Category: Rallies

Island harbour

I joined the Cornish Crabber Club rally late in their week, due to work commitments. We have been enjoying a patch of glorious June weather and it was especially pleasant to make my way over to Cowes and up the Medina river.

I started with no wind and then it filled in to F4-5 by the time I got to Cowes. The Solent was very busy with several fleets of yachts out racing, including some very impressive classics visiting for the Richard Mille Cup. I also saw a pair of porpoises off Lee-on-Solent, a first for me.

Once through the bun fight that is Cowes, the Medina calms down considerably and it’s a very pleasant trip up the river through the moorings to Island Harbour. This is a converted tide mill with a lock and a very characteristic round concrete control tower. The staff are super helpful and I was soon tied up on one of their generously wide berths among the other Crabbers.

The fleet had representatives of every model – Crabber 22, 24 and 26, as well as Shrimper 19 and 21; the latter becoming an increasingly popular model. The evening meal was at the Folly Inn, a classic Isle of Wight waterside location, which was a pleasant 15 minute stroll from the marina.

The following day, there was not enough water to get out until 1pm, so we rallyists had a leisurely morning. I walked up the well-laid riverside path to Newtown. A pleasant mile through woodlands, past the fields where the cleanup was taking place following the recent Isle of Wight festival.

The head of the Medina’s navigation at Newtown

Everyone wanted to get out as soon as water was available, to catch the last of the flood up to Gosport for our evening meal. The ever helpful marina staff had us neatly packed like sardines in the lock and out onto the river.

Once again, the Solent was thick with traffic and it was a dead run past Gilkicker and into the harbour, with most of the fleet berthing at Haslar and a few, like me, who returned to home berths before a final meal together at The Creek.

Paddle steamer Ryde gently subsiding into the saltings. She served as a ferry across the Solent at the beginning of the twentieth century and a minesweeper in the war, finishing up as a night club in the sixties and seventies.

Sailing past Jolie Brise. I was lucky enough to have a sail on her recently and made a video of of that.

The busy Solent. You can clearly see three fleets of racing yachts

Blade Runner returning to the factory (almost opposite Island Harbour marina) on the Medina to collect more wind turbine blades

Big and small – a Laser dinghy and the IoW ferry off Lee-on-Solent

YOGAF 2023

The Yarmouth OGA Festival is my favourite weekend in the Solent Gaffers calendar. It attracts gaffers large and small, old and new and it’s great to chat to so many other owners. This friendly event has a great social scene but the highlight event is the Saturday race. Here are some photos from the harbour and the race.

Thanks to Sue Pennison and the Solent OGA committee for organising, to Tim and Liz Dodwell for taking me out on High Barbaree and to all the other sailors who make this such an enjoyable event.

So, what’s a Gaffel race?

At the annual Whitsun gathering of the Solent Gaffers a race format has taken root that is rather different to the familiar “pursuit” or “handicap” formats. A Gaffel race is a format borrowed from the Dutch gaffers and consists of a course in which the skippers choose from a range of different legs. It’s a subtly tactical situation, because one must take account of tide, wind and the peculiarities of one’s own boat. All the competitors start at the same time and must finish by a specific time (or earlier); those crossing the finishing line late suffer a penalty. Each leg has an “official” distance and can be sailed no more than twice. The winner is the skipper with the fastest average speed, taking into account the boat’s handicap.

Today’s race at YoGaff 2023 in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight attracted a range of boats from small trailer sailers to heavy displacement gaffers and took place in a good breeze of wind, but any skipper that failed to account the famously strong tides in the Western Solent was punished mercilessly. Whether front runner or retiree, all had a lovely afternoon and a story or too to tell at the post race barbecue. Thanks to the Solent Gaffers for organising this wonderful regatta and Royal Solent Yacht Club for running the race.

