Royal Thames Yacht Club 250th Anniversary Regatta Overall
by Magnus Wheatley 16 Jun 08:42 UTC
11-15 June 2025
Picture-perfect conditions of a building 8-18 knots from the south-west, bright sunshine and flat Solent conditions on the flood tide made for a glamorous conclusion to the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta on Sunday.
After the big conditions seen on Saturday, it was a fantastic day of racing for the sailors who had all enjoyed the first-class hospitality of the regatta dinner and crew party the night before - the two hottest tickets in town - with the race village offering an 'Ibiza theme' with stilt walkers, fireworks and DJ Mark Covell rocking the night away.
However, it was back to business on Sunday with championship titles on the line across the fleets and some interesting tidal and wind calls to be made. Tim Hancock, Principal Race Officer, operated four racing course areas around the Hillhead plateau and further east along the mainland shore to give the fleets tricky windward/leeward courses across the Solent whilst for the Classics, Cruisers and Mermaids, these fleets were sent on laid mark courses around the Central Solent of lengths up to 9.8 nautical miles.
With so many boats packed in a tight area, there was plenty of convergence on the racecourses themselves although largely mitigated by clever staggering of class starts. The Royal Thames Yacht Club has been superbly supported by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Southern Yacht Club, in running the regatta.
Vice Commodore Richard Powell praised the collaborative effort that has delivered such an outstanding regatta, saying: "My sincere thanks go to our colleagues at the supporting yacht clubs, we really could not have pulled off such a wonderful festival and celebration of sail without their magnificent collaboration. Running a regatta of this scale is no mean feat and I must say a word about our 100-plus volunteers who gave their time both on and off the water to make the Royal Thames Yacht Club 250th Anniversary Regatta such a success. So much work has gone on behind the scenes for months in the planning and we were absolutely determined to make it a sailor-first focus. I think we achieved it, with the help of everyone involved, and we have been blessed with superb Solent conditions and a wonderful ambience both on and off the water."
Shoreside, as the regatta came to an end, spectators were afforded the sight of the IRC Class Zero, IRC Class 1 and IRC 2 boats all finishing their final laid mark course on a committee boat line just north of Cowes Harbour entrance. With the IRC fleets made up of many yachts that will contest this year's Admiral's Cup, it was some spectacle as the professional crews thundered home in brisk winds gusting up to 18 knots, glorious summer sunshine and a building seaway running at the harbour entrance.
After a total of 108 races over five days, it's over and out for a very memorable Royal Thames Yacht Club 250th Anniversary Regatta.
Classics 1 Fleet
Sir Keith Mills's stunning 75-foot staysail schooner 'Viveka' scored a clean sweep of regatta victories taking two further race wins today and winning the coveted 1776 Cumberland Cup as a result. It was a fine performance from the most beautiful classic boat at the regatta who won the Classic 1 Fleet ahead of Rosie Frost's McGruer 55 Classic, 'Cuilaun' and Patrick Caigan -Smith's one-off 'Sonata.' The Classic 1 fleet were a joy to behold sailing on Solent laid mark courses around the central and eastern Solent.
Classics 2 Fleet
Overnight leader, Craig & Emma Dymock's, International H-Boat, 'Wight Wedding' with two race wins from two on Saturday, was overtaken on the leaderboard after an outstanding performance from the modified International H-Boat 'Woof' helmed by Olympian Jo Richards who secured two race wins by considerable margins on corrected time. Richards wins the fleet, with the Dymocks taking second place and to complete the H-Boat dominance of the division, Richard & Ursula Hollis's 'Warrior' rounded out the podium places with a discarded sixth in the opening race, followed by a third in the fourth and final race of the series. Both Wight Wedding and Woof were tied on four points at the end of the regatta, but Richards wins on final-day countback.
Cruisers 1 Fleet
Irvine Laidlaw's beautiful Spirit 52 'Oui Fling' won the regatta with a race to spare after a third successive victory in race three, winning on corrected time by just under five minutes from Peter Lloyds 'Gwenhyfar II' - a Spirit 72 - who had also done enough not to compete in the last race. With the top two confirmed, the final race of the regatta series was won by Jonathan Butler's Swan 62 'Coco de Mer' with Iain Kirkpatrick's Shipman 63 'Fatjax' taking second and Alan Parker's beautiful Oyster 82 'Dama de Noche' coming third. The Cruiser 1 Fleet have been a simply stunning sight at the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta and have raced hard over Solent courses that have challenged throughout the series.
