International 14 Century Cup at Itchenor Sailing Club

International 14 Century Cup at Itchenor © Vicky Jones

International 14 Century Cup at Itchenor © Vicky Jones

The Century Cup started in testing conditions with Northerly winds ranging from 11 knots to the odd 18 knot gust. Robin and Martin Pascal lead the way around the course and took line honours but were not quite old enough to bag the trophy on handicap.

Martin Jones and Pete Kassell won on handicap and proved that they can still sail brilliantly despite not having sailed a 14 together for about 40 years!

Douglas Pattison and his father-in-law Bob Turner also sailed fast and came second over the line but Douglas's tender years held them back from winning the trophy! They did however just beat Douglas's old rival Archie Massey despite being a year younger in total.

Archie's crew John Williams deserves a special mention as the oldest crew in the fleet and almost the oldest to sail in this event ever... just one year behind the record set by John Mew in 2005. I hope that he can return next year to share this accolade.

The booby prize was shared by Andy Fitz and Philip McDanell who both ran aground whilst battling for second place. Both had sailed in the harbour longer than most so should know better!

It was great to see so many of our friends from Tynemouth come down with their wives. We all had a great time at the dinner and Itchenor's chef Danny from Yorkshire did us proud as well as making our Northern friends feel at home.

Thanks also to Tom Trevelyan for taking people out on his boat to watch and to Roddy Bridge and Caroline Gosford for running the racing.

We look forward to seeing you all next year's event, tentatively set for Saturday 27th August. Save the date and get your crews lined up now!

Overall Results:

Martin Jones & Pete Kassell win the International 14 Century Cup at Itchenor - photo © Vicky Jones