Solent Tour Midweek Rally 7th August 2025. Mercury Yacht Harbour

Published 01:00 on 19 Aug 2025

Long standing HYC member Stewart Velzian gave us the idea for the Solent Tour Rally. Stewart suggested a "Chalk and Cheese Rally" where we visit Newtown Creek one night followed by Marchwood Yacht Club the next. Unfortunately, MYC was not available on the dates that suited us but we still  thought this was a great idea so we developed it into visiting 4 different locations, spending 1 night in each place. This gave us a rally with a difference plus plenty of contrast and the added bonus that members could pick and choose which places they wanted to visit and those they didn't.

What we didn't realise at the time of planning was that the rally would be taking in place during Cowes Week. This could lead to some interesting, if not challenging, trips across The Solent!

Day 3 saw us waking up in Buckers Hard and then many of us making our way to Mercury Yacht Harbour on the beautiful River Hamble. Our boat Nemo had been one of the last to arrive the night before at Bucklers Hard so we were the fourth boat out, rafted up to Dreamcatcher (Paula and Dennis Pearce and their two friends John and Anita). Dennis said he needed to make a reasonably early start so we said we'd slip our lines at about 9:00 am. We decided it would be nice to go over to Osborne Bay for brunch and the route took us right over the entrance to Cowes just as several races were getting ready to start. Was this going to be OK? Yes: we were on Starboard and all the racers were either on Port or those on Starboard were the overtaking vessel. Result: a great sail with enough wind to keep us going and loads of boats to keep an eye on. We even passed close to the Committee Boat who gave us a friendly wave.

Whilst sitting at anchor we were able to watch many of the races off to the east and it was great fun seeing them tack around a mark and then pop their spinnakers out, one after another.

After brunch we set off north towards Southampton Water and the River Hamble and this time we were on Port. Ah, but the racers (who were racing by then, not just getting ready) were going west so they were on Port too. We were the windward boat so we had to pass behind them if there was any chance of a collision. Planning our moves across the various fleets certainly kept us on our toes but it was also great fun. All too soon we reached Hamble Point SCM where we decided to put the sails away.

Our trip up the Hamble was as busy as ever; there are always so many boats to see and various dinghy clubs were also out weaving back and forth. Rally Lead Brian Masters had very kindly found out from Mercury YH where each of us would be berthed which he passed on to us via a WhatsApp message. A quick call to the marina told us which side we would be moored up to and meant we could get all our lines and fenders prepared well in advance.

The Hamble has many marinas along its length and the first few can be very busy. Mercury Yacht Harbour is a bit further up and it's much quieter with beautiful views across the river to the mudflats opposite where many wading birds can be spotted. The nice thing was that although some boats dropped out from going to Mercury other boats joined us there so we had a new set of friends to meet. In total there were 5 boats at Mercury: Minalto with Anne and Michael Sword Daniels; Nemo with Ann and me (Jem Nicholls) and our friend Ash; Misty Moon with Hilary and Brian Masters; Katy Jinny with Cathy and Garry Hems and Vin Rouge with Deborah and Stephen Burder.

By the time we got there it was a very calm, peaceful evening and we could take time settling down before a very enjoyable 'pontoon party' aboard Minalto courtesy of Ann and Michael, where we all sat and chatted over a few drinks.

It was then off to The Gaff Rigger, the on-site restaurant where we all had a very lovely meal and were well looked after by the staff.

In the morning there was enough time to sort out a few jobs. Nemo's pennant line had come adrift so Ash volunteered to be hoisted up in the Bosuns chair to sort it out. This has become a bit of a tradition for Ash at HYC rallies as he did the same for Ken Ryan on Forget Me Knot at The Folly last year!

For those that have been up to Mercury or beyond, you may have spotted a large rusty metal shape like a huge funnel sticking out of the mud on the west bank just after the marina. I asked in the office and they told me it was from a pre-WW1 ship called HMS Sultan and had been installed on the bank as an observation platform.

One by one we departed Mercury and the next stop for most of us was West Cowes.

I would highly recommend Mercury as a great place to stop on The Hamble, big enough to be able to accommodate all of us, good facilities yet quiet enough to be relaxing without the razzamatazz of some places.

Jem Nicholls

Related

• Solent Tour midweek Rally 2025 : Thursday 7th August: Mercury Yacht Harbour, Hamble River (7 - 8 August)

Last updated 15:24 on 2 September 2025