Ah good times Neil.
For a few years we had an open at Royal Vic. (When John Lobb was a member there)
The sail from Lee-on-Solent is a bit further than Lepe to Gurnard but not much, (~4 miles) in fact as long as there's some wind you could 'comute'.
For Lee open or Stokes bay persuit the boats based at Royal Vic quite often sailed over in the morning then back after the racing.
Us mainland crew just liked the idea of a piss up on the Isle of Wight. We stayed in the clubhouse a couple of times, once at Johns house and I seem to recall sleeping in someones yacht one year. Anyway, kit and sleeping bag in bin liners and boats left on the club lawn worked fine. Just don't follow Flip Top's example and sleep on the pool table, or if you do clear the balls off first. Also no-one is to attempt 'filling' the glass display case with the model yacht in to see if it floats. If you must play that getting round the room without touching the floor game don't use the curtain rails and surely nobody would play drunken doctors and nurses on the stainless slab in the kitchen. . .
