Lutine weekend 23-24 October
Here's Tim Edwards' report and Colin Davies' dramatic video of the weekend on Lutine!
Eight LSC members took advantage of the offer from Lloyds Yacht club to sail their Swan 53, Lutine, on a blustery weekend in the Solent. Lutine, a Swan 53 belonging to Lloyds Yacht Club, is berthed at Haslar Marina, Portsmouth and made available to the Little Ship Club for two weekends every year at a significantly reduced fee.
This year’s contingent of LSC members to take up the offer enjoyed the most leisurely of starts by assembling on the newly refurbished boat on Saturday at 0930hrs. After introductions, the eight crew – Bruce Rankin, Colin Davies, Mike Gill, Mary Wickenden, Liv Shield, Sally Pearce, Tony Sutton and Tim Edwards – discussed the sailing options for the day with Simon Vayro, in his last week as Skipper for Lutine.
The consensus (of sorts) was that considering the winds of around 25 knots, one of the original plans to sail around Wight, might not be the wisest choice. With this in mind, “Just going for a good sail for a few hours” seemed to be sage advice.
Slipping lines around 1100hrs, Lutine entered the Solent and it soon became clear this was not a day for the mainsail, reefed or otherwise. Accordingly, the Genoa was unfurled and the boat started to make progress at 7 knots towards the Nab Tower.
The first point of interest en route to the Nab was a Royal Navy submarine being towed into Portsmouth (not the recent grounded sub, but the other one!). Lutine, being deemed too close at 500 metres and clearly to the authorities displaying all the accoutrements of a terrorist threat was soon “ushered” away by a police launch.
Shortly after rounding the Tower, Lutine’s new decking received a thorough wash down when a squall passed over providing the crew with hail, lightening and a 35 knot gust that had the boat hard down on her starboard ear. Full credit to Liv at the helm who despite getting it full in the face from hailstones, held her course admirably! Also, well done to Colin for filming this wonderful scene, see the video above.
After returning to Haslar in the early evening, the Little Shippers enjoyed a splendid meal of American proportions at the Castle pub, before retiring to Lutine for what was the first impromptu meeting of the LSC/Lutine Pinot Noir appreciation society in the spacious saloon. One hopes this is the start of a long and enjoyable tradition.
Sunday again was a leisurely start where the crew awoke to a beautiful azure sky and fair winds. A good day’s sail with the main up on the eastern end of the Solent concluded a fantastic weekend of “sailing in good company” on a vessel that many could only dream of being a part of.
All Little Ship Club members should consider sailing on this magnificent yacht, particularly those undertaking training such as Day Skipper theory. Please review the Club website regularly to see when she is next available to the Club and book early to avoid disappointment. Next year's provisional sailing plan includes Lutine weekends in April and Oct, see plan here.