Little and Large

Super MAXI yacht iCAP Leopard overhauls a more modest cruising yacht going up Southampton Water.

At 30 meters long and a towering 47 meter mast it's hard to miss her even in the crowded Solent.

I'm guessing it was quite windy as it looks like the mainsail is reefed, not so the yacht with the orange mainsail which seems to be under full sail.

Defence cuts bite deep!

I've written previously on the effects the defence review is having and the the pursuit of new, more efficient vessels, sometimes experimental which the navy are considering.

Here's a sneak preview of the latest "stealth" ship undergoing testing locally, in fact it was so quiet I very nearly walked right past, fiendishly clever and combined with a super low emission power plant.

Could this be the shape of the modern navy!

If you can't beat them....

I've written about local boat builder Greg and his very fast Memory sloop Flugel. For the past two years he's beaten me at the Bursledon regatta gaffers race, so with Greta sold and no replacement in sight I shipped aboard with Greg as crew for this years race.

The day started with a brisk breeze, but the forecast was for stronger winds to come. Above are the local competition; a cabin version of the Memory and a John Leather cutter Blue Gansey.

Mid way through the race the wind was a steady force six, gusting force seven, even in the sheltered wares of the Solent it was lively aboard a 19 foot open boat.

Although we didn't place well, we did finish, lots of our fellow competitors, including some much larger boats retired. And I think we claimed the prize for the first RAFYC boat to finish.

Above Greg at the helm.

Below crew Bob who has competed and finished at every Bursledon regatta since the early 1970's, looking relaxed as we sail back into the river.

Passage to India

The theme for this year's Bursledon Regatta was "Passage to India" and the Elephant Boatyard has really gone to town with their decorations.

While many people really got into the spirit of the event with fantastic fancy dress, not everyone was entirely happy (or perhaps she just didn't like the cameraman!!).

On Saturday morning the local dinghy fleets converged at Land's End Hard waiting for the races to start and creating a moving obstruction for the few large motorboats and yachts who were trying to get past and clearly hadn't read the harbour master's notice to mariners.

This year there was a race for slower and traditional boats - those with a Portsmouth Yardstick of between 1200 and 1600. Tosh our catboat rates at 1430, but we were up against some stiff competition from the very fast Lymington Scow (right) and the traditional lugger (left).

Last to go were the Opi's, seen waiting here with the mum and dad support boat.

After lunch the rowing races kicked off with the Bursledon gig's racing up river, up and back through Bursledon bridge...

To finish between the Jolly Sailor and the Taj Mahal.

Some of the dinghy creations were fantastic, including this rickshaw mirror dinghy, although the paddle wheel seemed to be more about splashing water on the driver than propulsion!

Another classic the "Onion Barge-ee" navigates across Bursledon pool in front of the Taj Mahal

In the background there was a good turnout of classic boats, dinghies, rowing boats and people generally having a good time.

Thanks as always the regatta committee, the Elephant Boatyard and everyone involved for making the annual event such as success.

Lymington Classic

This classic day boat was just leaving it's mooring near the town quay at Lymington recently, I don't know too much about the design or her history. She's normally on her mooring at the top of the Lymington river, apparently she has been in the same family for most, if not all of her life.

It was a perfect day, with fairly light winds at the top of the river. The crew had already raised the main, before they backed her out of the mooring using the Seagull outboard and then sailed her away, it was great to watch. Within moments the outboard was raised, the jib unrolled and they were sailing down the crowded river, clearly having done the whole exercise many times before.

Evening Sail

After the recent weather, and autumn approaching, it's nice to remember how good it was a few weeks ago.

Doesn't get much better than this, sailing down the river, late into the evening on the last of the day's breeze.

Congratulations

The picture says it all, we spotted this delightful double ender down on Lymington quay during the week, sporting flowers and a "just Married" banner (didn't notice if they were towing a load of old tin cans though!).

It reminded us that Erica and I spent our honeymoon sailing, just a leisurely cruise along the south coast to the west country. It was all really nice until coming home, we had made a fast passage from Dartmouth but arrived in the Needles Channel at night, just as a black squall hit with zero visibility and shrieking winds.

We popped through the Hurst narrows like a cork from a bottle and couldn't decide whether to turn right for Yarmouth or left for Lymington. We chose Lymington and by the early hours were safely moored between piles off the town. That was 10 years ago.