Short weekend rally – At Anchor 15/17 August 2025
30 August, 2025The Rally seemed to start early for us, we had a rib to pick up and several jobs to do, so we all meet early on Friday morning. With the jobs completed, Babino on the pontoon at Marchwood and a super container ship just arriving, we headed off for Bucklers Hard and the Beaulieu River. Wind was very light, so not a lot of sailing was done, mostly had the motor running. We had a little more wind as we entered the river, but that soon disappeared as we headed inland. Passed Beaulieu Marina, we found a vacant visitors buoy which we picked up. The paddle board was pumped and we had a very quiet evening, with a trip to the pub in the dingy.
Arriving container ship 
Peaceful evening 
Brisk tacking Following morning, we were off around 08:30 to catch the tide to Chichester Harbour and an anchorage at East Head. Well, what a sail, with the wind directly in front of us, we beat our way down the Solent with 20-25 knots of wind and hitting 6/7 knots of boat speed. It was forecast to be sunny all day, but I can’t say we saw any. We entered Chichester harbour around 15:30 and then the fun began. Most of the other boats were already anchored, so we had to pick a spot between them.
Going ashore I have actually forgotten how many times I let the anchor down and brought it back up, it was that many !! It just would not bite in. Eventually we managed to get the anchor to bit and we were off for a short trip in the dingy for our BBQ. The wind was still fairly strong and lighting it was rather difficult, but once lit, the sausages were cooked, with the wind picking up the sand, it was a case of sausages with sand, salad with sand, burgers with sand and it even managed to get into the beer !!
Sandy BBQ Sunday Morning the wind was still there, but not so strong. East head was now quite with a lot of boats gone and only our group left. We brought the anchor in, said a cheery goodbye to everyone and set off back to Marchwood. Well, another great sail back, with the wind at 15/20 knots behind us, we setup to goosewing our way back. I don’t know how we did it, but from the buoy outside Chichester harbour, we went straight through Dolphin point, passed the forts, as we rounded Gilkicker head the wind seemed to shift and we proceeded most of the way up Southampton water still on the same tack. We didn’t have to touch the sails all the way back. Safety back at Marchwood we put Babino back on her buoy and all headed home.
Another great rally with SMSC.
Goose winging home 
Bambino in the Round The Island Race
The five members of the club who decided to enter the Round the Island Race in 2025 each had their own reasons for wanting to participate. For Danny, it was “the spectacle” of the race itself. For Matthew, it was the opportunity to achieve a long-held ambition. For Val, already an experienced sailor with two previous RTI races under his belt, it was a learning experience, as with any race. For Paul, owner of Bambino, this was a return to a much-loved event. But everyone on the boat could relate to Gordon’s reasoning. “To have good stories to tell in the bar”, he said. “That’s it really”.
With Bambino’s race start scheduled for 0830, Bambino slipped her moorings at 0645 and, despite a nervous gallop down Southampton Water when it wasn’t clear if she would reach the start line on time, she crossed the line at exactly 0830, timed to perfection.
The journey from the start line to the Needles involved a series of long tacks, generally carving through the fleet on starboard tack. Conditions began to deteriorate as Bambino approached the Hurst Narrows, and Bambino passed several boats turning back, their race already over.
Conditions eased as Bambino approached St Catherine’s Point (the southernmost tip of the IOW) with the sun making a brief appearance. Life on deck became very pleasant and there was time to enjoy some food and a cup of tea, before the sky began to darken again.
Having enjoyed a relatively straightforward run to the Bembridge ledge with sails set “goosewinging”, the homeward stretch to the finish line turned out to be the most challenging leg of the race so far. The sunshine had now disappeared and cold, stinging rain started to fall, seemingly flying from every direction. With Ryde to port, the crew noticed a smaller boat which had beached, with its crew desperately (and ultimately successfully) trying to free the boat from the sandy grip of Ryde Sands.
With the finish line in sight and Bambino making good progress, the wind slackened off before dying away altogether. A back eddy close to the shore helped to provide some forward movement, and there was a loud cheer as Bambino crossed the finish line. After a long day, the crew were tired and wet – but very happy indeed. Best of all, Gordon was right. There were plenty of stories to tell at the bar.
