Solent Saunter Sunday 31 May - Thursday 4 June 2026 Cut short ...
Published 09:22 on 14 Jun 2026 by Sue PEARSON
Solent Saunter Rally 2026
Day 1:
The rally started on Sunday 31st May with the first stop for the evening at Southsea Marina at the mouth of Langstone Harbour. Mandalay was the committee boat for the Solo Open meeting on Saturday which meant that we spent the night at Itchenor on the walk ashore pontoon which enabled an earlier start than if we had been on our mooring at Dell Quay.
We had a good sail in a 4 to 6 SW wind with a single tack from the West Pole due to a 2kt tide taking Mandalay westwards.
The marina staff where very friendly and the Dell Quay boats all negotiated the sill without any issues and were grouped together.
Three boats arrived Mandalay, Roussillon and Firebird in time for a chat before having a meal at the Bombay Bay Indian Restaurant.
The Bombay Bay is an above average Indian Restaurant; its one of our favourites and part of the marina complex.
Day 2: Southsea Marina, Langstone to Port Solent Marina, Portsmouth.
We had planned to have a cooked breakfast either in the bar at the marina or at the hut at the harbour entrance, but only Roussillon team went to the hut at the entrance for a bacon sandwich whereas the rest were still full from the Indian meal.
We left Southsea Marina around 11:00hrs in a 4 to 5 SW gusty wind to go via the Dolphin gap in the defensive wall to Portsmouth. We had discussed going through the small boat passage near the beach but the sea was very choppy and the wind had strong gusts that we all abandoned that idea.
During one of the gusts my Tilly hat flew off causing a man (hat) overboard drill on Mandalay which went well and my hat was retrieved.
We had a pleasant sail to Portsmouth and then motored through the harbour enjoying the historical and modern sights in the harbour. We passed the new Royal Navy carrier and then passed the Roman Fort at Portchester what a contrast and a gap of 2000 years.
The marina is locked but Fairwind and Mandalay managed to get through on free flow whilst Roussillon and Firebird used the lock in. We were all put on the same pontoon, making it very sociable.
Port Solent is the home of Marine Super Store hence we all ended up in the store where thought we had met John Purdy but it turned out to be his twin brother. His comment was he didnt know John had so many friends.
Drinks were had on Mandalay before going for dinner at Prezzo for Italian delights and to celebrate Andys birthday with a cake and candles.
Having monitored the weather forecast for the following days and had discussions on the choices we all decided that we had no option but to abandon the rally and head for home before the strong winds of over 30 kts arrived on Wednesday and Thursday.
Day 3: Port Solent, Portsmouth to Dell Quay, Chichester Harbour
Tim and Dick in Firebird left at 9.30 for Birdham and Andy and Chris in Roussillon at 10.30 followed by Sue and Barrie in Fairwind and Martin and Sarah in Mandalay at 11.00. We had a good sail back to Chichester in 4 5 SW wind with a choppy sea. On arrival at Dell Quay we all had difficulty in getting on our moorings due to the wind had increased with strong gusts, claps of thunder and the choppy water. In the process of loading Mandalays tender the tender decided to untie itself and head for the shore I must have said something it didnt like! Fortunately Chris wasnt too far away and rowed it back to Mandalay. Sarah and I are very grateful as neither of us fancied a swim.
As always there was fun to be had on the Dell Quay Rallies but it was a shame we had to cut short the rally due to the weather; who knows what other exciting events may have occurred!
Martin Greenhalgh
Mandalay
Total distance travelled 39.6 nm
Photos by Martin Greenhalgh and Barrie Pearson.
