Summer Rally 2017 – Yarmouth, IoW

For the NYC Summer Rally and annual BBQ the boats all headed to Yarmouth Marina. Sadly, for many boats this meant sailing into the wind and tide. With the wind stronger than predicted and members keen to get to the pontoon in time for tea and cakes, many boats ended up motoring. Navy Blues made a good go sailing for as long as possible, but when we were nearly overtaken by a ship at anchor decided to admit defeat and motor sailed the rest of the way.

This proved to be a prudent decision as she got prime location on the pontoon and her crew could get stuck into the delicious cakes.

The remaining boats arrived at a steady pace, with similar tales of short sailing followed by slow motoring. There was even mention of a boat attempting to catch some lobster to bring to the BBQ.

Yet again we had a great turnout, with 9 boats attending and close to 30 members.

The main event of course was the arrival of the club’s newest boat, Polly. A crowd gathered to watch Mike Dickens expertly bring her in alongside Sea Dragon. Once squared away, Mike invited all onboard for prosecco and a tour. Everyone was in agreement, Polly is one beautiful boat!

After the tour of Polly, we all headed up to Yarmouth Sailing Club who were hosting us for the BBQ. We were welcomed into the club by the Commodore, Geoff. According to the Yarmouth Sailing Club’s website, they are ‘the friendly club next to Yarmouth Bridge’ and friendly they are. We were made to feel very welcome by Geoff, his wife, and the members. The BBQ was excellent with plenty to go around. On behalf of all at Newbury Yacht Club, a huge thank you to Yarmouth Sailing Club for hosting us.

For the Sunday morning some members took time out from the water and went on an open topped bus trip to the Needles (complete with dodging the low hanging branches on the way!).

The sun came out and members enjoyed looking around the Needles Batteries, the rocket test site and the spectacular views out to sea, the mainland and of course, the Needles.

Sightseeing done, it was time to head home. Fortunately, the wind and tide were the same as the previous day (although the wind had reduced somewhat) so this meant a very speedy sail down wind and down tide. Navy Blues deployed her cruising chute and romped back at 9kts SOG (a considerable improvement on the 0.8kts SOG of the day before!).

Thanks as always go to Dave Lawson for organising the Rally, to all who provided cakes, to Mike Dickens for hosting drinks on Polly, and thanks to Yarmouth Sailing Club. Finally, thanks to all the members who turned up making it an enjoyable event. The club and Rallies are nothing without the members.

15th-16th July 2017