1,100 miles and a new name

A few boats have been changing hands recently – Olly Love writes from Itchenor:

“When we drove from Chichester to Helensburgh back in Sept 2011 to buy our Sonata (FRANK) it was always my intention to get an Impala, so when we were driving back up north with the Sonata in tow to part exchange with her original owner for an impala it was a dream come true.

I had been looking for an Impala for a few months however they were all either too expensive or had outboards then we came across Revelry, it was an inboard with new sails, and a trailer unfortunately it was 500 miles away in Scotland.  After a few emails back and forth we came to a deal where Murray would have his Sonata back and we would have the Impala (plus some beer tokens).

We had a slight problem, I am 25 and Sam is 24 so neither of us can tow anything over 750kg, so after a call to Sam`s parents offering them an all expenses paid trip to sunny Glasgow we hitched the Sonata to the back of the Discovery and left Chichester at 9pm on the Friday 21th of Dec.  After a good night’s sleep on the M6 with us in the back while the in-laws drove through the night we arrived in Helensburgh to be greeted by traditional Scottish weather, 30+ knots, torrential rain and flooding.

We exchanged sails and funds, and hitched up the Impala to head to our first stop the 5 star Glasgow airport Travelodge (imagine the inside of faulty towers and you have a good idea of the place).  The roads were waterlogged and the locals (more…)

Fluky, fantastic racing

Springtime conditions came to the Hamble winter series yesterday, in a patchy, shifty, frustrating breeze. One race was sailed, ending with a long beat against the tide in a failing breeze to finish at Coronation. Trudi was first Impala home, followed by Polly, then Imptish. It was a tricky race, Read more…

Hamble Winter Series week 3

With Polly’s owners on duty elsewhere it was left Imptish, Trudi and Magic to defend the classes honour on the third day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. A fluctuating north easterly breeze of between 12 and 18 kn led to some tight racing within the seven strong iRC4 class. Read more…

4 days to go!

Impalas are beginning to congregate in Plymouth for the hotly anticipated 2012 championships, despite the torrential rain and flooding that has turned parts of Devon into Atlantis. Some delivery trips have been easier than others. Polly and Imptish took a light Southeasterly straight from Hamble to Plymouth, while, 24 hours Read more…