Brightlingsea sailor wins Tall Ships Race
by David Bridle 9 Sep 2014 12:22 BST
1-6 September 2014
The Falmouth to Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta winning crew; Duet Skipper Tom Bridle (3rd left) with Mate Ed Humphries (2nd left) and crew receiving their prize at the Queen's House, Greenwich © David Bridle
An Essex-based sailor with a crew of police cadets who'd never sailed before has beaten off strong international competition and some of the world's largest sailing ships to triumph in the Falmouth Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta.
Tom Bridle, 26, of Marennes Crescent, Brightlingsea, was skipper of the 102-year-old yacht, Duet, which won its class and overall honours in the race for sail training vessels from Falmouth to the Isle of Wight last week. Duet is operated by the Bradwell-based Cirdan Sailing Trust*, which aims to provide young people with the opportunity for self-development through sailing.
Duet's crew – including three Metropolitan Police cadets aged just 15, their 18-year-old instructor and full-time Mate Ed Humphries, from Bristol – beat off strong competition from 44 other crews from the UK and Europe sailing everything from classic fishing boats to the giant 108m long Dar Mlodziezy, a three-masted square-rigger crewed by Polish naval cadets.
Duet took 37 hours to complete the course and won on corrected time by just over 13 minutes. Said Tom: "We are all very proud of our result. I've never sailed off the south coast before and it's my first Tall Ships Race, but we had near-perfect conditions for Duet and we're really chuffed to win."
Tom took over as skipper of Duet – a 22m long Edwardian classic gaff rigged yawl once owned by explorer Augustine Courtauld – at the beginning of this year, having begun his sail training career with the Pioneer Trust in Brightlingsea six years previously.
Following the race, all the participating vessels – including another Cirdan Sailing Trust boat, the Queen Galadriel – sailed to Greenwich on the Thames for a five-day festival of sail. Duet's crew were among sailors introduced to royal visitor Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
The prizegiving took place on the lawn of the Queen's House, close to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich on Saturday, following a parade through the streets of the town by over 1,000 participating crew members.
The race left Falmouth on Sunday, August 1. The Festival of Sail began on Friday, September 5 and ends with a parade of sail from Greenwich on Tuesday, September 9. For more information see www.sailtraininginternational.org or www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/tallships