Sometimes things just go your way and the risks pay off....that’s how it rolled on the first May bank holiday for the Jurassic Weekend rally to Worbarrow Bay. The success of the rally was at the mercy of the wind. An overnight stay in Worbarrow Bay on Sunday would not be possible with a southerly and it would only be possible to get to Worbarrow Bay if we had successfully stayed in Swanage on the Saturday evening and we wouldn’t be able to stay in Swanage if there was an easterly . Confused.com? Mmmm....yes you see....in a nutshell..... probable wisk of NO Worbarrow wally high.  

Well what do you know!  Lady Luck was on our side and kind as she was she blew us a sizeable south westerly on the Saturday and a negotiable north easterly on the Sunday. Perfect. Rally in the bag. Worbarrow Wally Wisk Management 101 no longer required. Yay!

And so the rally commenced as billed with boats leaving from Solent waters late Saturday morning. OdinSome came from further afield such as the all female Odin crew who started out from Portsmouth. Others positioned themselves at Cowes to take advantage of the inshore eddy. The first couple of hours were the most difficult, with the end of the flood tide it was not, as they say plain sailing. However, after the tide turned most boats were swept out nicely through the Needles. It was great to be out of Solent Waters....what would lurk around the corner? Fantastic sailing.  Amazing sailing. Despite the anticipation of poor weather, we had sunny blue skies and mostly importantly wind and lots of it. I got a suntan and Odin reached 8 knots.  

Nine to ten hours sailing on Saturday for most of the boats, we passed by Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole Harbour en route to destination Swanage.  Supper booked for 6.30pm, don’t be late!  Gosh.  Hats off to Peter Scott and crew on Azanti who made it to the Swanage bay sailing club moorings on time. Ace.   SwanageAfter some water taxi shuffling a fine supper was enjoyed by all at Ocean Bay restaurant overlooking Swanage Bay as the sun went down.  A great opportunity for the crew of all six boats  (Sappho, Delphinus, Odin, Silver Tide, Mary Lunn & Azanti) in attendance to catch up. (Including the Delphinus doggy!)

A late Sunday start saw us setting off for Worbarrow Bay around midday, ensuring we would arrive at the infamous St Albans head at slack water, avoiding the full aggression of the race.  The Jurassic coastline was truly beautiful, we saw some of the best scenery the English coastline has to offer.  Sailing was great, a force 6 and a north easterly providing an excellent point of sail. 

Upon arrival in Worbarrow Bay boats dropped anchor and sheltered from the wind. Crews enjoyed drinks and snackettes on Mary Lunn on arrival and later on Silver Tide.  Peter Scott provided a formidable water taxi service in his dinghy making sure the party happened.

On Sunday boats lifted their anchors early doors and headed back to their home ports. Once again we had a great day sailing, although unfortunately Odin seemed to get caught up in an awful squall at the final rally hurdle coming round Hurst Point.    

To those who kindly shared your knowledge of the area with me & bolstered me with some extra nav support in the planning stages, thank you.  And to those who came on the rally, thanks for playing, I hope to see you and many more on the next club rally. (P.S.  I heard Basil Fawlty decided to pack his bags and leave Swanage and move to Torquay instead!)