2025 – Ready for the new season
Going Afloat Lunch The 2025 sailing season is upon us! The club marked this in our traditional way with our Going Afloat Supper. This year it was held at the Trafalgar pub in Greenwich with over 40 members in attendance. It was an excellent occasion, we enjoyed good food and good company, complete with a raffle and quiz.
Our attention turns to the sailing programme, with our first shakedown cruise over to the Folly on the Isle of Wight. Following this we have our Yarmouth and Beaulieu cruises.
Our weekly programme continues, we’ve had some great talks recently, including the Thames Boat Project, and covering topics from Greenland to Turtles. Coming up we have a talk on the Bark Europa.
Our Round the Island race crew have kicked off their training with a Solent shakedown in good conditions.
We have five members attending the Little Ships Club’s training on practical weather forecasting, we’ll be looking to them prior to our upcoming rallies to provide an accurate forecast!
All of the highlights I have mentioned are down to the contribution of our members and committee, so my thanks to all of them for their work!
If you’re reading this and are not a member, but perhaps browsing and curious about joining, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re a really friendly club with something for everyone. Drop us an email to know more.
Fair winds to all members and sailors as our season gets under way!
Welcome to 2025
The dark and cold days of January provide a good time to stop and think about the previous year and the year to come, so here are a few reflections from me.
2024 was a great year for the club, highlights for me included the Yarmouth and Beaulieu rally with a fantastic turn out for the club and a whole long weekend of sailing and fun, our first race (for a while) and a superb navigators challenge around the marks and buoys of the Solent. Ashore, we’ve had a superb range of talks, on shipwrecks, Antarctica, mudlarking, first aid, firefighting, sea survival and so many more. The Mariners’ Mates (our very own band) have gone from strength to strength, playing the Carshalton Eco and Frost Fairs, with more planned in 2025. Our pirate themed Christmas social was enormous fun! I have loved the way our members have stepped up to participate so much in organising things afloat and ashore! While the end of last year took a sad turn with the loss of a much loved member Peter, we are thankful for his company and friendship.This year our various committees have been hard at work planning more fascinating talks, a fun social programme, a superb sailing programme, plus more support to members who want to do some training. We’ve got members planning to do the Round the Island race, more chartering, various qualifications and exciting trips. I’m also especially excited to welcome new members who want to become part of our brilliant sailing and social community.
To name everyone who’s made such a contribution to the club last year and into the New Year would mean a lot of scrolling….. so to all members I want to say a big thank you, the people are our club, so Happy New Year all and here’s to a fantastic 2025, ashore and afloat!
Ruth
Photographic competition 2024 results
We had a wonderful display of photography last week at our annual Photographic Competition, thanks to all who entered images, it really was a wonderful display.
Derek did a great job as usual of organising and displaying the prints, as well as securing the knowledgeable and talented judge Graeme Wales (Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, longtime judge for many camera clubs and member of Kingston Camera Club) who gave an interesting and informative talk about some of his own images.
The results of the competition are
Amusing Incidents
Winner – It was that Big! (Marianne Wood) 
2nd – The Waterman (Rowena Barton) 
3rd – On the Trolley! (Rowena Barton) 
Highly Commended – Cocktail Sir? (Paul Hart) Club Event
Winner – Bye Carissa (Ruth Grainger) 
2nd – Three in a row (Chris Dukes) 
3rd – Light Airs (Marianne Wood) 
Highly commended – Happy Crew (Paul Hart) Best overall
Winner – Capstans (Roger Evans) 2nd – Bye Carissa (Ruth Grainger) 
3rd – Kinish Harbour (Geoff Balls) 
4th – Pushing Boundaries, conquering the Elements. A young Sailors journey (Valentyn Shamchuk) Images worth a mention
Hello Sailor Buy! (Bev Hart)
Just Chilling (Chris Dukes) 
Fishing boat (Roger Evans) 
Crystal Waters (Martin Mitchell) 
Harbour (David Quine) 
Cloudy Skies but the Spirit is High (Valentyn Shamchuk) 
Sunset (Roger Evans) 
Zadar Rainbow (Andrew Wood) AGM nominations forms are available
With next AGM scheduled to be on 31st October 2024, the nominations forms are available in the member’s area. The forms need to be in by 3rd October 2024.
