Inaugural 18-30 Regatta at Royal Harwich Yacht Club

The inaugural 18-30 Regatta at Royal Harwich © Daniel Patten

The inaugural 18-30 Regatta at Royal Harwich © Daniel Patten

The inaugural 18-30 Regatta at Royal Harwich © Daniel Patten

Tuesday 4th September saw 28 competitors in 17 boats turn up to Royal Harwich YC for the inaugural 18-30 Regatta, an event aimed at those too old for the numerous cadet weeks over the country, primarily university students. An abundance of glassware meant that the 17 boats were split into 4 fleets (RS200, Laser, fast & slow handicaps), but with one start to prevent waiting around between races and making the starts that little bit more competitive. Forecasts showed light winds and sun throughout the week.

Day 1

The first day saw a light North Westerly and wall to wall sunshine (a sign of things to come). 3 back to back races gave plenty of chances for different race winners, although by the end of the day trends were beginning to be set in each of the fleets. A combination of windward-leeward and triangle courses from PRO Chris Brown saw a nice variation over the course of the day. The 3 RS200's had some very close racing and were separated by 3 points at the end of the day, with Steven Clayton and Ian Gill taking the early lead. Joe Hunt made the most of the light conditions and jumped into an early lead in the Lasers from Ed Harrison perhaps suffering slightly from a rather leaky, borrowed boat! Henry Johnson/Hester Pelling got 3 bullets in the slow fleet in a National 12 from Ali Ravenscroft and Mark Peak in a Lark while Abi and Molly Embser-Kay followed suit in the fast fleet in an RS400, making the most of the Laser 4000 and 49er being unable to use their boatspeed in the shifty river conditions.

An evening quiz and £2 pints meant the clubhouse was busy until late, with those who didn't know each other quickly rectifying this.

Day 2

Some sore heads woke to a surprisingly fresh Northerly, once again with blazing sunshine but slightly lower temperatures. A glorious broad reach out to the start set the tone for the day's racing, once again on a combination of W-L and triangle courses. Up the beats the decision was between going left into the flooding tide and more breeze and going right to the inside of a big right hand bend. Initially the wind and tide paid, with the emphasis moving to the centre of the course as the day went on and the tide eventually started to ebb. Steven/Ian once again posted the best scoreline in the 200 fleet, but James Williams/Rosie Johnson and James Clayton/Rob Adams kept the racing tight in the marginal downwind planing conditions. Henry/Hester once again dominated the slow fleet with Mark Peak now showing the fast fleet a clean pair of heels in his RS300 with Ali's absence due to work. Joe finished the day still ahead in the Laser fleet from Ed and Richard Elston showing moments of good boatspeed and tactical awareness to trouble the top 2.

Day 3

Thursday saw the return of lighter winds, this time more South Easterly in direction, with continued sunshine. The wind direction meant it was blowing across the river, giving shiftier conditions and shorter legs, credit to Chris Brown for giving square lines and plenty of options up the beats. Initially it paid to go right up the beat to make the most of the tide later on, knowledge that benefitted the locals in particular. The RS200's had identical scorelines to the previous 2 days, meaning the results were summed up before the last day barring any tallying penalties. Joe also won the Laser fleet and the 12 won the slow fleet early on, allowing Henry to rush off to Bestival (not sure about his priorities here!). The RS400 maintained their position at the top of the fast fleet.

All competitors donned black tie attire and sat down to a meal together after racing before fizz & canapés and a DJ brought back memories of the club's Junior Race Week that so many of the competitors had previously competed in. Another 15 people who were too busy with work to sail came down for the evening, which combined with specially designed, and discounted, cocktails at the bar made the evening pretty memorable.

Day 4

The smell of bacon coming from various sources at the front of the club greeted those camping on the lawn on Friday morning, a badly needed attempt at a hangover cure for most. The format of Friday's racing was a little different; the first race was an hour long standalone pursuit race using personal handicaps. Once again the wind was light (SW) and the sun was out. The race took us most of the way down to Levington downwind against the tide, before returning upwind with the tide, with the leaders eventually finishing just off Pin Mill. Dan Rose and Ben Leader-White in a Wayfarer led for the first half hour before being overhauled in quick succession by Steven/Ian and the Laser 4000 of Will & George Finch. Dan/Ben eventually finished a creditable 5th, with James/Rob 4th, Will/George 3rd, James/Rosie 2nd and Steven/Ian showing their usual speed to take the win. To follow this race was a final series race on a starboard hand sausage, triangle course. Results were similar to that of the rest of the week, making little difference to the overall results.

Commodore Ken Rolls presented prizes to the top 3 in each fleet and to the top 3 in the pursuit race as well as awards for specific over and under achievement over the course of the event. Thanks were given to the club staff and to the volunteers both on and off the water who made the event run so smoothly. Particular thanks go to Susie Patten who came up with the idea this time last year and to Chris Brown for doing such a great job as Race Officer. Feedback from competitors, club members and spectators was overwhelmingly positive and it is hoped that the event will grow to rival the club's Junior Race Week in terms of both popularity and reputation.

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