Classic Channel Regatta

The second Classic Channel Regatta was held during the first week of July 2007. It started with two days of racing at Dartmouth, followed by the Classic Channel Race to St Malo. After two days at St Malo there was then a passage race to St Peter Port, where the regatta finished with the Classic Round Sark Race.

The regatta was dominated by a prolonged period of unusually unsettled weather and strong-to-gale force winds throughout both the week of the regatta and the week before. But far from dampening the spirits of the crews who managed to make it to either Dartmouth, St Malo and St Peter Port, the challenging conditions generated a great ‘esprit de corps’ which made the regatta both highly enjoyable and memorable.

With westerly gales forecast in all Channel sea areas throughout the preceding week, most of the boats coming down Channel had to give up, and those that did make it to Dartmouth had a  really hard slog.  On the first Friday evening in Dartmouth, when over 50 boats should have arrived, less than 20 had made it, but more and more boats arrived over the weekend and by Sunday over 30 boats had arrived and it was truly heart-warming to see the effort so many crews had made to get to Dartmouth. It was also heartening to see almost all the French entrants make it.

The race in Start Bay on Saturday went ahead in fresh and murky conditions. The committee boat crew said it was eerie to see the competitors cross the line and so quickly disappear into the gloom. The race on Sunday had to be cancelled due to another gale and was replaced by an impromptu trip up the river Dart to Dittisham for lunch on the quayside in and around the Ferry Boat Inn.

The Royal Dart Yacht Club’s waterside clubhouse was the venue for Friday night drinks and crew suppers, and on Sunday for the prizegiving which was sponsored by Pusser’s Rum.

A forecast window in the weather allowed the Classic Channel Race to start as scheduled on Monday afternoon. 20 boats started but as night fell the wind increased to westerly force 7 in the gusts, and with the sea state rough and rain coming down sideways it wasn’t a pleasant night. 4 boats retired, leaving 16 to make the finish at St Malo.

At St Malo the fleet locked into the Bassin Vauban by the walled city on Tuesday and the crews spent two days enjoying the delights of the city.

The weather again became difficult on Thursday, and with more gales forecast overnight the passage race up to St Peter Port was postponed until noon on Friday. The fleet locked out on Friday morning and the race started in the river right off the city in clear sunny weather with a west-norwest force 5 blowing. Once clear of the land the sea state was still quite rough, but it was good sailing weather and a good race was had by all, with the boats arriving at the finish off St Peter Port harbour in the early evening.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a moderate westerly wind for the Classic Round Sark Race. Most of the boats failed to take sufficient account of the very strong tidal stream running near the first mark and really struggled to round it against the tide, however, all but one made it and once round it was a spinnaker run and reach round the back of Sark followed by a beat up to the finish off the north end of the island.

The regatta closed with a Vin d’Honneur reception and prizegiving at the Castle hosted by the States of Guernsey, followed by an excellent buffet supper at the Guernsey Yacht Club.

The next Classic Channel Regatta will be in 2009 and the provisional dates are July 4-11.