Issue 5 December

2015

The Contessa 32 Class Association Newsletter is all

about you and what you do in your Contessa so

please contact me on:- co32newsletter@gmail.com

Gosh here we are at Christmas already! Where does the time

go?

I must first start with an apology to Lionel & Brandy. I had

planned to get their article into the last Newsletter, I failed

miserably sorry. I’m sure however that as we all sit here in a

cold and dark British winter their adventure will be the envy

of us all.

Thank you to Richard for giving us an insight into the what is

becoming, I think, the infamous Solo week!

We also have a unique insight into the ARC, thank you Paul

and I hope you all take time out to enjoy his blog and envy

his warm water sailing!!

My thanks again to Vanessa and Alan for their help in putting this Newsletter together.

At the Christmas Rally one of the questions being asked was what car does a Contessa 32

remind you of, some suggestions were; a Jaguar, a Morgan, a Capri, and Landrover even a

Morris Minor, how about sending me your own suggestions?

Lastly following our highly successful hints and tips Newsletter we’d like to introduce the

C.A.L.M.E.S page (Contessa Association “Life made Easier” Society) read on for details!

Class Captain, Mark Himsworth

Happy Christmas! I hope this finds you and yours looking forward to jubilant festive celebrations after a wonderful 2015 in which you've been afloat as much as the rest of life permitted. No doubt you're busy hatching plans for an even busier sailing schedule in 2016, and I look forward to meeting you during their execution, or hearing or reading about them thereafter.

Thanks to the very hard work of the Committee at large over the last year, and particularly the sterling efforts of Mark Oliver (racing) , Mike Sellers (cruising), and Kate Trenouth (socials), we have had a tremendously well-attended and successful sailing calendar this year, and it's a great pleasure to be part of an association which feels truly in the ascendant. My thanks, again, for the fantastic contribution made by Lynn in bringing you news of Contessa sailing wherever it happens - and do please contribute an article/log/photo if you are able.

On behalf of all of the Committee, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Foreword from George Isted

I know that there are many Contessa 32 owners like myself who dream of heading away from it all on their Contessa to far-flung places with white sandy beaches, clear water and adventures to be had. Likewise, there are plenty that had had adventures both locally or on distant shores and we always enjoy reading about them in the cruising logs that are sent in. If you have a story to share of your Contessa adventures, big, small, funny or with a lesson to pass on, please do send them in to Lynn Roberts (co32newsletter@gmail.com) or Mike Sellers our cruising rep (mikebsellers@gmail.com).

Lionel and Brandy are two of the lucky ones, they have just started an adventures on Co32 Aristophanes and will be keeping a blog of their trip(http:www.aristophanesadventures.co.uk). Lionel, posted a note on the Co32 Facebook page and was persuaded to write a short article for us from an internet café Spain. I am sure that we all wish them well and look forward to future updates. – George Isted

Adventures on Co32 Aristophanes So it was 2 years ago that Brandy and I committed to sailing across the Atlantic and possibly the Pacific all depending on how we felt when we got over to the Caribbean. Brandy a former actress and myself an outdoor education tutor were ready to look for a different way of living. I had always had an aspiration to sail around the world but timings and hurdles always seemed to make this dream out of reach. After some real soul searching and a Transformational Coaching course we attended for work purposes we realised with some commitment and bloody hard work we could make this adventure a reality. We bought our Contessa 32 (Aristophanes) from Nick and Zilla Martin (Totnes) and have spent the last 2 years upgrading her and getting enough money in the bank to live off for a few years. On the 31st of August we slipped our lines from my work place (UKSA, Cowes) and set sail for Falmouth where we would start our Biscay crossing. The passage down from the Isle of Wight was very pleasant with Northerly winds which made it possible for us drop the hook at St. Mawes in just 28 hours. Aristophanes sailed beautifully and our average speed was 5.9 knots (very thankful of spring tides). Days later we set out on our first offshore passage, of course we were a little nervous but very excited all the same. We had a great forecast ahead of us with winds from the North and East. The first two days were just amazing with visits of dolphins everyday a clear night as we crossed the continental shelf. Wow what a view I have never seen the Milky Way so clear let alone some of the planets. We were feeling very good about things when on the evening of the 3rd day the wind picked up to 25-30 knots. No this was not anything we were not used to, so we reefed down and let our Contessa do its thing, which she did amazingly. "No worries Brandy I’m sure this will blow through" I was a little wrong when the wind stayed all-night and the sea began to build. Then came morning a bright blue sky and with it an increase in wind strength. We were now up to a good F8 touching 9 at times We were a little nervous of these conditions with waves breaking into the cockpit at times and the peaks coming up to the spreaders when we were in the troughs!! At this point the wind was off our port quarter so the boat was surfing down the waves very nicely. Aristophanes reached speeds of 11 knots over ground as the whole boat hummed and vibrated. On this bearing we were not going to make La Coruna so we needed to head up slightly. As we did this the apparent wind moved to a constant 45 knots and she was very hard to handle.

