Visitors from local clubs and across the water in England enjoyed a challenging five races in blustery but sunny conditions at Penarth Yacht Club's 2026 regatta on 25th 26th July.
The ILCA Wessex Grand Prix counted only on Saturday, but many stayed overnight for superb racing on Sunday and enjoyed the reggae entertainment by the superb Eden Roots band.
Saturday' racing was held in a North Westerly wind gusting over 25 knots. The ILCA fleet stared first, followed by the Enterprises and then general handicap. Multiple capsizes kept the safety boats busy and by the start of the second race the fleet was much smaller the wind and waves took their toll on crews and equipment.
John Lapes from Bristol Corinthian won the ILCA grand prix and also scored the best overall Saturday results, meaning he won the famous "Penyot Pin", thirty six pints of beer that has to be drunk on Saturday night. Suddenly he was everybody's best friend.
Sunday dawned looking lighter and brighter. But the old saying "If it looks too god to be true, it probably is" came to mind. Three epic races were sailed in strong wind and sunshine with gusts described as brutal. John Lapes and Savva Tretyakov battled it out for the ILCA prize with Savva emerging the winner.
Jeff Dyer and Ella Rich dominated the Enterprise fleet, having avoided capsizing until the last tack for the finish of the last race.
Simon Cook was leading the handicap races from the front in his Europe until several capsizes in the last race led to retirement.
This left the true star of the weekend, 11 year old Xenia Hudson in her Optimist as the only sailor to complete all five races and not capsize, showing all the grown-ups how it's done by winning the general handicap and overall regatta prize. True determination to finish every time.
There were some tired bodies but the weekend was summed up by one visitor who said "That was proper regatta sailing".
ILCA results:
1st Savva Tretyakov
2nd John Lapes
3rd Charles Felgate
Enterprise results:
1st Jeff Dyer and Ella Rich
2nd Peter Rendall and Helen Cummings
3rd Chis Palmer and Mary Scaglioni
General Handicap results:
1st Optimist: Xenia Hudson
2nd Europe: Simon Cook
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