Yarmouth Regatta Report

09 October 2009

Normally the weekend after Cowes Week is reserved for chilling out, and reminding your friends and family that you are still alive! That was true until we discovered Yarmouth Regatta. Yarmouth is a great family event, combined with the local carnival and various other activities ashore, and the whole town seem to be involved, so it is a complete antidote to Cowes Week.

The Solent Dragons were first invited in 2008 and the organisers gave us our own start. There are various classes racing including the XODs and Folkboats, as well as an esoteric bunch of cruisers including many Swans. The regatta is sponsored by Tattinger so all classes are racing for a Magnum of Champagne, in addition to the perpetual trophies.

The first obstacle is getting to Yarmouth; with fair tide and a good wind it is less than two hours sail. For North-Island residents sailing on the Friday could mean a day off work, but the Cowes locals very kindly sailed our boats down. I want to do the delivery trip next year as the Friday evening Tattinger party is legendary; amongst those who can remember it.

The race format is two races on Saturday, and one on Sunday. The boats are moored on a pontoon in Yarmouth Harbour amongst the Folkboats, which is very social. The Committee Boat is moored about 1km to the East of Yarmouth, so it is quite relaxed getting there in time for the 11:00 start.

With the prevailing South-Westerly we were given a beating start to one of the many turning marks off Yarmouth, followed by a long run to "Solent Bank", then a beat back to the Committee Boat.  Njord led from the start and would have won convincingly if they had read the race instructions, and crossed the finish line instead of returning to the start line. Fanfare followed Njord (and Mike Issias never forgave me for the rest of the weekend). The first boat to cross the finish line was in fact Electo, Njord eventually woke up and crossed the line in second just ahead of Aurora.

The second race was a very similar course and the racing was much closer with Njord rounding just ahead of Fanfare at "Solent Bank". Njord managed to Lee-bow Fanfare which allowed Electo to join in the battle. Njord then had prime position to watch the battle for second and third between Alecto and Fanfare. This time we all went through the correct finish line. With Njord and Electo both on equal points it looked to be an interesting race to follow on Sunday.

We retired to the Royal Solent Yacht Club for lots of good beer, followed by a great club supper and some pretty good fireworks. We then continued the evening at the "Towers  Party" with local bands and far too much alcohol.

The final race had a more adventurous course with the third mark ("Echo Pilot") being very close to Hurst Point and The Needles. So I was struggling with not only trying to race hard, but also trying to take in the spectacularly beautiful scenery at this end of The Solent. We set off on a beat to one of the buoys off Yarmouth Harbour, followed by a fetch to "Lymington Bank", before beating towards "Echo Pilot", the windward mark. The fleet bunched up on the run down to "Kingston Grist" and it got very wibbly wobbly in the lee of the island. Electo and Njord had a bit of a Gybing duel but Njord managed to gain an overlap at the turning mark. Unfortunately, in gaining the overlap Njord approached the mark completely unprepared for the spinnaker drop and left enough of a gap to tempt Electo inside. The fact that the gap was not big enough was demonstrated by the yellow mark left on Electo's hull, requiring a 360 degree turn.

Njord won the weekend with Electo a close second and Fanfare in third. The Magnum is being saved for New Years eve.

The weekend was rounded off with a lovely sail back to Cowes, with wind and tide up our chuff, enjoying the beauty of the Isle of Wight's north coast all the way back.

The South-Coasts and Edinburgh Cup (27th June - 3rd July) are in Cowes this year. Maybe travellers should consider staying for Cowes Week (31st July - 7th August) and then join the fun in Yarmouth (14th/15th August). The Solent Fleet will make everyone welcome.

Fiona Brown
Press Officer
Fiona.Brown@fionabrown.com