Now we do have an inner stay on Aristophanes but I was not sending Brandy up there to attach it and she did not want to helm so we decided to get rid of the main altogether and furl the head sail way past the number two reef. This worked great and the boat returned to feeling light on the helm and we could now make our desired heading. We had some epic sailing conditions (although a little scary at times) for the whole day. A day we will never forget.

As we pulled into La Coruna we both knew we had earned our Biscay stripes. We do not confess to be great sailors, far from it but the confidence we had in our boat was amplified ten-time over when we tied up. She had done everything we had asked and had no-doubt forgiven some of my mistakes on the helm! Over the next few weeks we will making our way to the canaries to start our transatlantic crossing.

A day we will never forget.

Since buying Aristophanes we have kept a website www.Aristophanesadventures.co.uk We will update this regularly and our contacts details are on there if you have any advice to pass on. I hope you follow our adventure!

Lionel Bridgman

On the 17th November George Isted received the following update on Aristophanes “We left Peniche 7 days ago to sail over to Madeira. We had been waiting for a good forecast for around 2 weeks but the winds have been very erratic..South one day North the next and so on. Finally we got a window for 10 days of Northerlies all though quite light but with no swell we thought we would make way. We sailed with a French family who have a Dufour 370 so there was a bit of unspoken race going on. The first 2 days were very light we had hours of going just 2.5 knots but with fuel capacity to only cover 250- 300 miles we sailed on without using the engine. Even at such low speeds we still covered 160 miles in a 48 hour period which was not bad considering the wind or lack off it we had. This had been Brandy's longest passage to date and it was looking like a 5 day passage was going to change into a 7 day passage...but the sea was warm and we had bright sunny skies so who were we to complain. On the third day we called our friend Tim Mcgue on the sat phone to get a new forecast and make sure there was nothing untoward coming our way. He told us that we needed to head west for around 25-30 miles and we should pick up some wind, this is what we did and found a nice consistent 10 knots that grew into 15 knots later that evening. Day 3 and 4 saw us cover over 250 miles and Aristophanes was sailing along at a great pace...we encountered some steep waves at the Unicorn Bank but our boat took it in her stride...not sure the same can be said for the Dufour 370. As we approached Porto Santos we could not believe our eyes..huge cliffs with jagged ridges rose out of the Atlantic....the island looked like something out of Jurassic park...we had huge smiles...not only had we crossed to our Atlantic ocean but also we had learned a lot about light wind sailing, conservation of fuel and living at sea. Brandy and I are really sailing well together...when we are executing manoeuvres little is said as we are both anticipating the other....and more importantly really enjoying the sailing which is what its all about. We stayed for one night at Porto Santos which we cycled around in a day... a really beautiful island and some very nice locals. The marina is cheap we could of stayed for a month for 100 euros which would have been a great deal but we want to get down to the Verde is-lands for Christmas. We are now on Madeira which is even more stunning than Porto San-tos...we found a great anchorage although a little rolly. Looking at the upcoming forecast we need to sail to the Canaries tomorrow or the day after as there are some very strong Northerlies on the way and I would like to be well in dock before they arrive. Life is good on Aristophanes.” Anchorage in Madeira, Baia d'Abra.

Solo Week: - Richard Clark

Ever the “doer”, George Isted had loosely arranged a week to sail solo but in company with other 32’s during the first week in August, destinations dependent on wind direction and inclinations, it sounded inviting. I needed more single-handed practice and liked the idea of cruising for a change.

So it was that I spent the Friday turning Carolina back into a single-handed ship, which included re-mounting the Monitor windvane steering. This is not an easy task on your own as it involves using the main halyard to take the weight whilst hanging over the stern struggling with stainless tubes trying to prevent then digging into the hull. Once completed the last piece of the jigsaw for me was the “stack pack and lazy jacks” which makes lowering the main a much easier task on your own. Then it was just usual checking of engine, diesel, lights, charts…..

