Speedbird spent the 2025 season away from home. She left the Hamble in April and did not spend a settled summer in the Solent, working her way down the Channel and across to France while Concorde stayed behind for everyone else. The series began with four days to St Vaast, on the north-east corner of the Cherbourg peninsula. It is a fishing town first and a yachting destination second, which is the appeal: trawlers land on the quay, there are acres of oyster beds within sight of the restaurants, and the lock gate sets the rhythm of the day. From there the plan was Weymouth, Falmouth and the Scilly Isles, then St Peter Port, St Malo and Jersey, with a second trip to Jersey after that. Not every leg ran exactly as written, which is the nature of a season built around weather windows rather than timetables. July took a crew from St Malo round the Brittany coast, calling at Saint Cast-le-Guildo, St Quay Portrieux, Lezardrieux and Paimpol before returning to St Malo, with a dinghy trip across to the Ile de Brehat. The pink granite of Brehat and the Iles Chausey were the pictures everyone came home with. Every one of these trips was open to any club member. Where a trip was oversubscribed, names came out of a hat. That is how the club has always done it, and it is why a member with no boat of their own can spend a fortnight of the summer in Brittany for the price of the daily sailing fee.
Andrew Williams
Andrew WilliamsMore photos
