Walton & Frinton Yacht Club

Walton & Frinton Yacht Club cruise to Brightlingsea

Gentle south westerly winds, and sunshine, greeted the cruising sailors at W&FYC, at the weekend, for the seventh event in their spring and summer series of cruises in the waters around the East coast.

A strong fleet of cruising yachts assembled at the weekend comprising;

Mascot the Feeling 39 of Phillip Stanton; Spellbound a Rival 32 with David & Jenny Cocks; Tamissa ,a Moody 336 sailed by Nick & Janice Wood;. Tortuga, a Bavaria 34 sailed by David Mason.Scorcher,a Gladiateur33 sailed by John and Jean Thorpe; Tomora2 , a Benetau Oceanis 343, sailed by Tom Budworth; Reflex, a Westerly Falcon with Graham and Christine Godward; Bodil, the S&S Lotus of Mike Rainbow; Shadow, the Moody 336 of Tony and Gillian Rowe; Sovenance, the Moody 37 of Brian and Pat Allen; Witch,a gaff cutter with Alastair Randall; Shaker, the Holman sloop of Norman & Barbara Barber; Pyramid, the Beneteau Oceanis 36 of Bob & Merrill Hawken,Milady, the Westerly Discus of Sam & Marilyn Ward; Nejmar, the Westerly Discus of Martyn Page.

The fleet was led by club Commodore Roly Jarrold in his Oceanis 361 Mistress.

The club cruisers left their Walton moorings and sailed north up the Walton channel, in very light southerly winds, to Pye End , then South down the Essex coast and into the river Colne , to their destination at the moorings in Brightlingsea.The crews enjoyed an evening in the town, and then an early start back, accompanied by strong southerly winds, gusting force 5-6, which provided the crews with some very exhilarating sailing back to the backwaters

The cruise was organised by David and Jenny Cocks, and W&FYC plan their next event, a passage cruise, for October 7^th.

Harry Cracknell

WALTON & FRINTON YACHT CLUB

Cruising to London with W&FYC

Nearly a dozen sailing cruisers took part in an end of summer cruise from Walton & Frinton Yacht Club down to St Katherine's Haven in London's dockland.

Leaving their Walton moorings the boats departed on the weekend floodtide, and proceeded in brisk winds, giving them all a fast sail down to Queenborough in the River Medway, where they berthed to await the morning tide up the Thames to St Katherine's Dock.

The boats taking part included; Tomora, a Beneteau Oceanis 343, with Tom Budworth, John Thorpes Gladiateur 33, Scorcher, David Bone with his Bavaria 36, Bluemoon 2; Foreland Gull, a Lone Gull 2, with Malcolm Jolly; Mascot, the Feeling 39, of Phil Stanton; Mistress of Hamford ,the Oceanis 361 of Roly Jarrold (club Commodore); Lottie, the Sadler 2902 of Chris Opperman and Ray Banham; Deben Rhapsody, the Samphire26 of Robin Cooper; Shere Khan, the Halmatic 30 of Brian Thompson; Tamissa, the Moody 336 of Nick Wood; Tortuga, the Bavaria 34 of David Mason.

A very fast passage was made on both outward legs of the cruise due to the exceptionally strong tides occurring at this time of the year. Conditions were ideal ,sunny with warm SW winds on both days.

The harbour master at Queenborough once again kindly reserved the mooring barge for sole use by W&FYC in both directions of the cruise,and a very pleasant sail was made to St Katharine's marina on the Sunday, with crews having to resort to engines to get to the marina next to Tower Bridge in time. The cruisers needed all their skills in negotiating the river between heavy barges and the busy river traffic passing or stopping off to pick up passengers at the pier.

The harbour master and staff looked after W&FYC crews ,conveniently berthing them all in the West dock together alongside all the facilities. Once comfortably berthed crews lost no time and were soon off to visit the many attractions offered by London.

After a week long programme of visits to theatres ,exhibitions ,museums(including the Woolwich Artillery museum), guided walks, family visits and dining out, the Friday evening saw all crews assembled for a final dinner, and an enjoyable evening,in the Tower Hotel, before the following days sail back.

Saturday morning saw an early start for the crews, once again planning a night stop at Queenborough, where a social evening was enjoyed by all participants.

After a pleasant sail back back to their moorings at Walton on Sunday, the crews all enjoyed a final supper at W&FYC, and agreed that the river Thames cruise was a great success and were already planning next years. Meanwhile another cruise is planned, nearer to home, with a sail to Brightlingsea on September 15^th.

Harry Cracknell

9.09.07

Subject: W&FYC cruise to Woodbridge

news from

Walton & Frinton Yacht Club

Woodbridge cruise for Walton & Frinton Yacht Club

Blustery South westerly winds greeted the cruising sailors at W&FYC, at the weekend, for the fourth event in their spring and summer series of cruises in the waters around the East coast.

A strong fleet of cruising yachts assembled on Saturday morning comprising;

Atlantis, a Bavaria 32 sailed by John Robinson; Luxala the Beneteau Oceanis 331 of Mike Lightwing; Mascot, the Feeling 39 of Phillip Stanton; Pyramid a Beneteau Oceanis 36 sailed by Bob Hawken; Rainbow Catcher a Gemini 105 sailed by Iain Kidson; Sea Otter a Beneteau 9 with John Townrow; Shadow a Moody 336 with Tony Rowe; Nalor a Dehler 35 with David Wood; Scorcher a Gladiateur 33 with John Thorpe; Sonsy Lady an Oceanis 381 with Carl Targett; Spellbound a Rival 32 with David Cocks; Tomora 2 a Benetau Oceanis with John Budwoth; Norma Ann a Westerly Oceanlord 41 with Alan Banks; Gypsy Rose a Colvic Watson with Michael Stokoe. The fleet was led by club Commodore Roly Jarrold in his yacht Mistress of Hamford, and were planning to sail up the coast from their Walton moorings to the river Deben, and up to Woodbridge

The cruisers started out in blustery SSW winds on Saturday morning, most vessels having sails reefed down particularly for the passage over the notorious Deben Bar, which certainly lived up to its reputation as a difficult stretch of water!! Once in the Deben river a very enjoyable passage was made to the Tide Mill marina in the picturesque town of Woodbridge. Staff at the marina moored the vessels close-up, and this was fortunately accomplished before the torrential rains in the afternoon with crews well tucked away for a late lunch. 

Iain & Penny Kidson accompanied by Iain's father acted as host yacht for the Saturday evening reception, the occasion saddened by the fact that it would be their last cruise as they move to the West country shortly. As in past years W&FYC members were entertained by the members of the Woodbridge Cruising Club with supper being laid on by their lady club members, and all agreed the evening was a great success.

Sundays return trip was a much more enjoyable sail with moderate winds and less sea running, and as the weather was set fair, several crews remained in the area to enjoy extended cruising.

Commodore Roly Jarrold judged the weekend a great success, and was particularly appreciative of the efforts made by their hosts at Woodbridge Cruising Club to make them very welcome.

W&FYC plan their next cruise for July14/15 on the river Crouch.

Harry Cracknel.

17.06.07