We had agreed to meet on Saturday morning (1st August) at 5:00 am in Portsmouth harbour to set off heading for Cherbourg. I left Hythe Marina and sailed down on Friday evening to spend the night in Royal Sovereign Marina. George arrived with Concerto late evening after work and kindly replaced a lazy jack I had stupidly pulled back through the block on the mast. From the way he climbs the mast basically un-aided, apart from me taking up the slack on the lines, he must be half monkey.

We woke to a very still and tranquil morning and motored out at low water to meet Wayne Mortiboys and his very smart Contessa 32 Infinity. So then there were three and without wind we motored in a beautiful sunrise out towards Bembridge.

After a fairly slow but uneventful crossing, the wind filling in from the South West about half way across we arrived in Cherbourg around 19:00 to find the place full! Pretending we didn’t really understand the nice French man in the rib we managed to wedge our Contessa’s into some very tight places, another advantage of our sensibly sized yachts.

Sunday morning saw us take a wander in search of food and more importantly beer. We are of course used to Supermarkets being open every day here but I am actually pleased to say not on a Sunday in Cherbourg. However, after making an effort in my appalling French to ask a young lady where would be open we found what we needed, I think at first she thought I was asking her if she was open for business!

Now, I said earlier that this was a cruise but if you put three chaps in Contessa 32’s heading in the same direction, the result is predictable. We left Cherbourg heading for Guernsey and timed our departure for a suitable tide at the Alderney Race. In a Southerly breeze it became obvious that big spinnakers would be required and as soon as we were clear of the marina preparations began on three decks. George managed to launch his kite very quickly and was soon half a mile ahead, followed by Wayne and then myself bringing up the rear. Luckily the wind decreased as we approached Cap De La Hague as despite the fact that conditions were pretty benign it was as usual a lumpy ride round and we were close in. Putting a spinnaker up on your own is quite straight forward, its getting it down that can be challenging especially if you are on an unstable platform. I think the easiest method is to collapse it behind the main, let the sheets and guys go and pull into the cockpit where you can control the halyard to prevent it getting wet. So we are now under white sails punching around La Hague and we eventually get into calmer waters setting a course for St Peter Port. By this time I was leading (but it wasn’t a race), I had just been down to re-pack the spinnaker and when I came up there was George coming up behind having already

re-launched his brand new and very shiny blue and white Sanders kite.

It was too good an opportunity and so I sacrificed my win (but it wasn’t a race) to make a video of George spinnaker reaching single-handed. As a way of thanking me George came quite (very) close and brushed my pushpit with his spinnaker. We all arrived safely in St Peter Port to find that it was full! Once again we managed to squeeze in, rafted out about 6 deep in the far corner of the outer marina. Later we watched the bun fight of boats vying for position to get into the inner harbour as soon as the sill was clear. The chap in the rib trying to organise them was shouting “get back, get back” as they raced to let go their lines from the waiting pontoons, but now they had to go backwards and the wind had taken effect, you get the idea! Germans can be funny can’t they?

After warm canapés (M&S across the road) and wine were served on Carolina and later suitably fed and watered in La Perla on the front, we retired.

Monday

We had an outline plan to carry on down to Jersey but as usual in the Channel Islands the tides wouldn’t work for us as so we decided on a rest day in St Peter Port, after all this was a cruise. We spent most of the morning lugging cans of diesel around from the fuel dock and spent the rest of the day tinkering with old boats.

Tuesday

To “Swinge or not to Swinge” that is the question. We were leaving Guernsey heading for Alderney’s Braye Harbour. Choices are to sail around the south of Alderney and then approach Braye from the east having battled around the east coast or sail around the north of the Island and brave the Swinge, that notorious and narrow stretch or water between Alderney and Burhou. The wind was “fresh” as we left and the Little Russel let us know that we weren’t in for the smoothest of passages but we did have plenty of breeze, on balance we decided that in the North Westerly if it was bumpy in the L Russel it would be very lively in the Swinge. We therefore shaped a course to the south of Alderney on a fast reach. We didn’t however get away lightly. As we rounded Alderney’s east coast the wind and tide increased creating a large and confused sea which ‘had our full attention” for about 30 minutes until we were in the protection of the breakwater. Pleased to be in more relaxed surroundings we weren’t pleased to find all of the visitors mooring buoys full! George managed to find a boat about to leave in 40 minutes and they kindly let him moor alongside them while he waited. Wayne and myself went off in search of a suitable place to anchor. We eventually were all hanging off one mooring buoy either side of Concerto- poor George! The wind shifted during the night and a swell built in the harbour causing much rubbing of fenders and the associated noise, sorry George.

