Fourteen boats started the RORC East Coast Race, the 120 mile Fastnet qualifier from Harwich to Ostend on Thursday June 26. Former EAORA chairman Tony Merewether started the race from his yacht Amazon, anchored west of North Shelf, a change of start line which allowed Richard Matthews' Carkeek 52 Oystercatcher XXXV, with 3.6 m draft, to remain in deep water at the pin end.
There were three Belgian entries: Ragazza (IV), Mills 37, owned by Jan Gabriel, commodore of the Royal North Sea YC, Anne Bonny, Swan 46, sailed by Sigrid Huyghe and an all-girl crew, the first ever all-female Belgian entry in the Fastnet, and Leda, sailed by Jan Toussein from the Royal Belgium SC. Chris and Karen Hames sailed south from Hull with their Classic Sparkman & Stevens designed Tramp of Airlie to take part in the race.
Oystercatcher XXXV took line honours in just over 11 hours and also won overall on corrected time taking the RBYC's Bob Stewart Memorial Trophy, RORC's Blackwater Trophy for Class 0/1 and RORC's Ailish Salver, for the first boat to finish.
Second overall was Sunstone, another Sparkman & Stephens classic owned by Will & Jenny Taylor Jones, with their son and daughter Samuel and Isobel playing a major part in the yacht's performance.
Simon Farren with A40 Warrior, top scoring EAORA boat in the recent RORC North Sea Race, was third overall, with ten men on board.
The course set by Race Officer Andy Wise took the boats down the Kings Channel and then back up to Long Sand Head, before crossing the North Sea. Initially conditions were benign, but as the fleet got closer to Belgium the winds increased and a few boats needed sail repairs when they arrived.
For full results of the regatta see :- www.eaora.org.uk
Shorter series:
1 Ape-X, Robert Leggett
2 Bushwakka, Simon Garner
3 Why Not, Richard Hudson
Longer series:
1 Sunstone, Will & Jenny Taylor-Jones
2 Warrior, Simon Farren
3 Spirit, Paul Scott
The Offshore Regatta saw 140 people enjoying Ostend and Ramsgate. A big thank-you to the Royal North Sea YC and the Royal Temple YC and their race officer Andy Kettingham. Haven Ports YC helped with the start and finish of the regatta. Five committee members helped with the logistics and there were two committee boats in Ostend: Andy Wise and Sally with their Fairey Huntsman Jayne, and my boat Windrunner. Unfortunately, both boats had problems after the event which is why there has been a slight delay with this report and the results going live.
EAORA thanks all the competitors for making it such a memorable weekend.
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