Sea Essay  , Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409, Civil Service Sailing Association Channel Sailing Division’s new yacht: Easter 2015  , four days – report by Bernard Smyth 

Skippered by Andy Smith  , we left Mercury harbour, on the Hamble, with plans to go to Weymouth if the weather played ball. We sailed through the Needles (not literally) to Poole for a start and, after an evening meal in Wetherspoons and a night rafted up on the town quay, went on to Lulworth Cove for lunch. It was decided to go on to Weymouth even though the forecast meant we would probably have to motor back home. This proved to be the case, and we had a hairy ride past St Alban’s Head. 

We stopped off in Lymington and tried a “new” pub up the High Street, the Angel and Blue Pig, which was pleasant. On the way home to Mercury, we visited Calshot for lunch on a buoy and did some boat handling practice. Somewhere along the way we did a “MoB” practice when the helmwoman’s cap flew off.

I stayed on an extra night in the boat because the official naming ceremony was to take place the following day and so I could miss the rush home after Easter. There was the naming by Fiona, wife of Commodore is Graham Dalton, in front of a small crowd of members followed by a buffet in the Water’s Edge restaurant/bar in the harbour.

The new yacht is very smart but had some teething problems. It has surprisingly small food storage space and creaky doors, but we survived! It has an 80% battened main with a small genoa and an electric winch on the coachroof. There are three cabins, the forepeak having an en-suite heads, but I found the starboard cabin claustrophobic with not much head space and it would be a squeeze for two people.

122 nm tidal covered; max wind: force 5.