Cruisers 2 Fleet
Gavin Stanley's J105 'Taika' scored a second place and followed up with a fine win in race four to win the Cruisers 2 Fleet by just one point from M. Greenaway's Grand Soleil 34 'Vellamo' who also scored the same results but in reverse with a race win in the fourth race and a second in the fifth. Tied for the lead overnight was Charlie Lowe's Sparkman & Stephens Swan 44 'Skylar' but the results today saw them drop off the lead and claim the final place on the podium in third.
Etchells National Championship
Andrew Lawson, Angus Galloway and William Russell sailing 'No Drama' secured the Etchells Class National Championships on Sunday after a masterful display of championship sailing, posting two second places to achieve the undisputed British & Open title - one of the most coveted prizes in British sailing. Australia's Chris Hampton, last year's 'Open Champion' sailing with Paul Childs and Ben Cornish, secured second overall on 'Tango' after a fourth in the first race and a bullet in the final race of the championship.
Conrielle Leprince from the Greig City Academy capitalised on the championship 'match-racing' between the top two, to secure a popular race win in race six and rounded out his impressive series with a fourth in the final race to take the third spot on the National Championship podium - an outstanding result for the team and the Academy. Full credit to the 'No Dramas' team who can reflect on a remarkably consistent National Championships, never finishing outside of the top three and recording three race wins and three second places on the way to the title.
Tideway J70 National Championship
Martin Dent, Rick Peacock, Henry Wetherell and Ruby Dent are the Tideway J/70 National Champions after a barnstorming series that saw them win a total of four races in the hottest and most tightly contested fleets at the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta. The 'Jelvis' team were quite simply a class apart and ended the Tideway National Championship some seven points clear of Ali Hall's 'Calypso' who won the final race to add to their race three victory. Early front-runner William Edwards sailing 'Sardonyx' secured the third place on the championship podium with a third and fifth place today in the 33-strong fleet.
Interestingly, the top three boats were the only ones to secure race wins and their margins ahead of the rest of the fleet were notable. Speaking afterwards, Martin Dent was delighted with the victory saying: "Ruby, Henry, Rick and I are super-proud to win the Tideway J/70 National Championships. It was a hard-fought victory ahead of a really competitive fleet. The UK class is in a really strong place with numbers building fast- expect 50 boats next year. Big thanks to the Royal Thames and their brilliant race management, it was a great regatta, very enjoyable all round both on and off the water."
Dragon Class Southern Area Championship
Graham Bailey secured the Dragon Class Southern Area Championships with a race to spare after a remarkably consistent series and posting a xx today sailing the stunningly restored 'Bluebottle' that was a wedding gift to the then Princess Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh from the members of the Island Sailing Club in Cowes. She was built in 1947 by Camper & Nicholsons in Gosport and the Duke raced her with family, including Prince Charles and Princess Anne, as well as with esteemed local designer Uffa Fox. Now belonging to the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust and sailed supremely by the Bailey's since 2021, Bluebottle adds another title to its impressive pedigree. Bailey secured the title after a win in race six, his third of the championships, to move into an unassailable lead over the hard-charging Chris Grosscurth's 'Fit Chick' helmed by Jono Brown who unfortunately counted a 'U' flag disqualification in the sixth race and saw his chances of a regatta win slip away. Third overall was Owen Pay sailing 'Furious' who was a race winner on the opening day but couldn't match the consistency of the top two boats although all three on the podium enjoyed a very tight tussle throughout the regatta.
Daring Class (Cory Cup)
Rob Bottomley's beautifully restored and well appointed 'Doublet' won the coveted Cory Cup in the Daring Class after a blistering weekend of close racing in the fleet of twelve entries. After a hard-fought second place in the opening race on the final day, Bottomley secured the Cup with a fine final race victory to win in style. Taking a popular race win in race five this afternoon and securing second place overall with a second place in the final race was Chris Preston sailing the gun-metal grey 'Destroyer' whilst Josh Peckham posted consistent results in 'Dauntless' of two third places to round out the regatta podium. The ever-popular Daring class - very much the fleet of Cowes - enjoyed three great days of racing with the weekend races counting towards the Cory Cup.
