43 boats enjoyed a hotly contested regatta in 4 classes
Winner of the overall regatta and of IRC2 was the very quick J90, skippered by Richard Woof, closely pursued by a battle for 2/3/4th between the 3 Grand Surprises: Surprise, Bon Vacances, and Passion.
Winner of the overall IRC trophy went to the Contessa 32, Moodshadow 2, skippered by Mike Street, also winning IRC 4.
IRC 3 was very closely contested with a great win for the visiting yacht from Parkstone Yacht Club, X346 Haven KJ Enigma, skippered by Ian Braham, whilst behind them three J97s, Windjammer, Saskia and Jura battled it out. Although 2nd went to Windjammer, skippered by Jon Stevens(Parkstone YC), MG335 Tumbarumba, skippered by Nick Massey, separated that battle to finish 3rd.
Within the regatta we were also running the Spinlock IRC National Small Boat Championship which had 12 entrants and was won by the Contessa 32, Moonshadow 2, skippered by Mike Street.
The Squib Class result was a tie on points but with countback Ghost Rider (Mike and Penny Fenwick) pipped the visiting Squibbo (Ian Keely, Waveney and Oulton Broad SC) and 3rd was White Knuckles(Pete Lloyd and Tim Bowden).
Despite the bad weather on Saturday which meant the RO, Iain Jones making an excellent call to end the day's racing and postpone the 3rd race to Sunday. On Sunday he ably ran 3 races on varied courses, giving us all excellent tight competition with many places only separated by 1 to 5 seconds.
There was a good variety of courses to keep competitors on their toes or should it be over on their ears!
The weekend had started with fun, fancy dress Tender races across the Harbour and BBQ at Weymouth Sailing Club.
The torrential rain on Saturday evening dampened the enthusiasm for outside games but the Hog Roast and beer tokens issued in the skipper's packs and Day prizes of wine made the clubroom at Weymouth S C very popular.
The final prize-giving was held at Royal Dorset Yacht Club, including a special trophy for the best placed visiting yacht-won by Enigma. The historic trophy, the massive Churchill Cup, for the Best Overall in the Regatta, was won by J90, skippered by Richard Woof. The Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Cllr Richard Crosier, presented the crew of JO90 with this magnificent trophy.
Many competitors praised the excellent Race Officer, Iain Jones, and friendly welcoming atmosphere at all the events and confirmed that the new date for the Regatta was a success - so next year's regatta will be held on 2nd & 3rd September 2017.
Full results and more photographs can be viewed on the YCW website, www.weymouthregatta.co.uk
Submitted on 14th September 2016