Wednesday

Left Alderney heading for Weymouth. Once again very benign conditions saw us motoring for the first few hours with the wind filling in again about half way across. Sails were raised and the racing (fast cruising) commenced. George somehow managed to find another gear and gradually pulled away from Wayne and myself. I tried everything to keep in touch with Concerto but to no avail; I made a note to ask George for a sail trim lesson. It later transpired that George had decided to “use a little engine to maintain boat speed” to get into harbour at a reasonable time!!!

Safely tied up together in Weymouth…..

Thursday

Another day of rest and tinkering with boats. Wayne took himself up his own mast using his clever mast climber and making use of his recent training course, it was an impressive demonstration.

George was investigating something down below…..

Friday

No wind but a good opportunity to motor close inshore heading for Poole and a stag night appointment. Very pleasant and easy day saw us visit Lulworth Cove which was especially nice as I had always wanted to get in there but have either been on a time schedule or the weather hasn’t been right, so a windless day of pottering has its merits. Another famous landmark followed with photo opportunities at Durdle Door before rounding St Albans Head and into Poole.

Infinity and passing Durdle Door ……

Saturday

Once again we had light airs for our final day sailing back into the Solent as we weaved our way through the Cowes Week racing fleets. Solo week turned out to be a really enjoyable thing to do and I hope we can encourage a few more budding single-hander’s next year. Oh, by the way the stag night went very well. :)

Pisces 615:- Words from the Ed!

At the end of September I received an email from Paul Thompson, Here is an extract of it:-

“Thanks for the Newsletter which I am reading in the Marina Rubicon, Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Pisces is en route from Poole to Las Palms to join the 2015 ARC. I believe I am the only Contessa 32 and the smallest boat in the fleet. I am happy to share my antics which I post on the blog or write something for the next Newsletter if you think it would be of interest.” Paul had hoped he would be able to write something for the Newsletter but not unsurprisingly preparations for the 2015 ARC got in the way!! He has however said he is happy for me to take some extracts from his blog and print them for this newsletter whilst he battles the North Atlantic. Paul has a Pisces blog running here is the link (I hope I’ve got it right!) for anyone who would like to follow Pauls adventure and find out more about how he prepared for the ARC and how he fared on the race from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia. http://pisces615.blogspot.co.uk Paul Bought Pisces in 2010 and had extensive refurbishments done in the winters of 2012, 2013 and 2014, details of which are in his blog. In preparation for the ARC Paul planned to do a considerable amount of single handed sailing being joined for various legs by family and friends. His itinerary, as taken from the blog, is:- “Departure from Portland marina, UK at the end of May 2015. June and July day sailing to the coast of North and South Brittany, then, with crew from La Rochelle to Bilbao. Cruising the North Spanish coast and Spanish rias, then daysailing down the Portuguese coast to be in Lisbon by the end of August. With crew from Lisbon to Madeira and onto the Canary Islands to be in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria by the middle of October. Paul will return to the UK for a family wedding on October 24 leaving Pisces in Las Palmas. He will return at the end of October and make preparations for the crossing to St Lucia with the ARC (Pisces is registered). David will join Pisces about 14 November for a week’s acclimatisation. Depart November 22 with the ARC fleet and scheduled to arrive in St Lucia before Christmas. David will return to Australia. January to April daylight cruising up the Windward and Leeward islands to the Bahamas, up the USA Intracoastal Waterway to the Chesapeake. Depart Portsmouth, VA May 7 with the ARC Europe to Bermuda and the Azores. Then back to the UK by the end of June 2016.”