Yarmouth and back

As the season draws to an end, there was one more rally to attend. The gathering was in Yarmouth, which is always a lovely place to visit. There was to be an informal OGA gathering on the Friday night, followed by a race and formal dinner on Saturday, organised by Royal Solent YC. I couldn’t attend the Saturday events, as I needed to return to Gosport to pick Niki up, but I was treated to a magnificent sail down on Friday afternoon. The ebb was in full swing, so I had almost 2kt of fair tide. The unusual NW direction of the wind gave a fast point of sail on a single tack the whole way – a broad reach most of the time. This was my first long sail since I re-stepped the mast (more on that later) and I was hoping the heavy weatherhelm had been improved. I set out with 2 reefs in, as I was solo and wanted to check the reefing, but shook one of the reefs out as soon as I was out of the lee of Gilkicker point and could feel the breeze that would carry me to the other end of the Solent.

Molly didn’t dip below 8kt between Cowes and Yarmouth!

*Alva*, a 170ft 1939 Swedish luxury yacht, at anchor off Lee-on-Solent

As usual it there was plenty to see – not much commercial shipping, but pleasure craft of all sizes, including many interesting boats (see photos). The trip was completed in very quick time; Molly was making between eight and nine knots from Cowes to Yarmouth! She handled beautifully – the helm was almost completely neutral with single reefed main, staysail and jib, the weatherhelm only pulling in the bigger gusts.

*Marjorie*, a Shilling Yawl going great guns past Cowes

Colregs? Normally you don’t want to see a cargo ship from that angle, but fortunately this one is anchored!

Yarmouth pier in the evening, with flag at half mast for Queen Elizabeth, and the forest of sails at Lymington in the distance on the mainland.

A lovely evening on Molly with Maggie and Huw of Minarlo (nearest the camera) and Tom of Marjorie and myself.

Yarmouth harbour had not been able to put all the gaffers together, so we were a little dispersed. I ended up on a pontoon with Marjorie, who I had sailed alongside down the Solent, rafted to me. Nearby was Mincarlo, a Norfolk Gypsy, whose Maggie and Huw we’d met several times at events this season. We enjoyed some excellent fish and chips from the Blue Crab (highly recommended- they have a booking system so you can be sure it’s been cooked to order!

The following day was much lighter, but still a NW breeze. I had to leave at midday, in order to catch the flood tide and was expecting to motor for at least some of the way, but ended up sailing the whole time in the sun, varying between a relaxed amble and a brisk trot. All in all, quite a treat!

*Mincarlo* slipping her warps to return home

Paddle steamer Waverley, seen on both legs of this journey

Yarmouth gaffers

Every year, the Solent area OGA holds a rally in the lovely Isle of Wight town of Yarmouth. It’s always an enjoyable weekend and this year, owing to the Platinum Jubilee, it was over four days, instead of the usual three.

My passage back from Falmouth had been timed to be able to attend this rally, so I was glad Ben and I had had no delays sailing Molly to her new home waters. I dropped Ben in Lymington and took the opportunity to re-provision there too, before crossing the Solent again into Yarmouth.

It was great to see attendance up on last year, following the cancellation of the event in 2020 (last year I attended in Aurora, as part of the Cape Cutter 19 rally) and there was a pleasant pontoon drinks party to restore connections from previous years.

The last few long days of sailing caught up with me and I retired to bed early after a delicious steak cooked aboard and a glass or two of red. In the morning I woke refreshed and had a leisurely start before sailing back to Lymington once more to collect Niki, who returned to the boat after a few days at home with Alice.

After eating a rather good paella cooked in our thermal cooker, we repaired to the sailing club for live music and dancing. After a nightcap aboard Molly with the intrepid crew of Miss Ningi, we hit the sack.

Saturday morning is always the gaffer race, organised by Royal Solent SC, but sadly the race was cancelled this year, as the wind was too strong.

Niki and I elected for a walk and enjoyed a wonderful seven-mile loop to Freshwater Bay on the south of the island. This was an absolute treat, taking in cool woodland, rolling farmland and the marshes along the banks of the river Yar.

Boats on the Yar seen from the lovely wooded footpath along the old railway line

The event was rounded off with prize giving and a BBQ meal; see you all next year!