Report on Tallships Challenger Long Weekend Cruise 13-16 June 1013

The crew assembled at Gunwharf Quays Marina at 11 AM on Thursday 13 June for an eagerly anticipated long-weekend voyage on Tallships’ Challenger 4.  After selecting a bunk, everyone was introduced to the boat.  Below deck we were introduced to the sail locker, the heads (with gimbles), the skipper and mate’s cabins, the galley, saloon, nav station and mess deck.    On deck we were introduced to a variety of colored halyards and other lines as well as the winches and the safety equipment.   After a weather brief we learnt that going Cross-channel our destination would need to be Weymouth and Poole  After lunch we retrieved the Yankee III Foresail and the staysail from the sail locker, and hanked them on ready for use before slipping our moorings and heading out into the Solent bound for Cowes which was to be our destination for the first night.

The first challenge was to get the mainsail up.  Then came the Yankee and Staysail.  We quickly discovered that everything was at least 5 times heavier than the equivalent on the size of yacht that we are used to. It was hard work but you would have enjoyed it I am sure.  We didn’t cross the channel in the end as the weather was not ideal for that but Cowes, Weymouth and Poole were a good substitute as it turned out most people just wanted the ‘big boat’ experience.  We encountered a full range of weather and used every sail except storm sail and the kites. The website has a link to a video compilation that gives a good flavour of the sailing we encountered.  We ate well too