Hello Parkers and Seals down South,

WE ARE ALL SYSTEMS GO

I’m back from spending Fri/Sat/Sun on the Solent and am ready for more. Despite the pesky Cowes week racers trying to wear it out, I can confirm that there will still be plenty of Solent left at the weekend. It will be waiting to greet you and your barbecue at Newtown River.

Both ECMWF and XC weather predictions suggest a nice settled weekend. How is that for a change?

Signed up so far we have Ertan Beskardes P237/70 Lokum (the very last Parker boat [:(]), John Coyle P27 Harlequin, Ray Howkins S22 Sealia, Jeremy Parsons P325 Kerenza and my family’s very own P275 Vol-au-vent. That’s around fourteen people so far, and I am sure many others will join us now that the weather outlook is fair.

Looking forward to greeting you at Newtown,

Ken, Sue, Kate and Paul Surplice
P275/25 Vol-au-vent


Ken Surplice
Commodore

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Don't forget that on Sunday there will be 300 odd hot-shots taking the first of the ebb down from Cowes on their way to the Fastnet Rock! Could be quite a spectacle.

At Christchurch SC we have our "Round the Shingles" race also on Sunday so we'll have to keep our wits about us too! (sailing instructions - start when you like, go either way round and take your own start and finish times)

Geoff Harwood P21/30 Cygnus

Hello Geoff,

Thanks for the reminder. I will have extra fenders and water pistols ready to take on the Cowes Week racers. We encountered quite a few last Sunday. We were trying to go from Osbourne Bay, IOW, back towards the Hamble. Unfortunately there was an M25-like procession of yachts on starboard tack blocking our way. The solution came when a huge tanker honked about fifteen times then conveniently split the fleet.

Cheers-Ken

Ken Surplice
Commodore

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UPDATE 1 - NEWTOWN RIVER IOW RALLY

1. Two more yachts have expressed interest and may join us

2. Good weather ahoy!
We'll have light winds for the weekend, it seems. Also, after some light rain early on Friday, it should stay dry all weekend and we'll even get some sun.

3. If you can get out on Friday evening, you can enjoy the Red Arrows and anothrr flying display, and fireworks. See the separate posting in this forum.

Cheers-Ken

Ken Surplice
Commodore

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UPDATE 2 - NEWTOWN RIVER IOW RALLY

More boats!
- Heart of Glass
- Red Seal, all being well
- Vienna

Ken Surplice
Commodore

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