Cowes Rally
The 2024 rally season is off to a very successful start!
This weekend, six boats and 21 crew took part in the Cowes Shakedown Rally to Cowes Yacht Club. It was great sailing with imaginative entertainment in the form of a St George’s Day quiz and a dragon boat challenge, a lovely meal out at Island Sailing Club followed by dancing the night away at Cowes Corinthian. Two yachts continued the fun on Sunday with a lunchtime stop in Newtown Creek where they rafted up for lunch.Many thanks to Rear Commodore Gary Eversfield and his team, with special mention to Rally Organisers Garry and Janice Mackie.Thanks to Cowes Yacht Haven for finding a space for all 6 boats, the Island Sailing Club for a fantastic meal, and Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club for letting us join the party.Don’t forget, every Thursday you can find us at the MBA Lounge, VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Lane, SuttonPhotographic competition 2023 results
We had a wonderful display of photography last week at our annual Photographic Competition, thanks to all who entered images, it really was a wonderful display.
Derek did a great job as usual of organising and displaying the prints, as well as securing the knowledgeable and talented judge Phillip Quarry, who gave an interesting and informative talk about some of his own images.
The results of the competition are:
An Amusing Incident
Winner – A Right Pair (Bev Hart)Club Event
Winner – Neptune’s Beard – Ruth Grainger
2nd – Vanishing Point – Ruth Grainger
3rd – Mirror Image – Gary Eversfield
Highly commended – I’m Sorted – Chris DukesBest overall
Blue Solent – Roger Evans
2nd – It’s not so windy when they switch those big fans off – Roger Evans
3rd – Sunrise Spinnaker – Danny McDonnell
4th – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia – Roger EvansSutton Mariners Sailing Club celebrates 35 years
The celebrations included a fish supper, songs by the the club’s very own “Mariner’s Mates” shanty group at Sutton United Football stadium, and a fantastic group photo of over 40 smiling members including a good few original members.
The club aims to promote and facilitate boating, both sail & power, to provide for the study of seamanship and to provide social and other facilities. It has members who come to club nights to learn about things boating and enjoy talks covering a wide range of interest. There are also has members living in various parts of the country who enjoy meeting up on sailing rallies that are organised throughout the summer.
Club Rear Commodore Gary Eversfield says: “I wished more people realised the benefits of sailing.
“We have members from their mid 30’s to mid 80’s, from gardeners to gas engineers, and around 10 percent of members started in the 1980s. They originate from Ukraine, Shetland, Greece, Russia and even Mitcham so it shows the love of sailing knows no geographic boundaries.
“With 67 members, we’ve grown 10 percent in last 2 years. Our success comes despite the fact that we don’t own a club house or any real assets, and we are at least 50 miles from our nearest coast.
“Nam amor navigandi (for the love of sailing). Well proud to be a Sutton Mariner.”
This article was first published at https://www.rya.org.uk/news/sutton-mariners-sailing-club-celebrates-35-years
Mini photographic competition 2023 results
Thank you to the six members who submitted 17 entries for my mini photographic competition. I particularly liked the night and sunset images but the one that stands out for me is Garry’s ‘Gone in a flash’ because ‘it does what it says on the tin’ Garry nicely captured the dipping sun between his blue ensign and the lifesaving gear, but it also has an interesting sky, to boot! See following image.
A close second is Ruth’s (see below) but I think it would have been better had the yacht been on the right rather than the left. The reasoning being that we read from left to right so it would be better for the lights (and reflected lights) to take the viewer across the photograph from left to right ending at the yacht.
I’m having to take a very critical approach to my photographic work at present so it was good to have the opportunity to review other peoples’ images.
Regards
Derek
Petal navigating through Caledonian Canal
Petal are sailing through Caledonian Canal and now are at top of the Loch Lochy right where Laggan Locks are according to AIS.
As Gary said “60 miles 32 meter climb 29 locks 11 swing bridges. Did 2 bridges and 11 flights today”
And this is a few days ago when they were at Tobermory, Isle of Mull
“We have arrived safely at Tobermory and planning to stay the weekend as the wind is getting strong in the next few day’s”