Pauls blog is full of interesting details of his trip to Gran Canaria and some wonderful photos, I’ve taken just a few extracts to give you a flavour, but do have a look yourselves! From the Log Tuesday 2nd June 2015 “Departed Portland marina 06.15 the 24 May in thick fog and no wind. Fog lifted at the Shambles and sailed into Braye Harbour, Alderney at 17.00 in WSW 4 and good visibility. Departed 04.45 on 26 May in NW2. Down a calm Swinge and motor sailed along the north coast of Guernsey. Engine off, gennaker up and windpilot on for most of the way. Curry for supper and clear night arriving off Libenter buoy at dawn. Tied up in Aber Wrac'h at 06.00. Departed 10.30 on 28 May in W3 and good visibility. Tacked out and around arriving off Le Four tower at 14.15. Calm sail down the Chanel du Four arriving in the Marina Vauban, Camaret at 18.30. Dinner ashore and joined by Sue, Nick’s wife. Left 10.00 on 30 May in light southerly. Arrived early in the Raz de Sein in a rising SW4/5 but slipped past La Plate in sunshine and a good beat up the coast arriving in Sainte Evette at 16.30. Picked up a mooring and a dinner ashore. Nick left to join Sue and return to UK and Gozo. Gloopy day on mooring and departed 08.00 on 1 June. Close hauled down to Penmarch and round in sunshine arriving in here at 14.00 yesterday.” From the Log Thursday 25th June 2015 “Left Les Sables on Thursday 18 June at 09.30 and had a good genniker run at 6 knots until abeam Ars-en-Re (really). Fiddled about off Antioke and finally in finger berth 51 in the little marina at St Denis d’Oleron, the last of the Vendee islands going south. Forecast stable with a high over Biscay and light northerly winds so decided to go directly to Bilbao as suggested by Nigel St George, 180 miles and keep off the French coast, Gironde entrance, Arcachon estuary and firing range. Departed St Denis at dawn after a welcome cup of tea from Nigel and Jenny. Motor sailed around the top of Isle d'Oleron in sunshine and had breakfast of chirozo omlette and bread. Spoke with Griffin, also en route to Bilbao so radio works in close quarters but unable to contact at 5 miles. Various encounters with fishing boats and a very dark night with the crescent moon setting about an hour after sunset. Fitful sleep but little seen until 11 am when mountains on the horizon. Breeze eventually came in at lunchtime on the second day so had plenty to sweep me into Bilbao and anchor off Getxo in 19 feet over mud. 37 hours all told. Booked for a week to see the city, catch up with myself and sort out the radio.”

From the Log Monday 14th September 2015

“Departed Porto Santo on Sunday 6 September in a rain shower but had a fine sail down to Madeira (30 miles) arriving in Quinta do Lorde marina in early evening. Stunning place with shear volcanic cliff as a backdrop. Sweet little resort but well away from Funchal, the capital. Henry, Terry’s 18 year old son, arrived so we were rather squashed in Pisces. The boys hired a car and toured the island and we had supper down the coast. David flew back to Blighty on 8 September and we departed at 11 am for the 300 miles to Lanzarote. This time we had a beam reach nearly all the way with the big genoa and mainsail. Out past the eerie Ilhas Desertas and onward south east to within 100 miles of the Africian coast. Few other boats and nice clear days but dark nights as no moon and lots of clouds. I used the Iridium GO to call JB in Australia each morning, send an email or two and download a three day weather forecast. All very clever stuff and reassuring for the long trip to come. We were ahead of schedule so had to make a night entrance to Marina Lanzarote which was quite fun as the marina is new and we did not have an up to date chart. However, all became clear and we moored up after 58 hours at sea. Lovely marina with all facilities and a short walk to Arrecife, the capital. Good resturants so a few days here I think. Terry flew back on 13 and Henry continues his travels to Barcelona today.”

