News

This Year's News Reports - 2023
  • Stokey Woodall – “An evening with Stokey Woodall” – Nov 23
    Peter ‘Stokey’ Woodall joined the Club for an evening of two halves. He began sharing the remarkable story of his life, from his beginnings in the Black Country, to his years at sea. Joining the army gave Stokey his first experience of sailing, but it brought sea sickness and limited enjoyment. With other options ...
  • Dr Stephen Payne OBE – “Genesis of a Queen: Queen Mary 2” – Oct 23
    The Winter Talk series is now in full swing, with fantastic attendance and the new venue proving a great success. Our second talk of the series was Dr Stephen Payne – the naval architect responsible for designing the Carnival Corporation’s ocean liner, Queen Mary 2. Stephen’s talk took us through his interest in ships beginning ...
  • Laying Up Supper – 13th December 2023
    WIth the end of the year fast approaching, it will soon be time to reflect back on the events of 2023, both ashore and afloat. It will also be time for the next winner of the Uncle Albert award to be revealed… The event will be held at the The Furze Bush Inn, with further ...
  • Frostbite Rally 2024 – Provisional date announced
    Our first on water event for 2024 is booked for 20th/21st January 2024. Get dressed up warm for afternoon mulled wine and tea cakes on pontoon(maybe on a boat if too cold!!). Evening venue TBC.
  • Jane Williams – “Humpbacks and Icebergs” – Sept 2023
    Club member Jane Williams shared the tale of her journey from Newfoundland to Greenland in 2022. Unsurprisingly, there were numerous challenges to be overcome, not least navigating the ever-changing ice flow. A wooden boat may not be the obvious choice for such a northerly passage, but Gemervescence was a 50 foot yacht with plenty of experience of ...
  • Autumn Rally 2023 – Bembridge Harbour
    The start of what is officially Autumn brought a change in the weather – to bright sunshine and rising temperatures. It felt the least Autumnal it has for the last couple of months. While there were no complaints about the sun putting in an appearance, a little more wind would have been appreciated. ...
  • Spring Cruise 2023 – The breakaway group!
    The planned cruise itinery of The Yealm and Fowey had been an enticing prospect for the Spring Cruise, but a combination of circumstances made some of the fleet make the difficult decision not to round Portland Bill as intended. The crew of the four boats all had deadlines of when the return home was ...
  • Spring Cruise 2023 – Westward bound
    On the 29th May the Spring Cruise fleet assembled in Portland Marina; 10 sailing and 1 motorboat.  A brisk easterly had been blowing for some time which resulted in the great turnout.  We were all thinking of the planned trip across Lyme Bay so we took a bus to ‘The Bill’ to have a look ...
  • Summer Rally 2023 – Haslar Marina, Gosport
    Seven yachts headed towards Gosport, to join two local boats, for the Summer Rally. Appropriately, the sun was blazing, to welcome everybody in plenty of time for tea and cakes on the pontoon. The demand for hot drinks was unsurprisingly low, but this was well anticipated, so plenty of Pimms was available. ...
  • Spring Rally 2023 – Hythe Marina, Southampton
    Following straight on from the Fitting Out Supper, the Spring Rally saw a select fleet of yachts heading to the north of Southampton Water, to visit Hythe Marina. For once, access by sea was actually easier than by land, with the only road route having partially collapsed a couple of days previously. Yachts ...