Poole Week 2025, in association with Haven Knox-Johnston - Day 6
by David Harding 30 Aug 16:19 BST
24-29 August 2025
A (Relatively) Gentle Way To Wind Up The Week
After one of most consistently breezy Poole Weeks of recent years, everyone was hoping that the wind had seen the forecast for Friday and would know that it was supposed to moderate.
Thankfully it did. It wasn't exactly a zephyr even so, with a mean wind speed of 10-14 knots from the west and the occasional gust into the 20s. Ominous black clouds rolled across the harbour too, one or two of them shedding their load in some quite spectacular and very localised downpours.
A little fresh water to mix with the salt did nothing to dampen any spirits, and an excellent day's racing was enjoyed by all. Some, of course, were chasing points and had serious business to attend to. It was tight at the top in several fleets, so the outcome of the final day's racing would determine who went home with the silverware.
In the ILCA 6s, Rob Jackson from Dragon Bay in the Cayman Islands did what he needed to do and reversed the order from 2024 after a week-long tussle with Roger O'Gorman, finishing two points clear at the top.
A number of boats were in with a chance of winning in the 11-strong Dolphin fleet, Peter and Gaye Harris claiming victory by a single point.
No fleet saw tighter results than the Merlin Rockets, in which Steve and Ally Tyler were exchanging firsts and seconds all week with Mike and Jane Calvert. Both ended on seven points and both had three firsts, so the deciding factor was the Calverts' win in the final race.
It was visitors who won in the RS400s, too, John Heissig and Nicky Griffin from Llangorse in deepest Wales finishing ahead of Howard Farbrother and Louise Hosken from Lymington.
Another close points table was in the fast handicap fleet, in which Liam Pardy and Ben Anderson sailed one of the first Melges 15s in the country to victory, just ahead of David Evans from Poole Yacht Club in his Contender.
Other fleets saw clear winners consistently out-sailing the competition, among them 13-year-old Rosie Keats in her Topper, who counted a clean row of bullets in the slow handicap fleet with its 28 entries. This won her not only the slow handicap prize but also the Boat of the Week trophy, won in 2023 and 2024 by John Tremlett, Tim Copsey and Fraser Graham from Itchenor in their XOD. Following yet another dominant performance, this trio would have won yet again, finishing five points clear at the top of the 27-strong fleet, but the formula was changed this year to ensure that no one can win Boat of the Week more than twice in succession.
Elsewhere, the results tell the tale. Jackie Dobson and Sam Pygall won the Wayfarers, Peter Loretto (Poole Week's chairman) and Lily Tointon ran away with the RS200s, and the Redwing fleet, though only five-strong, added colour and elegance to the harbour as they serenely sailed around. At least they looked serene, but wherever you find two or more boats there will be a battle going on.
Many of the on-the-water battles were re-lived in post-race replay sessions run by Brett Lewis of TracTrac UK, who fitted GPS trackers to different fleets every day. The replays analysed the starts, wind data, VMG (velocity made good), SOG (speed over ground), COG (course over ground) and more, to see how the races were won - and lost. At the end of Thursday, the fastest boats of the week were also revealed. Peak speeds ranged from 8.4 knots for a Dolphin - more than some might expect - to 12.55 for a Wayfarer, which was faster than a fair few of the other classes. Topping the table were the Melges 15 (15.82 knots) and the Dart of Geoff and Liz Sherwood (16.31).
So that was Poole Week 2025, which attracted almost as many XODs as Cowes Week and, said the helm of one of the seven visiting boats, is now becoming a firm fixture in the XOD calendar.
A visiting ILCA sailor who has travelled to many international regattas also vowed to return. 'The sailing's fantastic, and it's a great mix of trapezoid and round-the-harbour courses. Most importantly, you get cake afterwards, which can't be over-valued!'.
Similar sentiments were expressed by many of the 365 sailors in 197 boats from 26 clubs who, along with the organisers, the race-management teams, the army of volunteers and, of course, the sponsors, made Poole Week 2025 the great success it undoubtedly was. The fact that some of the beer left over (left over?!) from the Flying Fifteen worlds in Weymouth the previous week somehow found its way to Parkstone didn't do any harm either.
If anyone needs a holiday to recover from the sailing, the cake or the beer, Mariposa Travel - sponsors of Friday's sailing - would be more than happy to oblige.