A report on the Medway Rally can now be found at the following address:

http://www.hanseyachts.co.uk/readnews.asp?article=28 - http://www.hanseyachts.co.uk/readnews.asp?article=28

Regards

Dominic

Thoroughly enjoyed the weekend despite the long haul to get round to the Medway from the south coast.

If the event is going to be run again next year at the Medway Yacht club(or elsewhere) I think it would be a good idea to announce the dates well in advance so that people can plan ahead to allow for it in their summer planning ensuring that it does not clash with other holiday plans etc. The event would then benefit from greater numbers and even more fun!

Geoff

312 Prime Time

We also found it a great and enjoyable event. Thanks to Dominic, Heiko and Paul for organising it, and the Medway Yacht Club for hosting us so well.

We had a good trip up from Hamble, apart from some thick fog going into Brighton on the Wednesday evening. Thanks to the Aztec marine installed radar there was not too much of a problem. The leg from Brighton to the Medway was done non-stop, after departing early Thursday evening, and we had a fantastic sail with the wind aft or on the beam all the way to the North Foreland. However as the wind was on the nose and the tide was against us from there on, we decided to motor the rest of the way. There was some confusion about where we were going to moor, but after phone calls to Paul Wolley and the club, we were sorted out with a club mooring on the river. Many thanks to the club, its commodore and Paul for providing the ferry service backwards and forwards to the various ashore events for us. The race was fun with the wind very light at the start picking up towards the end so that we all had enough to beat back against the tide. The meal afterwards was first class and Dominic, we didn’t really mind your interruption!! Heiko, it was really generous of you to pass on the radio to us, many thanks for that, it will be really useful to us.

We had to leave for the homeward trip on the Sunday and it was interesting. We motored down to the North Foreland in no wind and a glassy sea. Passing Margate we wondered why some boats were going the opposite way to us with one or two reefs in. Rounding the Foreland we found out why, as the wind rose from nothing to force 5 dead on the nose and stayed like that, gusting up to a 6, all the way to Dover. The leg from Dover to Brighton started of great, a force 4-5 from the SW but fine and sunny (from Dover you could see France). That changed as we approached the Royal Sovereign. We were able to crack off a bit  as the wind went more Southerly but it also got up a bit and the drizzle and rain started, with visibility getting down to a mile or so at times. We were a bit apprehensive about the entrance as the waves were breaking over the harbour wall but all was fine. The last leg was a beat in a Westerly 4-5 all the way to the Hamble, but it was fine and dry!

All in all a brilliant event, long may it continue. It was really good meeting fellow Hanse owners and talking to them about their experiences. Medway was a great venue and the organisation there could not be faulted but maybe we should give other areas a chance? Do I sense a Hanse association developing?

Again thanks to all who made the event such a success for us.

Pete & Ros Sheppard + crew John & Gill Williams

I am pleased evreryone enjoyed the event at Medway. Please let me know if anybody is intrested in a repeat, I would be happy to organise the same event next year.

Glad to see Gretel got home safely. Hope to see you next year.

On the subject of rallies Heiko (Lady McG) and I have just returned from the Hanse cup, held at the factory at Greifswald. I can highly reccommend this well organised event, many thanks to the Hanse staff at the factory. It would be nice not to be the only UK boat next year, it is well worth the effort. Where else could you  feed and water a crew of 4 for 5 days and get change out of 100 euros?

  http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZSzeb001">  Once again thanks to all those who made the effort to come to the Medway we hope to see a lot more boats for next year.

Paul+Benita

312 Happy Dayz

PS It was the wife who did all the donkey work for the Medway rally!!!

Paul,

If you have the enthusiasm, I will gladly return for a rematch, will be ariving with a new battleship.

Simon

Simon

I would only be too glad to arrange the same event for 2006. I will speak to medway Yacht club and Chatham Marina to get suitable dates. If we can get enough support I can't see a problem.

What is the new battleship?  

Paul,

Ger 4 will be a brand new 370, my lust for speed has got the better of me

Delivary will be May so I wil only be able to make Chatam after this time, however I am sure that if your meet is early Hanse will have a new 630 demo that we can borrow, crash her round that lock and give her a used look.

When selecting a good time my preference is for steady wind aprox 20 knots always on my beam , Sunshine and tide that will be with me on Friday and also with me on Sunday or Monday for return trip.

Simon