The Offshore Rally Returns
Published 13:32 on 1 Jul 2026
The Offshore Rally Returns
After far too many years, one of the club's best-loved traditions, the Offshore Rally, was hauled back out, dusted off and relaunched this June, and what a comeback it was.
The premise is a simple and very Corinthian one: get the dinghy sailors and the yacht sailors of LCSC onto the same patch of water and see what happens. The format is a yacht trip to Cowes, but with a twist - on the way over we run a timed passage around a course set by James Albery, before docking in Cowes together for a proper sit-down dinner. Six yachts and crews answered the call.
Friday: gathering the fleet
It began, as all the best sailing weekends do, in the pub. Crews and boats convened in Hamble on Friday evening for a meal and a few drinks, with Jengu and Petruchio making the trip round from Portsmouth that evening. Crews were a proper mix of the seasoned and the green - everyone from a sailor who had never set foot on a yacht in their life, to skipper Peter Hopps, a Yachtmaster Instructor who has been racing for over forty years.
Saturday: patience rewarded
Saturday was hot with blue skies which, for sailors, can be both a blessing and a curse. The fleet made its way out to the start for the planned 10am gun, only to find barely a breath of wind to fill the sails. The morning race was sensibly called off, and the fleet drifted over to Osborne Bay to wait the breeze out (a hardship that, in 25 degrees and flat water, nobody seemed to mind).
Their patience paid off. The wind filled in, and the afternoon timed passage got away in light-to-medium conditions. Crews set off on a tricky upwind first leg with the fleet trading places all the way up the beat. For most boats the course was a puzzle of wind holes and shifts where small tactical decisions could result in big gains and losses. The drama of the day belonged to Jengu and Sam of Hamble, who were neck and neck on the final leg when a brutal 100-degree wind shift arrived without warning, leaving both crews scrambling to drop spinnakers and hoist jibs in their rush to the finish.
When the boats finally crossed the line, the crews did the only sensible thing: cracked open drinks in the sunshine on deck.
Saturday night: the social
Dinner was a lovely three-course meal at Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club, our gracious hosts for the weekend. What followed was a disco, and the consumption of a quantity of beer and booze that we shall politely decline to quantify here.
Sunday: the breeze finally shows up
Sunday brought a complete change of scenery, with the wind cranking up to a meaty 1525 knots. It was admittedly a leisurely start, as skippers nursed sore heads and crews assembled with varying degrees of enthusiasm after the night before. With conditions this good, though, it was an easy decision to bolt another timed passage onto the weekend.
This one was all about boat speed. With several legs set as straight-line runs to the mark, the boats that could point high and sail fast were handsomely rewarded.
The results
Results were calculated using a proprietary, fiendishly complex and highly accurate handicap system, putting the charter boats on a level playing field with the racing yachts. Nobody is quite sure exactly how it works, but we're told it's the true Corinthian spirit, in algorithm form.
When the dust settled, Jengu (skippered by Matt Bodner) took the honours on Saturday's passage, while Mischief (skippered by Derrick Evans) claimed Sunday's.
And finally
A great time was had by all, and the Offshore Rally has earned its place back on the calendar. Enormous thanks go to Cassie Gleeson for spearheading the organisation and making the whole thing happen, and to Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club for hosting us so well.
Here's to next year.
Last updated 13:39 on 1 July 2026