Regatta Results 2024

Lilliput Sailing Club’s 68^th annual regatta took place over the weekend of 10^th and 11^th August. Blustery winds on the Saturday kept the dinghies in port, whilst the cruisers reefed down and headed out to enjoy some lively racing in Poole Bay.  On Sunday the conditions were much abated providing glorious sailing conditions for both cruisers and dinghies.  The blue skies and 10 knots of breeze, gusting 15 made for a fabulous day’s sailing. 

The cruisers raced in two fleets (PHHS and “Gentleman’s” handicap fleets) for the Regatta Series of four races and for the final Charity Cup race.  Three races for the Regatta series were held on Saturday, and the final Regatta Series Race and single Charity Cup race took place on Sunday.

In the PHHS class, Saturday’s races were remarkably consistent, with “Toroa of Axe” (Colin Stewart’s Evolution 26) taking first place in all 3 races, leading from “Vindicator” (Paul Heawood’s Evolution 26) in second and the visiting Jeanneau 35 “Amazira” (helmed by Ian Clayton of East Dorset Sailing Club) in third place.  Despite dropping to second place behind Vindicator in the final Regatta Series race on Sunday, Toroa of Axe had an unassailable lead, and took first place in the series from Vindicator and Amazira.

The competition in the Gentleman’s class was fierce but – well – Gentlemanly.  Despite the blustery conditions on Saturday, there were no serious incidents to report during the racing.  After three races on Saturday “Velocity” (Will Shakespeare’s Evo 22) led the field by a single point.  However, it was “Tigger” (David Long’s Hunter 272) who took the series title after a second place in the final race and consistent performance across the whole series.  “Velocity dropped to second place, followed by “Camelot” (Jim Guest’s Moody 29) in third, then Summer Breeze, Poppy and Pator. 

The final race for both cruiser fleets was for the Charity Trophy.   The winners of the Regatta Series races in each class again showed consistency taking first place in their respective Charity Cup races, enjoying a very pleasant day’s sailing.

The ideal sailing conditions on Sunday allowed three races to take place for the dinghies. All three races counted towards the Regatta Series. The winner of the final race also won the charity cup, the Jack Peate Cup.

Twenty-two dinghies raced in two fleets (A and B) including seven dinghies from neighbouring East Dorset SC.  Sunday’s Race Officer, Martin Hampshire, opted to run the first two races “around the cans”, just outside of Lilliput lagoon.

In the “A” fleet, Gordon Struwig provided the dominant performance in his ILCA 7 with a first and a second place. Jack Heawood, sailing a Supernova dinghy on loan, capsized in the first race, but just edged out Gordon Struwig to win the second race. The minor placings for races one and two were shared between Tim Lewis, Martin Barker and Gavin MacLachlan.

However it was the third and final race, around Brownsea, Furzey and Green Islands, that provided the real talking points of the day. The start line was somewhat chaotic and Andy Bethell in his RS Vision dinghy, crewed by his nephew Aaron, jumped the start and lost time finding his way back to re-start the race. In a separate incident, a dinghy was protested, which was later upheld. However it was Gordon Struwig, well-placed after the first two races, who took a wrong turn around the back of Brownsea Island and headed up Blood Alley, which lost him any chance of taking the Regatta Series and the charity cup.

The third and final race was won by Jack Heawood, finishing over three minutes ahead of Martin Barker with Dave Goodliffe / Jayne Lord in a close third. This was Jack’s second win of the day. However his capsize in the first race took him out of contention for the Regatta Series.

Consistent sailing across all three races by Tim Lewis in his Streaker, saw him competing for the top spot, but an upheld protest took him out of contention for the Charity Cup, and dropped to second place overall in the Regatta Series.  Martin Barker in the Laser 2000, crewed by Jo Kirby, sealed the Regatta Series win  - their second in four years, with a second place in the final race.

In the B fleet, Artemii Pysarenko dominated in his ILCA 4, winning all three races and taking home the Walker Trophy. He finished a creditable sixth out of the 17 dinghies in the charity cup. Of the 10 B fleet entries, only three boats completed all three races. Lance and Sally Miller finished second in their Wanderer and Ian Law third in his Fusion Pro.

Throughout the event non-sailors enjoyed shore-based activities including kids crafts and treasure hunt, barbecues and a Saturday night party.  At the closing prizegiving ceremony the club commodore, Martin Barker, announced that the charity collection in aid of Poole Sailability had raised over £400 for.  Full results for the event are available on the LSC club website: https://bit.ly/lscRegatta

Lilliput Sailing Club is a self-help club based at the Blue Lagoon in Poole Harbour.  The club is run entirely by member volunteers for the benefit of members and welcomes new members sailing dinghies or cruisers.