For us the point in having a sailing boat it to use it, and to explore new places. Some boats sit in the marina either un-used or activing as a permanent project for fiddling on, but without going to sea. I like to think that we stretch Trouper’s legs as much as we can whilst holding down full time jobs.
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Watching 14s go in circles
We’ve been members of Itchenor SC for about 15 years. We joined when we got involved in sailing XODs – wonderful Edwardian day boats that are raced very hard indeed. We’ve remained members partly because I’ve always planned to go back to sailing XODs when I get time, but also to support the place as…
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Cherbourg in May
It was all looking so good – we just got onto the platform at Waterloo on time to catch the 1705 to Southampton Airport Parkway and on to Universals where we had a table booked for dinner at Riverside Social at 1945. We put our bags in the rack and sat down, just in time…
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Late May Bank Holiday
Once Trouper was back afloat with a working propeller I was keen to get her off the mooring and to actually start to make use of her this year. Before we could leave on the Saturday there was a chunk of last minute work to be done that I’ve described in Last minute maintenance and…
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Lessons learned and what to change
This post has taken a while to be published so describes the autumn 2025 position, on our return from the Brittany trip. This trip had a few purposes: So how’ve we done? The first two I think we’ve achieved. We’re still talking to each other, and talking about future trips, indeed we’re both very clear…
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And Trouper is back on her home berth.
We left Poole on Monday afternoon and headed for Lymington, where we arrived in time for some excellent fish and chips. We stayed in the Yacht Haven, rather than the Berthon, as they had room. My father used to keep a boat here in the late 90s that I used to sail regularly. The marina…
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Back in England
We left Treguier at about 0930 on Friday and, once clear of the river (and all its off-lying rocks), set a course for the Cap de la Hague, the South Western tip of the Cotenin peninsular. The straight line track takes you a bit close to some rocks half way to Guernsey and then straight…
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Spent Hurricanes and adapting plans
We’d been planning to head towards St. Malo from Treguier with a stop in Saint-Quay-Portrieux, which I spent a night in some dozen years ago during Trouper’s first summer tour. That summer Kathryn and I had been beaten by the weather in our attempts to get to the Scillies but had had a glorious time…
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The Rose Coast and timetables.
We spent a single night back in Roscoff, having arrived via the passage inshore of Ile de Batz. This was a recommendation from my friend Andy who had enjoyed my account of getting caught out on the outboarnd journey, having done exactly the same himself. With a decent rise of tide the passage is simple,…
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Risk perception and back in the English Channel
As someone who has spent a lot of time teaching people to use powerboats safely it is interesting to see the French approach to risk management and safety. The UK has a sad history of accidents resulting in deaths and serious injury from using powerboats, especially RIBs. That’s resulted in an approach to managing them…
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Glenan and the Raz with company
Port Tudy drove home what I’d been noticing for some time: whilst Trouper is perhaps a little larger than average around the Solent but at 43′, she’s hardly large, and 50’+ boats are common; here we are definitely heading for outsize. When we had dinner with our friend’s brother in law, a lifelong sailor, the…