Savills Regatta at Mylor Yacht Club

Savills Regatta in Falmouth © Helen Stevens

Savills Regatta in Falmouth © Helen Stevens

Savills Regatta in Falmouth © Helen Stevens

Following a week of vicious storms in the south west of England, the 6th annual Savills regatta was blessed with Meditteranean sailing conditions and recorded the best turnout ever at the event on Monday 11 June.

Hosted by Mylor Yacht Club, 36 teams raced around Falmouth Bay and the Fal Estuary in glorious sunshine, before a Pimms reception sponsored by Country Life magazine, held on the terrace of the fabulous clubhouse overlooking the marina and estuary.

Jonathan Cunliffe who heads up Savills in Truro comments, “2012 is something of a golden year for Falmouth, which has already played host to the Finn Gold Cup, won by Ben Ainslie, and will shortly host the prestigious J-Class and Pendennis Cup regattas. Add to this the fact that Ben Ainslie has recently announced he will challenge for the America’s Cup under the flag of Falmouth’s Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, Savills could not have chosen a finer venue for its event.

“In the multihull class, Steve Hutt’s ‘Cornish Meadow’ and Jeremy Stone’s ‘Firebird 1’ match raced all around the course with the latter taking the lead just yards before the finish to take the victory.

“The front of the IRC class saw a battle royal on the water between the J97 ‘Black Dog’ of Stuart Sawyer and Rob Mably’s Swan 47 ‘Sarabande’, with the former taking the lead on the beat up the St.Mawes shore up to the finish. The sight of the Swan 47 fully powered up, along with the S&S yawl ‘Tomahawk’ and the classic 8M Hispania IV a little further back was a real treat guests aboard the spectator craft.

“The faster of the two Portsmouth Yardstick classes and the Hunter 707 class started as one with much action and controversy on a busy start line. The Laser 28 ‘Encore’ led the PY class from the start and was never headed. The Hunter 707s with their brightly coloured spinnakers were easy to spot and it wasn’t long before Phil Badger’s H2OK, named after the firm of the same name, opened up a good lead.

“This year has seen the formation of a strong Hunter 707 fleet across the bay in the Helford River and it was great to see so many at this year’s event.

“The slower Portsmouth Yardstick class saw another good tussle on the water between Mike Swingler’s ‘Tecate’ and Peter Hackett’s ‘Amneris’. But victory went to none other than Mylor Yacht Club Commodore John Cruise in ‘Mary Boon’.

“Falmouth has long been home to a fleet of beautiful Sunbeam class dayboats, and the class has always been a feature of the Savills Regatta. This year it was Steve Carson’s Phantasy helmed by David Townrow who won the class ahead of John Lowry of Law firm Hine Downing. Unfortunately there was only one traditional Falmouth Working Boat racing this year, but that didn’t seem to stop the Scott Burridge Commercial team aboard John Peter’s ‘Rita’ enjoying themselves, again providing a treat for the spectators.

“Following the racing, 250 guests and competitors made good use of the Pimms bar and enjoyed the evening sun, with many sailors heard to say they had their best day’s sailing in years. Pretty much every sailor dreams of 15 knots, flat water and sunshine, and unbelievably, that’s what the Fal Estuary gave us just days after storms and flooding”.

This year a fantastic £900 was raised by competitors for the local charity Falmouth & Penryn Sea Cadets, who were represented by Peter Fish at the prize giving.

The regatta was supported by co-sponsors Country Life magazine, alongside Ancasta Yacht Brokers, Musto, Sailtech, St.Austell Brewery, Mylor Chandlery and Cafe Mylor.

Overall Results:

M Class Multihulls
1st Firebird 1 – Jeremy Stone
2nd Cornish Meadow – Steve Hutt (Cafe Mylor)

Q Class IRC Yachts
1st Black Dog – Stuart Sawyer
2nd Tomahawk – James Collins/Peter Crockford
3rd Sarabande – Rob Mably (St.Austell Brewery)

Hunter 707 Class
1st H2OK – Phil Badger/Tim Cunlffe (H2OK)
2nd Big Boys Toys – Chris Broad/James Lyall/David Berryman
3rd Red Snapper – Tony Statham

E Class PY Yachts
1st Encore – David Cunliffe
2nd Minx – Charles Choak
3rd Aisling Geal – Keith Newton

U Class PY Yachts
1st Mary Boon – John Cruise
2nd Hecate – Mike Swingler
3rd Amneris – Peter Hackett

V Class Sunbeams
1st Phantasy – Steve Carson/David Townrow
2nd Saucy Sally – John Lowry (Hine Downing)
3rd Mayfly – Ray Stedman

B Class Falmouth Working Boats
1st Rita – John Peters (Scott Burridge Commercial)

Best corporate entry – Toby Claridge, Foot Anstey
Best private entry – Rob Mably, Sarabande
Concours D’Elegance – Hispania IV
Best Classic Yacht – Tomahawk, James Collins
Best dressed team – Jonathan Haward/County Homesearch
Sponsors award – Victoria Whitworth, ‘Lady May’