SVYC Regatta Day 1
Published 19:07 on 17 Aug 2025
After a hot, but still, few days for Seaview Race Week, all eyes turned to the SVYC Regatta, the culmination of the Seaview sailing season. 21 starts a day in arguably the best piece of water in the Solent for racing, everyone had looked forward to a great two days of racing.
The race committee, however, were greeted with 18kn NE and a lively sea. After some discussion, the SVOD Cadets did get away despite the lumpy conditions. Unfortunately there were only 3 entries for the once healthy event this year, they two beats within the moorings before George Cecil won ahead of Benjy Edwards and Felix Ives.
The Mermaids, Squibs and Cruisers followed, with short reaches out to turning marks before beating out to sea. All three fleets got away cleanly and had cracking racing in the clear breeze. Colin Simonds took the first Mermaid cup of the regatta ahead of Ben Few Brown and Jimbo Mitchell. Jonathan Hill took line honours in the Cruisers, but David Jones in Chiara took the win on handicap by a healthy margin. Charlie White took his first of two wins today in the Squibs first race, in a much closer fleet than in previous years.
The Cadet Squad held the first of their two races on an inshore course off the Northbank. A disappointing turnout of only 2 boats had a cracking race in the building breeze. Barney Edwards took the win on handicap from Ollie Glasgow. The Drascombe Luggers had a glorious race off Seagrove with record numbers attending. Richard White took the win this year from Michael Baines.
The ILCA (Laser) fleet never fails to disappoint, and this year was no different. With 21 starters the class had a box course covering the whole racing area, finishing with a long downwind leg back from Lollipop. Senan Bottomley took the win from Tom Griffiths and Barnaby Cotterell, with the fleet spread being noticeably reduced from previous years. The Slow Handicap race soon after at its new, slightly earlier time. They were kept inshore to avoid clashes with the bigger boats, with Guy Proddow taking the win ahead of Sue Thomas and Jim Marsh.
The Mermaids got a beat off the line for their second race as the wind continued to track round to the south east. The course was very similar to the first race, however, and the fleet remained very split on the boats as different people prioritise wind, tide and sea-state very differently. Ben Few Brown took revenge from race 1 and won the Bruce Donald Cup from Guy Mattinson and Noel Dobbs. The Redwings had a brilliant turnout of 10 boats, and following a similar course, James Wilson was clear ahead of the opposition, which finished with a large fleet spread after a 4 mile race.
For one year only, the J/70 fleet made an appearance over the lunch break. The club finished race 9 of the EWCC J/70 Regatta, and started race 10 (the Cowes passage race). This has been the first time a J/70 Warning Signal has been fired off the deck in many many years, and the committee thanks Bembridge for getting involved! The next flight of dinghy starts went after lunch, with the Fast Handicap leading the way. Charlie Stobart-Hooks 49er flew round the course as always, but had to settle with 3rd on handicap. Tom Griffiths took his first win of the Regatta from Angus Bostelmann. Cadet Squad were up again just before the Fast Handicap with a shore creep up to the Halland. Barney Edwards secured his second win of the day convincingly.
The Mermaid and Squib fleets both payed a visit to Bembridge, with two long beats from the line up to (nearly) Wreck, then out to Derrick. The Mermaid finish was remarkably close, with Barnaby Cotterell and Jimbo Mitchell separated byy little more than 2 seconds for 2nd and 3rd, with similar situations right the way down the fleet. Ben Few Brown took the win despite loosing his spinnaker Halyard on the final hoist. As previously mentioned Charlie White made it two from two in the Squib's second race.
For the final set of starts the sun was shining, the wind was a perfect 10-14kn SE, the line was square. It could not get any better! The Mermaids lead the way heading up to the same windward mark, before running back down to 22, the first use of Seaview's newest mark at the Regatta. Noel Dobbs took a conclusive victory in the Few Brown Salver from E-J Hentenaar, though the racing remained competitive throughout. There were around 70 starters between the two SVOD races (a handsome record for the last few years) in true champagne sailing conditions. The Victory fleet had a quick shore creep to get off the line before circling round the back of the Amber fleet to race off Bluett Avenue. Louisa Mills won the Victory race from Olly Crawley, with plenty of spectator action throughout. The Amber fleet also started off the Club Line creating a magical spectacle from the club. Annoyingly the wind by this point had swung 10 degrees left, putting a little bit too much pin bias on the line. They did get away first time, however, with 7 boats over the line. They raced a triangular course off Seaview Bay, though the tide was so strong that the only sensible course of action was to come into the shore on each beat. Robert Holbrook won from Raymond Simonds and Colin Simonds.
Spectators are also reminded that we are trialing the Regatta website this year off the back of the new entries platform: svycracedeck.org.uk/svycregatta. This displays the daily schedule, alongside Courses for each race (published at the same time they are displayed for all classes) and results as soon as they are available. Do follow along! The Mermaid and Cruiser trackers were also greatly appreciated with races being shown live in the downstairs bar. People wishing to view the race replays from today - these can be found at https://www.metasail.com/live/759/. All courses and results from today are now published and can be found at svycracedeck.org.uk/svycregatta
With 19/21 races run (the only omissions being the two Victory Class starts as they never came over from Portsmouth), the race committee would like to thank all the boatman and safety boat crews for their efforts today. The forecast looks very similar tomorrow, so the committee will try hard to switch it up and provide a nice variety of courses and racing. We look forward to seeing you all on the start line tomorrow.
Prize-giving will be held tomorrow after the conclusion of racing.