From the Log Tuesday 6th October 2015

“A few lazy days and met up with Liam and Liz on Odessey. Walks along to Arrecife, cold beer, good showers and laundry (becomes important in the hot weather). However not much to do so departed with exciting exit past the dredger and cruise ship. Gentle sail down the coast made interesting by a sudden increase in wind speed from 8 to 20 knots in an ‘acceleration zone’. So windy entrance to the pristine Puerto Calero. A well run private mari-na in a purpose built resort with all the trimmings. Even better showers and brass bollards! No beach and loads of tourists bussed in for the ‘full English’. Oh where is the fish of the Ri-as and Ribidero wine? Onwards to the tip of Lanzarote to Marina Rubicon. Another lovely spot and great facilities. Met up with Alex and Anna on Pantalaimon II and Cliff and Val on AWOL, both ARC registered and had rather a raucous evening. Turns out that Alex and Anna are anesthetists who qualified at the Middlesex a few years after me and their daughter Emily was in Alice’s year at Sherborne! I was umming and ahing about what to do next. Had conflicting (but useful) advice from local Cruising Association HLAs so I decided to stick to my original plan and see a bit of Fuerteventura before heading to Las Palmas. So left in ear-ly sunshine on October 1 and motor sailed across to Los Lobos island and down the coast to Gran Talajal. Very different place! Pontoons wired with the wrong polarity, cold showers and cockroaches in the streets! Friendly people though and no tourists! Wifi difficult and food poor. Moved on after 2 nights towards the heel of the island and round the corner to Morro Jable. Stunning windswept scenery that caught the imagination of Moitissier. Mainly com-mercial harbour so I anchored off in 8 meters over sand and crystal clear water. Breezy night but calm morning so I left before dawn and motored all the way across the Traffic Separation Zone, arriving in the huge Muelle Deportivo at dusk on Sunday evening. Just tied up when a marinero arrived to move me to I14. Interesting arrangement of a stern rope mooring and bows to the pontoon. Just by the shops and main highway! Fortunately found the Club Maritimo Varadero de Gran Canaria with pool, gym, restaurants, showers and great wifi. Settled in for 2 weeks of jobs (sic) before a break in the UK for Catherine’s wedding and to be with JB again (she is flying over from Oz, its becoming a habit).”

I’m going to finish my run through Pauls log with the last post he made on Sunday 22nd

November 2015 in its entirety!

Next Stop St Lucia!!!

I think that says it all!!!!

I’ve been following Pauls Progress on the World Cruising Club Fleet viewer:-

http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/eventfleetviewer.aspx

As I put this article together I can tell you that Pisces is laying 12th in Cruising G, has 207NM to go and is at 14.45.40N 057.28.39W and is expected to finish on 15th December

2016 CO 32 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The AGM will be held on Saturday 5th March 2016

at 1100

at the London Corinthian Sailing Club, Hammersmith.

The AGM will be followed by the Annual Discussion Forum.

After the Discussion Forum there will be the Annual Prize Giving Lunch.

2016 CO 32 SEMINAR

The Seminar will be held on Saturday 16th April 2016

at 1000

at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club.

Contessa Christmas Rally 2015

The first weekend in December has become the start of the Christmas season for many of

us with the much awaited Christmas Rally, it grows in popularity every year and this year

was no exception.

This year we were expecting 12 boats for the rally in West Cowes but for the first time the

weather gods were against us, SW winds +30 Knots and gusts of +40 Knots were forecast

it wasn’t looking good! However the weather gods hadn’t banked on Contessa owners and

sailors!

5 boats managed to make it to the marina, some sailed before the weather set in; a special

mention must go to Simon Coleman on Caramor II. He sailed single-handed on Saturday

morning so that his family had somewhere to sleep!! How’s that for dedication? We should

also mention Richard Clark who was spotted, from the Isle of Wight ferry sailing up

Southampton Water with 3 reefs and a tiny bit of his No4, not one of us on the ferry wanted

to join him! He did decide he didn’t want to be there either so took Carolina back home and

caught a later ferry!

All 5 boats in the marina put on a fantastic light show and all even managed to hold onto

their decorations in the wind! Cantata (Rob Young and Philippa Cooke) won the best

dressed boat. A fantastic effort from everyone though.

We welcomed some new faces Syzygy (owners:- Mark & Ellene Thompson and family)

Liamar (owners:Derek Rust and his son Alec) Emma (Owner:- Shawn Taylor) whilst

Ku-Ring-Gai (Brad Croshaw) was attending her second Contessa Rally having joined for the

End of Season Rally at Marchwood, but welcome one and all.

In total we were 58 for dinner and what a lovely evening and meal it was, the Island Sailing

Club did a fantastic job and we weren’t the only party they had in. Lots of chat and laughter

and even a visit from one of Santa’s helpers for the children. The whole evening was a

resounding success and just goes to show that whatever the weather, come wind or snow,

the Contessa family enjoy a good social with each other just as much as they enjoy a good

boat!

I’m sure we would all want to thank George for all his hard work in putting it together and will be looking forward to next year’s event!

