Savannah in the Solent

Hugh Morrison at the helm of Savannah. The weather was due to get rough so I'd decided to head off home early today. But before leaving I was keen to meet a chap who runs a yacht building yard in Lymington. He was already on board the yacht where he was due to be racing as the tactician.

Anyway we got chatting and then the owner, Hugh, asked me if I wanted to come out to race. So I did.

The yacht is called Savannah. It's a 1996-built modern classic based on the lines of a J-Class yacht from the 1930s but with all the modern gadgets - powered winches, bathroom, even a wood-burning stove.

Hugh races it mainly in the Mediterranean but has brought it up to the Solent for the summer since there are a lot of superyacht races in the offing - two J-class races, the Pendennis Cup in Falmouth and the Solent-based Superyacht Cup that starts in a week's time.

Ellen MacArthur and her border collie, Norman , joined us on the deck at the end of the race . I met her three years ago when I sailed with her on the annual Isle of Wight round the island race. Hugh was one of her earliest backers in long distance racing and introduced her to her Vendee Globe sponsor, Kingfisher. She's a lovely woman who seems totally at ease with life but she works hard now for her charity, The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.

We had 25 kts of wind so the boat was really powered up and there are no handrails. I hadn't seen the results when I left but I see Savannah won its class. I'm glad now I popped down to the pontoon for a chat. You don't get invitations like that every day.

We had a nice dinner hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron the previous evening. The Squadron was established in 1815 by 42 sailors, most of whom had sailed with Nelson, which explains why the club tie is black (they are still in mourning). The club house uses one of the two former castles (or Cowes, hence the name of the town) sited on either side of the town. This was where they hosted the first America's Cup (won in 1851 by the schooner America, hence the name). When the America sailed past the Royal Yacht, Queen Victoria asked who came second. Her attendant replied: "Your Majesty, there is no second."