This sail is one of the more adventurous sails we do. Two boats took part Keith and crew Keiko in a Sport 14 and Edmund, James and Simon in a Comet Trio. We launched Tudor SC slipway which is at the top of Langstone Harbour and took the last of the ebb. There was a gentle wind on a close reach. We got to the harbour entrance in good time – about half an hour (noting that it took about two hours last time we did this sail with light winds and a change of tide direction). Once clear of the entrance we pointed the boat across the Solent for the 6-7mile sail to Bembridge. There was a steady wind. The sail in to Bembridge harbour was at about an hour after low tide. This was quite a tricky beat requiring to keep to a narrow channel with lots of wind shifts. Straying outside of the buoyed channel involved scraping of the centre board. We stopped at a beach next to Bembridge sailing club for a late breakfast (11:00). A few of us enjoyed coffee and Eggs Benedict at the Harbour View Cafe.

Once clear of the shore we encountered some shifting wind and even no wind for a time, before a steady Southerly wind kicked in allowing us an excellent spinnaker run all the way across the Solent to Langstone Harbour entrance.

This was a very enjoyable sail across the Solent and quite a fast crossing compared to previous trips. – SimonM