SVYC Regatta Day 1 Roundup

Published 18:16 on 13 Aug 2023

After the story of the summer has been rain, wind, and little sailing, the race committee was delighted a few days out from regatta that the forecast was looking somewhat favourable. With 21 races scheduled each day, we think we are second only to Cowes Week for activity and total number of races each day in the Solent.

With a steady wind of around 15kn WSW, all classes were able to complete the full suite of racing. The SVOD Cadets lead the way, fighting gusts of up to 20kn around the cans. In the end it was George Cecil who pulled away from Felix Ives, with two retirees.

The Mermaids, Squibs and Cruisers followed, with a mixture of courses. After a long beat in from Somers, Jack Sandiford-Haigh had a close tussle with Chris Cotterell, but ultimately took the Buffs Cup home. Tiaki, helmed by Charles Youngman, took line honours in the Cruisers, but Jonny King in his H-boat took the win on handicap by just over a minute. Charlie White set up a precedent in the Squib class, taking the first of his two victories with a tricky race involving a sizeable leg back from Warner.

Cadet Squad held the first of their two races on an inshore course in Seagrove. With an impressive number of starters, Max de Laszlo won on handicap, after Henry Fisher took line honours in a tricky race. Making their SVYC Regatta debut, the Drascombe Luggers had a nice reaching course to Priory and back, with the Edwards lugger taking the classes maiden victory.

The ILCA (Laser) fleet never fails to disappoint, and this year was no different. With 33 starters the class had a novel course off Seagrove, beating in from Wreck and Acland. Tom Griffiths took the win on handicap ahead of Simon Birchenough and Senan Bottomley (who took line honours). The Slow Handicap race followed an hour later, and in testing conditions Charlie Stobart-Hook took the win by over 5 minutes on corrected time.

The Mermaids started race two with a course based in the west: an inshore beat into the Hole in the Wall, followed by a beat across the shoal from Outer Mark over to Bob. Ben Few Brown took the Bruce Donald Cup from Kate Broxham, after a final dash in from Bunny. The Redwings had a brilliant turnout of 10 boats, and following a similar course Mark Downer was clear ahead of the opposition. 4 BODs also made the trip round from Bembridge, and after an hours race Charles Perry took home the Bullin Cup.

The next flight of dinghy starts went after lunch, with the Fevas leading  the way after a short postponement. With lots of skilful spinnaker reaches, again Charlie Stobart Hook reigned supreme with a comfortable lead over Henry Landon. We welcomed quite a few guest boats in the Fast Handicap, and after two trips to Bunny Mike Acton (in an RS400) didnt pull enough of a lead to keep clear of the lasers on Handicap, with Tom Griffiths taking his second trophy of the day.

The Mermaids and Squibs all decided to be over the line for their third race, resulting in the only general recall of the day. After a U flag start, with one boat unfortunately disqualified, and a classic Seaview round (all) the cans course Hugo Mills lead the way from Colin Simonds. Cadet Squad had their second race of the day in Seagrove, with Henry Fisher taking revenge from this morning and leading.

In the final set of starts, Noel Dobbs lead the Mermaids away and never looked back, with Richard Hill in second and Ben Few Brown taking his second third of the day. There were over 50 starters between the two SVOD races as the afternoon drew to a close. Nigel Prescot lead the Victory race, after a shorter course dashing between the Amber and Mermaid boats. With 37 starters in the Amber, and a close 3 lap course of a committee boat, Henry Cecil took victory from David RJ and Tom Stuart, rounding off a great day of racing. 

With 19/21 races run, and in the region of 230 boats finished, the race committee would like to thank all the boatman and safety boat crews for their efforts today. With a similar forecast for tomorrow there will be no amendments this evening, and we hope to see you all again tomorrow.

Prize giving will be held tomorrow after the conclusion of racing.