Solent Sailing 13/14 September 2025 

Yacht, Solent Star  . Bavaria 37

Skipper R Buchanan  Crew,Samantha Williams  (my daughter) Rebecca Goddard  , Rebecca Paulino  ,Laura Thomas  , Hugh Hayward  .

We met at the marina in Lymington, and had a chat with Andy, the charter owner. He said the weather forecast for the weekend was strong winds, and if we didn’t go out he would give us a full refund.

We said thanks, but we don’t see each other that often, so we will make a weekend of it any way. That evening we had a few drinks in the clubhouse, then a lovely meal on board.

The next morning was a bit windy but not as bad as we thought. We slipped our moorings at 11.00 hrs and motored out into the Solent. With a quite strong S/W wind we just pulled out the Genoa.

Heading for Cowes we were going at quite a pace, hitting 8.5knts. We were not far from Cowes after just over an hour, so decided to have a trip around the Bramble Bank

At 15.00hrs we berthed in Cowes yacht haven. Later we went to the island sailing club, where we met paddy and lucy, very good sailing friends of ours that live in Cowes.

From there, we went to the anchor for an evening meal, and a chat for a couple of hours. From there, it was back on board for a nightcap, and sleep.

Sunday.

After a breakfast on board, we left at 11.00hrs. In the Solent we put 2 reefs in the main and a bit in the genoa. Again, the wind was up to 20knts, but we had a very good sail back, putting a few tacks in on the way. Approaching Lymington, the visibility started to deteriate, with a bit of very fine misty rain. We got back to our berth at 14.30hrs, and had lunch, before cleaning up the yacht etc.

It was a very good weekend, better than we all expected. Also, it was the first time that Laura had sailed with us (she is a friend of Becca)

We logged 31NM