Cruising Update December 2015:- Mike Sellars

Story competition

Call for entries for the Cruising Log competition. Your stories can be as long or short as you like and in any format: prose, poetry, photos, video, even a scan or photo of an annotated chart. We are interested in all your stories whether they are detailed day-by-day diaries of your summer cruise, a short missive about a race or even a confessional, “Oops, look what happens if you forget to refit the seacocks before launching …”

Just make sure you send me your entry by 31st January 2016. Any articles written for the newsletter will be automatically entered. The judging panel will be Lynn Roberts from

Hungry Tiger, Alan Loach from Izy and me.

The winner will receive the fine “Jeremy Rogers Trophy” (see below) also known as the “Services Trophy” which will be awarded at the April rally and seminar in Lymington.

Cruising events during 2015

The cruising fleet in the Solent continues to grow and we were delighted to welcome sever-al newcomers this year: Assent, Cantata, Ku-Ring-Gai, Panache, Triagoz IV & Whisper.

May Bank Holiday (Whitsun) Rally: 12 boats & about 30 people met in Bembridge on the Saturday for a Pimms barbecue in the marina’s marquee; an enjoyable evening despite the cold. About 10 boats then cruised in company on Sunday to Itchenor Sailing Club for a fine evening meal after an impromptu pontoon party to finish off Saturday’s Pimms.

Summer Solstice Rally: 8 boats met in Newtown Creek on Saturday 20th June for byo barbecues on Hamstead Spit … once the weather had cleared sufficiently to keep them alight. On Sunday morning, several boats’ crews then enjoyed (some of) the National Trust’s recommended walk around Newtown before returning home.

End of Season Rally: 13 boats and about 30 people came together at Marchwood Yacht Club on Saturday 3rd October for a genial G&T session on the pontoons and meal at the Club. Unfortunately (for some), it was also England’s rugby world cup match against Australia, so there wasn’t a perfect ending to the evening. However, and more importantly, Sunday yielded some champagne sailing conditions for the journey home.

Christmas Rally: 16 boats signed up for George Isted ’s annual boat-decorating and mince pie extravaganza on 5th December in Cowes.

Plans for 2016

16th April: Spring Rally & Seminar, details TBC but along the lines of ... Seminar at Royal Lymington Sailing Club starting at 10am Lunch at the club followed by a visit to Jeremy Rogers boatyard Evening gathering at a local hostelry

28-30th May Bank Holiday

Beach BBQs in Yarmouth, berthing at Harold Hayles Cruise in company for an evening meal (venue TBD)

18-19th June: Summer Solstice meet-up in Newtown Creek 27-29th August: Bank Holiday meet-up in Studland Bay 8-9th October: End of Season Rally (venue TBD) 3rd-4th December: Christmas Rally

The map of boats

The map was created in response to a request to be able to contact boat owners in loca-tions they might be planning to visit, whether by boat or by other means.

For those that are happy to publicise their boat’s location, please note that if you enter a fairly general address, e.g. Portsmouth, then all boats with that address will be overlaid on the map. But Google is rather adept at dealing with detailed addresses, so it would be very helpful if people can enter their boat’s location with as much detail as possible.

I plan to update the map very soon, hopefully to coincide with the launch of the new web-site.

NEW FOR 2016

C.A.L.M.E.S (Contessa Association “Life Made Easier” Society)

Do you have any tips to share that turn cruising in your CO32 from camping to glamping?

This is a strictly NON TECHNICAL column in the newsletter to make living onboard easier

and calmer. Pass on your space saving tips or tell us what you can’t live without when

cruising. What is your fastest gourmet recipe for feeding cold, hungry and tired crew?

What have you bought (or installed) and wonder why you didn’t think of it years ago?

What little known marina/anchorages have you found? What pubs or restaurants do you

recommend when visiting harbours?

Do please share your tips with us before the next sailing season.

Final note from Ed:- I just couldn’t resist sharing one of my personal favourite photos from

this season, it was taken at the end of season rally we had in Marchwood and was a sight I

never thought I’d see!

A lovely new cockpit tent for Contessa Catherine to compliment the recently installed

heating system; welcome to cruising mode, maybe this is our first C.A.L.M.E.S piece!!

Thank you Rob and Marcia for one of the highlights of my season!!

Well that’s all folks wishing you all great Christmas and a happy healthy and peaceful

New Year with lots of lovely sunny sailing.