Spring Rally 2025 to Honfleur - Northern Fleet
Helen Miller and David Gilchrist, aboard charter boats, look back on the May Spring Rally
Have you seen the weather forecast for Wednesday!
There were five boats taking part in the Rally this year. Two were owner’s boats - Fulmarks and Wild Thyme with combined crew of seven. The three charter boats were Mon Dilemme, D'Artagnan and Modernistic Lady with a combined crew of fourteen.
The plan was to leave from The Hamble and sail across the Channel, making landfall in either Fécamp, Deauville or Ouistreham and then on to Honfleur.
Having studied the Channel Pilot, Tidal Atlases and Tidal Diamonds at length, prepared all the immigration paperwork and carefully noted the lock opening times for Fécamp, Ouistreham and Honfleur, we arrived at Port Hamble on Friday afternoon to join our three charter boats, well-prepared for our 20plus hour channel crossing.
By this time, both owner’s boats were already on their way, with Wild Thyme having set off from her home port earlier in the week.
We however, were met with 3 long-faced Skippers deep in conversation on the weather forecast for our return from France on Wednesday/ Thursday. Unlike the owner’s boats, the charter boats had a firm deadline - to be back in the Hamble on Friday morning.
All forecasts showed that, whilst crossing to France would be comfortable, Force 7/8 winds would hit mid-week, making the passage back at best very uncomfortable, at worst being storm-bound and probably late in returning to the Hamble.
After much heart searching, the Charter Boat Skippers decided that a Channel Crossing on Friday evening was postponed. We’d head to Gosport and if Saturday’s forecast was more favourable, then we’d reconsider.
Saturday morning brought no better news, so the word went out that we weren’t going to France after all. Hugely disappointed, we tore up our detailed cross-channel passage plans and considered our options. Mon Dilemme (skipper Martin Woods), D’Artagnan (skipper Allen Busby) and Modernistic Lady (skipper David Gilchrist) decided to head west toward Poole, all continually assessing the developing weather front to determine if/where we’d need to take shelter.
By Saturday, the owner’s boats had crossed the Channel and arrived in Fécamp (Wild Thyme) and Le Havre (Fulmarks). The ‘Southern Fleet’ then enjoyed a smaller than planned Rally Dinner in Honfleur on Monday night.
On Saturday, the ‘Northern Fleet’ had a spirited sail to Lymington’s Berthon marina, with all three yachts continuing on to Poole Town Quay for Sunday night.
By Monday it was clear that Tuesday’s severe wind forecast had worsened to c45kn, so all 3 yachts headed for Yarmouth to weather the storm until Wednesday. The passage back through the Needles Channel against a Spring Tide, but with high-twenties SW winds astern, had us grinning from ear to ear as we saw a previously thought unbelievable SOG of over 9kn! Surfing!
Portsmouth
Yarmouth Pier
Buoy Maintenance at Calshot
Returning through Hurst Narrows
Perfect conditions for a lunchtime stop
Northern Rally Dinner
Yarmouth proved to be an excellent safe haven, as we listened to the wind howling through the rigging on Monday and Tuesday night. Some of us did however manage to stretch our legs with a very pleasant walk along the River Yar to Freshwater Tesco superstore to stock up on party-boat drinks and nibbles for Tuesday evening. Others ventured onto the local bus service for trips to Osborne House, and other museums and places of interest.
Wednesday brought blue skies and calmer winds, so Mon Dilemme explored the upper reaches of the Hamble, with lunch at the Jolly Sailor, whilst Modernistic Lady and D’Artagnan sailed east to Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays – where we got a little more than we bargained for… In addition to stunning night-lit views of Spinnaker Tower, D’Artagnan’s heads inlet got blocked by sucking up floating debris; and both yachts struggled to extract themselves from being heavily blown on to the quay with almost no manoeuvring space.
On Thursday, all three yachts converged on Cowes, where Jude and David arranged an alternative end-of-rally dinner at the Island Sailing Club, with excellent food and service, complemented by stunning night-time views across the Solent.
Many thanks to Beryl for all the ‘upfront’ organisation and charter bookings.
Huge thanks to all skippers and mates for keeping us safe throughout the week, and for making the best of our “Northern Passage”. À bientôt,
