This Summer, VOS was treated to three sailing adventures in the Solent on the historic junk yacht Boleh. Lucky us — it was amazing!
The weather held out for us on each day (although definitely variable across each trip!) and we were able to get in some good sailing, which was enjoyed all round.
Had a great time on the Boleh today. Rain stopped in time for us to sail, and the crew were brilliant!
My father-in-law and I have just got back from a fantastic tour around Portsmouth Harbour aboard the Boleh. We were blessed with perfect weather conditions to be able to put up the sails and had a brilliant few hours with a great crew, William, Nigel and Steve. I would thoroughly recommend this trip to all VOS members. Thank you for organising this great event.
More information about Boleh:
Boleh is a historic junk yacht that was designed by Robin Kilroy and built in 1948, and then sailed to England in 1950. The name Boleh means “can-do” in Malay. Following years of happy sailing, in 1978 there was an arson attack and Boleh was destroyed all the way down to the waterline and subsequently declared an insurance write off. Roger Angel took on the enormous restoration project, which took three years.
Fast forward to 2008, when Boleh arrived in Portsmouth after being bought from Roger Angel. A full restoration was undertaken at The Meridian Sailing & Training Trust Limited workshops in Portsmouth. At this point, the Boleh Trust was established to manage the restoration and ensure Boleh returned to the water.
After a 7 year restoration, Boleh returned to the water in 2015 in Chichester. She then returned to providing sailing experience to a range of groups, and has continued to do so.
To find out even more about Boleh‘s construction and sailing life, check out the Boleh Trust’s website.
A sailing trip is a great opportunity to get some respite from daily life, with everything that seems difficult on land fading into the background when you get out to sea, and it’s also a fun way to get to know the other people on board with you.
If you’d like to come on a sailing voyage, go on an accessible motorboat instead of a yacht, go out on a historic vessel, or join any of our other activities on and off the water, join our community!
If you’re a veteran from the UK Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy (from any time of service) or a partner to one, VOS would love for you to join our community. We are here to offer our support: call us on 02392 731 767, visit an upcoming drop-in, or email admin@vosuk.org.
VOS is immensely grateful to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity, as without their support and funding we would not be able to provide activities such as this one.
