible to get 13 people into a Maxi 1050 cockpit
Dinner was at the RAF YC, a chicken tagine which was delicious, provided by their outside caterer, Morven. The club was most welcoming. They had opened specially for us. We hope to be able to make them as welcome if we can lure them back to Lymington.