Despite a cold wet day 41 people met at Bosham Sailing Club on Saturday to hear many interesting tips and words of advice on how to “go fast” from Ian Porter, a past National Champion of various dinghy classes and closely involved in building various boats including Wanderers and Wayfarers.

The intention had been to be land based in the morning and have short races on the water in the afternoon but it was decided to step down most of the patrol boat crew after lunch in the Club House, and some rigging advice on the Quay, with the drizzle still falling. The Wanderer Class Owners’ Association had arranged for a “new” Wanderer to be brought to the Club for the weekend and a few hearty souls took the chance to try it out on the water. The boat’s original design by Ian Proctor has been updated by Phil Morrison and is now being built by Hartley Laminates and fitted out and sold in Southern England through Porter Brothers in Emsworth. The familiar Wanderer profile remains the same and the sail area is unchanged. The hull looks basically the same despite a new mould, there is a flatter foredeck and spinnaker chute, and the interior and deck layouts have been tidied up and streamlined with a lower centreboard casing. A new feature, in addition to the floor bailers, is the drainage channel under the removable stern hatch leading to two transom flaps. Instead of a mainsheet traveller, there is now a bridle on the transom for stern sheeting, with the option of having the mainsheet controlled from the centre of the boat. The more experienced helmsmen who tried her out gave her the thumbs-up for performance.

Other visitors braved the rain to get a feel for Bosham creek on a falling tide, having brought their boat some distance, but most returned to hear further words of advice from Ian and see a practical demonstration on setting and working a spinnaker. Ian’s enthusiasm and the fact he gave of his time voluntarily was an inspiration to us all.

Excellent catering throughout the day was provided by Clare from the Bosham kitchen which she finished off with a sit down meal for 32 in the evening when we were pleased Ian and his wife Jane were able to join us as guests of the Wanderer Class Association.

Sunday started with a miserable forecast of wind and rain but developed into a perfect day for a sail. Twelve boats (10 Wanderers and 2 Wayfarers) ended up on the water around 10.30am, setting sail for Dell Quay with 2 patrol boats. Some took the precaution to reef down with a forecast of 4-5 gusting 6 in the Solent. However this just enabled a more relaxed sail and those with full rig seemed to manage without difficulty in what turned out to be a steady force 4. We had an easy reach down Bosham creek before assembling off Itchenor to cruise together up Chichester Harbour to Dell Quay. Boats seemed to be out racing everywhere, which was lovely to watch, and with the tide helping us we managed to arrive at Dell Quay at 12.00, on time for jacket potatoes which had been put on to cook as we left Bosham by the hospitable members of Dell Quay sailing club.

Lunch could be taken in the sun with the magnificent view of the Harbour from Dell Quay sailing club, at full tide. We then left at 13.30 to take the tide again back to Itchenor with the wind behind us, before beating up Bosham Channel on a falling tide trying to get home whilst there was still some water.

A very successful weekend was enjoyed by visiting Wanderers from as far afield as Poole and Norwich and it was a great pleasure to show the beauty of Chichester Harbour to new visitors. It was just a pity more Bosham Wanderers, as well as Wayfarers were not able to take the benefit of some excellent instruction and sailing.

 

Anne Downing
BSC Wanderer Class Captain
W1402 “Volenti”

All photos by Barry Colgate.