A select band of February Fast Cruisers called the Met Office's bluff on Saturday the 27th and set off on a generously laid course taking advantage of a brisk southerly wind, not a gale in sight!


Storm Petrel's crew gathered on Friday afternoon amid the gathering gloom of a particularly dreadful weather forecast and with near gale force winds swirling around us in Southsea Marina.

With six large fenders almost squashed flat we were pinned against the pontoon so reluctantly we repaired to the steak house for an early supper. We were nervous because we had an early appointment to pick up the Commodore-elect in Cowes early on Saturday morning.

How could we extricate ourselves from this potentially embarrassing situation: a spurned Commodore-elect could be a sight to behold! Well, by this time a couple of glasses of wine had convinced us that we would go for it.

Up sharp at 0630 on Cruise day we were away down the Langstone Harbour channel by 0730 with a brisk breeze in our faces and a gentle residue swell left over from yesterday's winds. By 0930 we were collecting our distinguished guest who politely wiped his feet before coming aboard and after exchanging a few pleasantries retired to his cabin with instructions only to be disturbed in the event of an emergency. (Well, that's not quite true but it makes the story sound good).

The Commodore-elect takes commandBy start time we were at the line with full crew ready to go and with only Odin in sight and A Day at the Races hoving in to view with her bright red hull aglow in a weak morning sun.

We were later to see that six of us had braved the elements and our reward was a wonderful beam reach sail in winds only rarely reaching F6.

A pleasant couple of hours were spent in Yarmouth with drinks on board a superb new Elan and supper at the local followed by blissful sleep for our crew of David Roache, Geoff Quentin, myself and Greg Hine. We are hopeful of a good result, Storm Petrel sailed like a train after her winter works including copper coating and new standing rigging.

We are excited about the sailing season to come and are sorry that the dire weather forecast put off so many of our members from enjoying a great weekend's sailing.

Sunday dawned wet and gloomy but a pleasant downwind north westerly sped us home in double quick time with a hint of sun later on and a blissfully empty Solent all to ourselves. Well done Debbie and thanks for another cracking weekend. We await the results with interest.

For a small gallery of photos from the February Fast Cruise on Kate Newman's sailing page click here