RS21 (Round 3 UK & Ireland Cup)
A further two race wins today in challenging, shifting and tidal conditions cemented Liam Willis's 'Dark & Stormy' from the Royal Lymington Yacht Club's stranglehold on Round 3 of the UK & Ireland RS21 Cup to win the regatta at a canter. It was a mesmerising performance from the Dark & Stormy team who can look back and reflect on a total of six race wins and a second place on their scorecard. Alex Newton-Southon, sailing 'RS Electric' claimed the runners-up spot after consistent third and second places today whilst the podium was rounded out by Finn Morris, sailing 'Not Sure' who just edged out Nigel Rolfe's 'It's 5'o'clock Somewhere.' Superb racing in this dynamic class where boat-handling is literally everything and Liam Willis's well-drilled team proved unstoppable across a wide variety of conditions. The RS21 fleet now move on to Dun Laoghaire in mid-July for Round 4 of the UK & Ireland Cup.
SB20 Class
Mark Gillett sailing "Twenty PB II' proved to be unstoppable to take the regatta title after winning the sixth and final race, his third race win of the regatta, and never finishing outside of the top three. Indeed such was Gillett's dominance that his discard was a third place in race four Charlie Whelan sailing 'Breaking Bod' secured the runners-up spot after a second place to finish five points clear, after discard, from Phil Tilley's 'Tƒn Gwyllt.' Tight racing, as ever, in the SB20 class who were a welcome addition to the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta.
Seaview Mermaid
Ahead of the passage race home to Seaview Yacht Club in the eastern Wight, it was Jimbo Mitchell who had secured the regatta win sailing 'Halluf' to a fine race victory over the 7.7 nautical mile laid mark course around the central Solent. 'Adastra' who was tied at the top of the standings with 'Halluf' overnight, was forced to retire from today's regatta race but still occupied second overall before the passage race results are known. Ben Few-Brown's 'Miranda' was relegated to fourth overall having been on the podium with 'Cynthia' leap-frogging her after a fine second place today. All eyes on the passage race for the final standings but Jimbo Mitchell looks assured of the overall title.
Sonar Class
After yesterday's on-water cancellation due to the deteriorating conditions, today was about as perfect as could be for the ever-popular Sonar fleet that provides such wonderful opportunities for sailors of all abilities throughout the season. Today's racing was highly competitive yet ordered with Simon Clarke's 'Jenny XXX' securing both race wins whilst Matt Grier sailing the Andrew Cassell Foundation 'Dolphin' took two second places. In keeping with the order, Richard Bailey, sailing 'Bertie' nailed two third places, so the podium was decided between these three on the water for the class.
IRC National Championships (Classes: IRC Zero/IRC1/IRC2/IRC3/IRC4) please see www.rorc.org/news for full race reports for the individual classes.
"A fitting end to an outstanding regatta"
Principal Race Officer for the Royal Thames 250th Anniversary Regatta, Tim Hancock, was full of praise for the 251 competitors across the classes, saying: "Today was about as perfect as we ever get on the Solent with a breeze that ranged from 8 knots in the late morning, up to 18 knots towards mid-afternoon, flat water and some interesting and testing shifts filtering over the Island to test the sailors."
"It was a fitting end to an outstanding regatta, and my huge thanks go firstly to the sailors who accepted that racing in a regatta of this size requires collaboration and co-operation across very busy racecourses. My personal thanks go to all the individuals on race management team, not only from the Royal Thames Yacht Club but also from the Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal Southern Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club who conducted the regatta in such a professional manner. We can't do an event of this size without the huge number of volunteers, and I cannot say enough about the tremendous and tireless work they put in over the course of the regatta. As a sailor-first event, it ticked so many boxes, and I think overall it was a memorable and stylish way to acknowledge the club's 250th anniversary."
Full results for all classes can be found here.