Welcome to the Cornish Crabbers Club
For owners and admirers of all boats built by Cornish Crabbers
Cruise Report
Cornish Crabber Club - Solent Rally 2016
As mentioned previously those boats that went from Yarmouth to Poole chose to motor sail into the strong headwinds and got to Poole in good time. At least we had the tide with us in the early morning. Credit at this stage must be given to the Hunt family, who were new to the rally and at this this stage had met none of us. Whilst the Yarmouth boats left at around 0600hrs and arrived some four and a half hours later, the Hunts aboard Amity set “sail” from Cowes and sailed the whole way to Poole with tide and against wind to start with, and then with wind and tide against them. They finally arrived at the Poole Quay Boat Haven at around 1800hrs some 12 hours after leaving Cowes. Hats off to the Hunts! They showed up the rest of us who motor sailed, and were warmly welcomed on arrival.
During the layover day in Poole a number of crews took the ferry to Brownsea Island and enjoyed a brisk walk around the Island followed by lunch before returning to Poole itself. The contrast between the commerce of the town with the pure nature of Brownsea was marked.
Before the RNLI Supper Mary and I hosted a drinks party aboard or by Summer Breeze. I think the record for numbers of people aboard a C26 was easily broken that evening. At one point there were thirteen girls below and at least six or seven men in the cockpit or on deck! At this point the MD of Crabbers, Peter Thomas arrived. I could not make out if he was impressed with the boats stability or thought we were all mad, perhaps a bit of both!
Wednesday dawned with a forecast of SW winds of 12-15 knots. This should have made for a good sail back to the Solent with Lymington being the schedule arrival port. Never trust the forecasters!
During the layover day in Poole a number of crews took the ferry to Brownsea Island and enjoyed a brisk walk around the Island followed by lunch before returning to Poole itself. The contrast between the commerce of the town with the pure nature of Brownsea was marked.
Before the RNLI Supper Mary and I hosted a drinks party aboard or by Summer Breeze. I think the record for numbers of people aboard a C26 was easily broken that evening. At one point there were thirteen girls below and at least six or seven men in the cockpit or on deck! At this point the MD of Crabbers, Peter Thomas arrived. I could not make out if he was impressed with the boats stability or thought we were all mad, perhaps a bit of both!
Wednesday dawned with a forecast of SW winds of 12-15 knots. This should have made for a good sail back to the Solent with Lymington being the schedule arrival port. Never trust the forecasters!
They got it wrong. It was quite apparent as soon as we had pointed our nose outside Poole Harbour that the winds were strengthening. Another issue to concern many crews were the number of lobster pots just outside the entrance to the Harbour. They were a real hazard. One or two of the early to depart boats made better weather than some of the others. There were well reefed mainsails. There were boats just using foresails with a bit of engine, and as it turned out there was one boat Moore’s Claws trying to use foresails and engine, but having no luck in starting the engine. This was the beginning of an interesting afternoon. The solo skipper aboard Moore’s Claws - Peter Moore called me on the radio telling me of his dilemma. I suggested he advised the Coastguard, and we would plan from there following their response. Peter was rightly concerned about entering the Needles Channel and the Solent without power and was wondering about a tow. After some initial conversation with the Coastguard it was agreed that Summer Breeze would monitor the situation liaising between the Coastguard and Moore’s Claws. It was also agreed that Moore’s Claws should proceed as best as possible to the Needles Channel and a tow would be considered once in the Solent.
