Wina II under sail has been a long time coming. As it is not possible to photograph your own boat under sail I had to wait for the opportunity to sail in company with my Daughter and her husband on their Westerly Griffon 'Paxi Moon'. For three days - 25th, 26th and 27th of July - the Met Office promised us a fine weekend in an otherwise dismal summer, the tides were right so we went for it. An added bonus was that my Son was home from Singapore for a week and I had a crew.
'Paxi Moon' was sailing from the River Hamble and 'Wina II' from Portsmouth Harbour and we planned to meet up off Lee-on the-Solent for a photo shoot. Things went according to plan. At the time of meeting I was under bare pole motoring into a force 4 and a foul tide whilst they were running free and down tide. It did not take long to head up a few degrees into the wind and get all of the sails up and stop the engine and start to enjoy the sailing.
We tacked and jibed around for about an hour getting into position for some good shots. We then set off towards Southampton Water close hauled and 'Wina II' got into her stride and we left 'Paxi Moon astern. The GPS gave us 6 kts over the ground against a head wind and foul tide. Just North of the Bramble Bank we hove too for 'Paxi Moon' to catch up before heading for Cowes where we would spend the night. Here she really came into her own.
A sea breeze set in and was a steady force 5 and the tide pushing us east right on the beam. We got tangled up with a racing fleet of 36ft open Keel boats and to my amazement we were pointing as high as they were and all making for Cowes. I had put the Auto helm on and was pleased to note that it was not having any work to do. Meanwhile, 'Paxi Moon' was about three quarters of a mile down wind and down tide of us and facing a long tack out into the Solent to get off the entrance of the River. She elected to stow her sails and motor.
The family came aboard Wina II for a drink in the cockpit before repairing ashore for dinner.
The photographs below show Wina II fitted out for Cruising.
