Birketts Decanter at Royal Harwich Yacht Club
by Alex Davey 21 Sep 2015 18:30 BST
15 September 2015
Birketts Decanter at Royal Harwich YC © Alan Shipperlee
The annual Birketts Decanter sailing event run by law firm Birketts LLP took place on 15 September 2015 at Royal Harwich Yacht Club. The event, attended by guests in the shipping and logistics industry, is becoming increasingly competitive, with the top three places in this year's competition separated by only three points.
Despite a forecast for very high winds and rain, all entrants turned up to spend the day racing in Ajax keelboats. They enjoyed six short but hard fought races, with the conditions bringing no rain and even some sun! Each boat had an owner's representative on board to help with rigging, navigation and crewing.
With a different winner of each race, the racing was very close throughout, and all of the boats achieved some very good (and some not so good) results. The introduction of spinnakers and some novice crews thrown into the mix added to the unpredictability and excitement of the day. In the end, the winner of the Birketts Decanter 2015 was "Thunderer", helmed by Rob Cage of Travelers and crewed by Tom Hodges from Birketts (out for his first ever sail) and Doug Sharps, stepping in to provide some expert guidance in the absence of the boat's owner, John Williams. Second and third were Duncan Russell of Servest and Paul Pelling of Thomas Miller.
A special thanks must go to the owners of the Ajaxes and the Club for hosting the event. The funds for this event are donated by the Ajax owners to the junior sailing programme at Royal Harwich Yacht Club, and have already led to the purchase of four training oppies.
Full Results and photos at www.birketts.co.uk/birketts-decanter-2015.aspx