Practising solicitors swapped their law volumes for the Channel Pilot and Nautical Almanac last week as they completed the first Royal Yachting Association training courses to be organised by the Law Society Yacht Club. The course was run by solicitor advocate turned yachtmaster instructor (and club commodore) Andy Hobson in a chartered Bavaria 36, inappropriately named No Optimist. Gazette news editor Michael Cross came along as first mate and cook - and to receive some much needed catch-up tuition.
In four days of glorious sunshine, the students covered the day skipper syllabus and more, taking in passage-planning, boat-handling under sail and power and general seamanship in the always interesting waters of the Solent. Highlights included a buoy-hopping night exercise, scraping up the Beaulieu river just after low tide and a bracing beat home to windward past the treacherous Bramble Bank.
The course was the first event of what looks like a busy 2025 season for the club, membership of which is open to sailors at all levels with a connection to the legal profession. For more information, see www.lsyc.org.uk.
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