Category: Lecture Summary

      Cast Off for Christmas Wednesday December 14th GXSA Members and their guests are warmly invited to the entertainment and refreshments at this year’s Cast Off for Christmas. All the usual fun for GXSA members and their guests, with mulled wine and small snacks. There will be several entertaining speakers, a short quiz…

    Wednesday 8th March Dr Chris Willard Birds of the Solent   Dr Chris Willard was a GP in New Milton (4 miles from Lymington) for 30 years and has lived in the hamlet of Keyhaven, half a mile from the Western Solent shore for 40 years. He has been interested in bird watching…

    Wednesday 1st March Rick Lawrence 2015/16 Round the World Clipper Race     Rick will talk about his once in a life-time experiences on GARMIN, one of the twelve 15/16 Round the World Clipper yachts. He raced through hurricanes and freezing conditions. Over 12,000 miles from China to Seattle and on to New…

    Wednesday 22nd February Commodore Gerry Thwaites The Royal Yacht, a Bygone Era     Commodore Thwaites served 34 years in the Royal Navy, much of it in Submarines. In the early 1990s he was appointed Senior Engineer of the Royal Yacht Britannia. This talk looks into the day today life on board “The…

    Wednesday 15th February Richard Thomas The Story of the Panama Canal   Richard will cover the four centuries of endeavour that started with Christopher Columbus in 1502 to build transport links across the 50-mile isthmus at Panama. The story culminates with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, and the 21st century…

    Wednesday 8th February Phil Holt Donald Campbell, Across the Lake   Phil will describe the charismatic, daring, and brave character that was Donald Campbell, the only man to hold both the world land and water speed records in the same year. Loved by 1950’s & 60’s Britain,  what pushed him to that final…

    Wednesday 1st February Kevin Patience Scapa Flow, Salvaging the German Imperial Navy     The story begins with the revolutionary battleship H.M.S. Dreadnought in 1906 and the Arms Race that ensued between Britain and Germany. In May 1916 the Royal Navy and Germany’s Kaiserliche Marine clashed at Jutland, the only major naval battle…

    Wednesday 25th January Richard and Cathy Brown A Stockholm Adventure   Journalists Richard and Cathy Brown previously sailed round Britain and Ireland in 2009, their first summer of freedom, taking in the Orkneys, the Outer Hebrides and the west coast of Ireland. In 2010 and 2011 they cruised the French Atlantic coast as far as…

    Wednesday 18th January Chris Tarratt A History of Time     Chris is a keen cruising and racing sailor, with recent voyages to Spain, SW France, and the Danish Baltic Islands. He also competes in the annual Mermaid one-design regatta at Seaview, IoW and in the Round the Island race each year. As…

    Wednesday 11th January Peter Bruce Heavy Weather Sailing       Peter Bruce is a sailor and a well known author. He has published books such as Solent Hazards, Solent and Island Tidal Streams and is the editor of a newly updated 7th edition of Heavy Weather Sailing. For 50 years Heavy Weather…