The winner of the Alternative Bridging Corporation (ABC) ‘Set Sail in Style’ competition, Dave Mant of 4UBridging, recently enjoyed one of the hottest weekends of the year sailing in the Solent on board the luxury 50-feet yacht Waiata. B&C heard from ABC about Dave’s experience…

Catherine Foley, Marketing Executive at ABC, met Dave in Lymington to ensure everything on board was ship shape and to personally congratulate our winner and his guests with a bottle of champagne, ensuring all was set for their weekend sailing under blue skies and bright sunshine. Restaurant reservations and their charter were ready, Lymington the first night and out to Cowes on Saturday, returning on Sunday evening.    

We caught up with Dave on his return to check if our carefully laid plans stayed on course and they had. On Friday night the winners were booked into Lanes restaurant in Lymington’s picturesque, small town centre. Dave filled us in on their evening, “After what was a great meal we enjoyed our wine and took a gentle stroll back to the marina to enjoy a few more drinks with Lymington Yacht Charter’s Arnie and his crew, and we eventually made it to bed onboard the yacht at 2.00am.”

Saturday started with a full English breakfast at the Harbour restaurant; then a cruise to the Needles and along the coast to watch the yacht racing and the Regatta taking place over the weekend. “We arrived in Cowes around 4.00pm, took a walk around the town whilst stopping at a few local bars before getting ready for dinner at Murrays restaurant.”

Dave reported Murrays had a really good seafood menu which he and his friends washed down with a few glasses of red. Saturday evening in Cowes Harbour finished with drinks on the yacht, the air still warm after a hot and sunny day. “We sat talking on deck until the early hours, enjoying a few bottles of Peroni and wishing we could stay longer in Cowes.”

Dave and his crew awoke to scorching temperatures on Sunday as they sailed smoothly down the Solent, a leisurely journey before heading back towards Lymington. But, as in life, all was not smooth sailing when the winds picked up and Dave and his crew had the opportunity to experience some real sailing! Dave said: “At around midday we were sailing with full sails set at 20 knots at a 45 degree angle - not for the faint hearted but great fun!”

Our winners enjoyed a full day sailing the Solent before heading back home promising to return to Lymington Yacht Charters and Captain Arnie for more fun next summer.