There was an excellent weekend of socialising and sailing in Ramsgate and Sandwich for the gathering OGA60 Round Britain Cruise fleet of nine boats. The send off was organised by OGA stalwarts, Robert and Jan Holden, who keep their beautiful classic gaff yacht ‘Emanuel’ at Sandwich. As Monday morning dawned, the fleet was gone! Tides determined an early start at 0400 for most of the fleet, so sadly, there’s no photos of the ‘grand depart’!
Cornish Crabber 26’, ‘Lahloo’, part of the fleet leaving Ramsgate spent the first night in Dover, having left Ramsgate ‘for a lovely Monday morning sail to test out the new sail’. In Dover, ‘Lahloo’ had to do some repairs up the mast, enabling the skipper to snap an aerial shot of another OGA60 boat, ‘Agapanthus’. According to reports via various channels, ’Bonita’, the oldest boat in the fleet, built at the Crossfields of Arnside yard in 1888, sailed through the night and at 2300 was off Beachy Head, ‘Mutual Friend’, the Essex smack spent the night in Brighton and four boats were in Eastbourne: ‘Cygnet of London’, ‘Onward of Ito’, ‘Recipe’ from the Netherlands with ‘Hilda’, the 50’ ex-lifeboat also from the Netherlands.
Further south, we hear that Chris Roberts, sailing the newest boat in the fleet, ‘Peggy’, launched 2022, has departed her home port to travel west. She’s a Cornish Crabber 30’ pilot cutter, diesel electric hybrid and on 1 May overnights in Newtown Creek on passage to Neyland where she’ll join the fleet as they arrive from the east.
You must be logged in to post a comment.