Yesterday was eventful to say the least. The met report indicated a low pressure system with wind speed between 5 and 50 knots! Left the marina at mid-day after fixes for a few small items on the boat and taking on engine and other mechanical spares, for a sail off La Rochelle. Seas flat, hardly any wind, so we sailed off the wind and tried out our new 100 square metre gennaker. The sail was terrfic for downwind and Skylark moved at a smart clip on just gennaker and mizzen. Late afternoon, winds rose almost without our noticing as we were going happily downwind. At 20 knots, we decided to take the gennaker down (the windspeed limit suggested by Amel for the sail) which was no problem with the handy furling system. Sailing just on the main and reduced genoa, we made our way back rather more quickly than we had intended but within the limits of the tide for entering the harbour. We wondered a bit as we came in why we were the only boat out.... At the marina, the wind had risen to around 25 knots at a difficult angle to the boat slips. The boat came in a little too slowly and was turned inside the slip by the wind only to catch the bow anchor of the boat next door with a stanchion. Fortunately, no damage to the other boat and just a ittle wounded pride on Skylark and a couple of bent stanchions. The Amel people will be inspecting the stanchion this afternoon. Lesson learned -- do not be afraid of applying power in such situations. The boat has amazing stopping power under engine.