The Westerly Owners' Association - East Coast Group

Report on Medway Rally July 10th – 12th July 2009

The aim of the Medway Rally was to provide an East Coast Group event at the southern end of the East Coast region. The plan was to meet up on a Friday night at Queenborough in the Swale, sail in company the next day to the Medway Yacht Club at Upnor, and on the Sunday sail round the Isle of Sheppey to Harty Ferry.

Ten yachts tied up to moorings in Queenborough on Friday night and 23 crew went ashore to Queenborough Yacht Club (QYC) for an informal, home cooked dinner, prepared by Margaret Douse, the QYC Commodore made famous in this month’s Yachting Monthly. After a relaxed evening, crews took the trot boat back to their boats for the night. Some hungry crews returned to QYC next morning for a full English breakfast.

The plan for Saturday was a gentle sail up the Medway to Chatham, arriving there in time for the 4pm high tide. Some yachts got underway early, but most of the fleet left at noon and raced each other up the Medway. The yachts were beating with the rising tide into a stiff southwester.

The river was busy with motor boats, yachts and the occasional commercial vessel. Several of the local yachts were motoring or motor-sailing but every boat in the Westerly fleet was sailing hard, crashing along in a welter of spray, beating upstream with the tide under them and taking the wind over tide waves in their stride. If you want to see an exhilarating sight, go find a fleet of Westerly yachts beating hard in brisk conditions!

Janimari II Close Hauled into the Medway

Dinner in Medway Yacht Club

All the yachts arrived at Medway Yacht Club by 4pm and were shown to their mooring buoys by the attentive Trot Boat crew. The ever helpful MYC had allocated a mooring buoy to each Westerly yacht and had labelled each buoy with the name of its designated yacht. Most crews had a bit of a snooze after their exciting sail up the Medway, before going ashore to the clubhouse for a few drinks and to tell tall stories before dinner.

Thirty of us assembled at Medway Yacht Club for dinner and were welcomed by MYC (and WOA) members Roger Best and Susan Price. John Duggan and crew arrived on foot, leaving their Centaur Lady Mine in nearby Hoo Marina and Neil Pembleton drove down from Malden. We had a brilliant dinner in the Medway Yacht Club restaurant, which has stunning views over the Medway.

Mark, the MYC Chef, prepared a superb meal comprising:

Salmon & Crayfish Salad
Braised Beef with Vegetables & Potatoes
Glazed Lemon Tart with Raspberry Confit
Coffee

Conversation continued long after dinner, and late in the evening the tired, well fed, happy crews returned to their boats, courtesy of the patient Trot Boat crew and fell asleep to the sound of rain on the cabin roof.
The weather forecast on Sunday morning was a bit grim and most boats abandoned the planned trip to Harty Ferry in the Swale and made their way home instead.

The Medway Rally was great fun, with good food, good sailing and good company. I would like to thank all the crews who took part and I would specially like to thank the staff and members of Medway Yacht Club and Queenborough Yacht Club for their kindness.

Winston Waller 17/7/09

List of yachts taking part: Falcon - Oceanquest, Astrid Therese - Longbow, Angela Dawn - Centaur, Sylvia’s Gift – GK29, Janimari II - Konsort, Tilly - Centaur, Flora - Centaur, Mystique - Griffon, Water Gypsy - Griffon
Lady Mine - Centaur, Catinou - Fulmar, Fellowship – a borrowed SeaWych (no, it’s not a Westerly but someone bought my Centaur).