Ship in the Bottle Regatta Overall - 2025
Published 10:27 on 5 May 2025
The early May Bank Holiday weekend saw TCYC hosting the Ship in the Bottle Regatta at Coombe Cellars under clear blue skies with a variety of wind conditions. It was really pleasing to see some 17 helms take to the water, young and old, male and female in 9 different classes of dinghy. Two days of racing awaited the sailors, 3 races on each day with Race Officer, Steve Pocock, setting a challenging figure of eight course on Saturday and a straightforward trapezoid on Sunday as the breeze freshened. Both days provided testing wind conditions with a really light north easterly on day one followed by a challenging easterly breeze coming straight up the river that on occasion varied from 1 or 2 knots but mainly 15 to 20 knots on Sunday.
Saturday saw 4 juniors and 3 ladies join the racing with both experienced and less experienced helms on the start line set just off the clubhouse. Getting a clean start on a relatively short start line was quite a test with a bustling 17 boats all vying for position. The shape of the figure of eight course meant there was often boats beating upwind and through a host of boats running dead downwind which hopefully made for good spectating. At the end of day 1 the Solo of Malcolm Davies held a one point lead over Mike Commander's freshly liveried and new K1 dinghy closely followed by another Solo of Scott Hampton. First Lady at this point was Ally Upton in a RS Quba and first junior John Sharp in a ILCA4.
Sunday racing started an hour later than Saturday at 11:00 and maybe it was the fresh breeze that explained the reduced fleet size of just 9 boats. The trapezoid shaped course was much easier to marshal as the whole course was visible from the race office on shore and probably good spectating as well. With an incoming tide and the fresh easterly breeze it paid to beat upwind close to the southerly shore although not too practical for the K1 dinghy with a fully extended keel needing to keep clear of the shallows, especially on the start line. The Finn of Rob Upton was clearly in its element going like a train upwind but he was chased hard by Mike's K1 on all the downwind legs closing to within a few boat lengths at the end of each lap. Malcolm's Solo was never far off the pace either and he and Scott changed places several times. Really pleasing to also see our junior, James Upton, revelling in the stronger conditions in his RS Quba as well as Fiona Hedworth sticking it out in 2 of the 3 races in her ILCA4. After John Sharp's retirement in the first race he teamed up with Mum, Nicky, and crewed her RS Feva who appreciated him pointing out the wind shifts better than she could.
Come prize-giving there was still only one point separating first and second places with both Malcolm and Mike having claimed 3 race wins apiece over the two days. It was Malcolm Davies who won the Ship in the Bottle trophy for the first time with Mike second and Rob third. First Lady prize went to Fiona Hedworth and the junior prizes were shared between Rob Upton and John Sharp. Special thanks go to all the volunteers who gave of their time freely both on and off the water but especially to Alison Upton who made the scones for the afternoon cream tea. Since none were left I'm guessing everyone found them as yummy as me.
Malcolm Davies
L-R Mike Commander (2nd), Fiona Hedworth (1st lady), Malcolm Davies (1st), John Sharp and James Upton (juniors), Rob Upton (3rd
Full results can be found by clicking here
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Video clip race 2 start Sunday courtesy Roger Pike
Author: Mike Commander
Last updated 20:00 on 5 May 2025
