Rutland Water 2013 Rally 6/4/2013-7/4/2013

[Jonathan Stuart]

Peter,

Sorry for the late notice, but if possible we (me + 1 crew) will also join you at the pub. We made our sailing and camping plans at the weekend and would definitely like to join the dinner - the company and the chance to defrost are equally appealing! Hopefully the late notice won't be an issue for the pub.

BTW, I just spoke to the people at Rutland and they have an issue with their pontoons so there are no overnight berths available. However, boats can be left on their trailers fully rigged in the car park by the slipway and they are happy for us campers to sleep on board the boat there.

[Rob Johnstone]

Hi Peter,

I've booked myself and my crew into the pub for Saturday night ( to thaw out properly, Jonathon) and I'd like Richard to join us at the meal as well. When I booked the room, (about a week ago) I mentioned the one extra for the dinner and it didn't seem to be a problem at the time.

Off to Cardigan tomorrow, where Matt & crew have worked some wonders on Vagabond, then towing her to Rutland on Friday!

Rob J

[Peter Cockerton]

Rob and Jonathon

We have a room booked for our evening meal which will take all the interested parties so far. The more the merrier as they say and on that point that point the bitter went down very well the last time we was there.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday

Peter

[Andy Dingle]

Just to add to Peter's post. The weather looks pretty good for the weekend so far, and likely to be some of the best weather we have had this year so far.

Windfinder gives Northerly F3 sunny for Saturday, Sunday Northerly F4, with a little more cloud. The weekend will apparently be a tad warmer than of late too.

Northerlies will give some good long reaches down the 'legs' of the lake so there should be some pretty good sailing. So really no excuses not to come along!

[Peter Cockerton]

If you were deliberating whether to come along or not the improvement in the weather forecast should swing it in in favour, Saturday NE 7/18 gusts, a balmy 8 degrees, Sunday southerlys 8/19 gusts sweltering 9 degrees.

Myself and Andy Dingle are very much looking forward to meeting in the flesh several members we have spoken to on the forum and having a good nose around the various boats and mods that have been implemented.

The site cafe is open for hot refreshments and the Rutland Belle is running for those that fancy a trip around the lake in a more sedate manner should we say.

In case you need boaty bits the sailing centre is very well stocked with its own chandlery and last time i was there a clothing sale as well.

The room we have booked for our Saturday supper will take 17 and currently i have 7 spaces, again this promises to be an excellent opportunity to talk to like minded people on our sport and love of Swallow Boats as well as supporting the local brewery.

We both look forward to seeing you all tomorrow then at the Whitwell Watersports Centre on the North shore of Rutland Reservoir.

If you need to contact me my mobile is 07774 111112

Peter Cockerton

[Royboy]

Thanks to a quick phone call to Peter last night, I attended Rutland today and had a splendid day sailing Jonathan's BRe with him and Russ. - Thank you again Jonathan - most kind 

I now can't wait to take delivery of my own BRe in July - hurry up Matt!

I have uploaded some photos to the gallery for those of you whose boats I photographed - enjoy

Roy Wearing

[Jonathan Stuart]

Great to meet so many nice people at Rutland and it was good to see all those Swallow Boats craft on the water. We'll have to do it again sometime! Thank you to Peter for organising this and getting us all on the water while keeping it friendly and informal. Somehow you even managed to fix the weather too!

Roy has created a Rutland 2013 album in the Gallery so I will upload my pics there.

[Rob Johnstone]

Peter,
Thanks for organising a great weekend afloat. Even the weather was kind, despite the odd bit of snow lying around.  Great to meet so many Swallow owners and their boats.
Getting back to the pontoon on the first day caused us a bit of a headache - I have realised that I have become over used to Freddie providing a push when required. The dinghy oars provided the necessary oomph on Sunday.
I'll upload a couple of pictures when I can find them on my phone!

[Rob Johnstone]

I'm cleary having a bad tech day as I can't find the upload menu for the gallery.
You'll have to make do with my photo of Anam Cara attached to this entry.
I see there's a photo of Vagabond on the gallery - thanks, it's the first I have of her under way and I'm reasonably pleased to see that I have the sails hoisted with the right bits of string and even the ensign is (almost) flying as it usually droops in the water!
I'm envious of Anam Cara's logo and sail number.

[Jonathan Stuart]

This is how to upload photos to the Gallery:

1. Login and you should see a black menu bar across the top of the web site. (If at first this doesn't appear then go to another web site page and that should force the menu to be added).
2. Put your mouse over "Gallery" on this menu and the Gallery menu will appear.
3. Click on "Add Pictures".
4. Choose the files you want to upload by clicking "Select Files" and selecting your photo(s). To select multiple photos, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on each file name.
5. Select the name of the Gallery where the files should be uploaded.
6. Click "Upload images" and the photo(s) will be uploaded.

I have attached a screenshot showing these last 3 steps.

[Peter Cockerton]

Many thanks to all that attended Rutland Waters at the weekend and the kind comments of thanks delivered personally and postings on the forum.
The pride of Swallow Boat ownership was obvious from the pristine presentation of all the boats and provided an excellent showcase for Matt and his team. Apart from myself and Andy faffing around with spinnakers for the first time all other crews gave no opportunity for shore side entertainment. The evening gathering at the White Horse was superb, put several people together who have only briefly exchanged a few words prior to sitting down around a large table and you never know how it will go but over 3 hrs there was never a pause in conversation and not all about boats.
So once again many thanks for making the effort and i'm sure next year we can make it happen again.

Andy and Peter

[Simon Reeve]

To add my thanks to Peter for organising and everyone for making it such an enjoyable weekend.
It was great to meet you all. Seriously considering whether Bala may be a possibility!
I have just added my selection of our photos to the gallery. Enjoy!
Simon