2 weeks to Bembridge Sailing Club 125th Anniversary Regatta

by James Wilson 4 Jun 2011 18:08 BST 17-19 June 2011

• 120 dayboats already entered, biggest South Coast regatta outside of Cowes Week
• Bryan Willis to chair the Jubilee Regatta Protest Committee
• Toe in the Water becomes regatta charity
• Musto 125 Jubilee clothing range launched
• Website live with all race registration & safety forms - www.bembridgesc.net/125Jubilee.html

With 2 weeks to go, fleets across the South Coast are preparing to come ‘home’ to help celebrate Bembridge Sailing Club’s 125th anniversary on the 17-19 June. The XOD, Swallow, Sunbeam, Daring, Victory, Mermaid, Squib, Bembridge Redwing, Bembridge One Design, Solent Scow, Seaview Dinghy, Illusion and Swan classes have all bee invited as they have strong historical links to Bembridge.

The Bembridge Sailing Club was formed in 1886 to provide Corinthian sailing racing as an alternative or supplement to playing golf at the Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club that was active on the St. Helens Duver at that time. The original club house erected in 1896 still stands and is supported by a new western end completed in time for the Queen’s Jubilee in 2001.

The regatta will include a Friday passage race, two races per class on the Saturday and further racing or passage home on Sunday. The ‘Jump Up’, Saturday evening’s informal celebration, welcomed by Mount Gay Rum, will feature the fabulous music of Derek Sandy and his reggae band, which will be opening the Isle of Wight Festival in 2011, and supported by Irish Dave band.

The 125th Jubilee regatta is kindly supported by: Percol Coffee, John Hollingsworth Estate Agents, Coast & Country Marquees, Catlin, Musto, Harken, Volvo, Mount Gay Rum and Wight Vodka.

Caroline Peel, Commodore of the Bembridge Sailing Club says “It is our intention to make this a fabulous and fun event for competitors, friends and families to celebrate this beautiful and historic sailing venue. The fact that we can celebrate our jubilee with the return of so many sailing classes, some also celebrating key anniversaries, that were originally designed, sailed or built in Bembridge will make it a proud moment for our club.”

History of invited classes and close links to Bembridge:

The XOD class celebrate their centenary in 2011. They were designed in Bembridge by the renowned Alfred Westmacott and originally built at the local Woodnutt’s yard.

The Bembridge One Design was introduced in 1936; yet another Westmacott and Woodnutts classic. The design was based on the very successful XOD, but with three inches less draught for the shallow approaches of Bembridge Harbour and no spinnaker. For many years they were owned by the club and ran three heats a day of racing. In the mid eighties they were ‘privatised’ and have flourished ever since.

The Bembridge Redwing Class originated in 1897 with a design by Charles Nicholson. This was replaced in 1938 by a new Charles Nicholson design and the fleet size was limited to 20 boats. In 1989 David Cannel adapted the 1938 design into a GRP hull to compete on equal terms with the wooden boats. Thirteen wooden boats were sold to a syndicate in Poole harbour, and the Bembridge fleet expanded to thirty five boats.

The Swallow Class was designed for the 1948 Olympics as a replacement for the Star, by Tom Thorneycroft of Bembridge. The concept was an adaption of the concept of the Bembridge Redwing that Thorneycroft sailed.

The Solent Sunbeam Class is another Westmacott and Woodnutt’s masterpiece dating from 1923. A small class of Sunbeams was based in Bembridge in the nineteen thirties and now all enjoy close racing in Itchenor.

The Daring Class is based on a 5.5 meter and celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011. The 5.5 meter rule was designed for the 1948 Olympics, and the 5.5s and then the Darings have raced in Bembridge waters, in August after Cowes Week, since the early fifties.

The Victory Class started life as the predecessors of the current Bembridge One Design Class, and were sold to the RNSA in the mid nineteen thirties. Many more were built and then raced at naval stations all over the globe.

The Mermaid Class has been based at Seaview since 1907, and was originally gaff rigged. It was replaced in 1922 by a Bermudian rigged design by Alfred Westmacott, which sailed up to 1962 when it was replaced by the current Arthur Robb design. They have raced at Bembridge for over a century.

The Squib Class dates from 1968, and the boats are sailed extensively at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, which is a member of the East Wight Combined Clubs, and at the Seaview Yacht Club. They have raced at the Bembridge Sailing Club regatta for many years.

The Solent Scow Class replaced the Bembridge Dinghies in 1950 as the staple class of the Bembridge Sailing Dinghy Club and by the mid 1960s there were nearly one hundred being sailed from the club. However, as interest waned they, in their turn, were replaced by the Mirror Dinghy; but all was not lost, as over the last twenty years the fleet rebuilt to over 100 boats, owned and sailed by members of the club, with another substantial fleet at the Brading Haven Yacht Club.

The Illusion Class were designed in 1981 as a scaled down model of the 12 metre yacht Lionheart. These single handed boats race throughout the winter season from the Bembridge Sailing Club and the series is acknowledged as one of the most competitive and skilful on the South Coast. Most of the helms race very successfully, winning many races, in all sorts of classes during the summer months.

The Seaview Dinghy Class is a thriving class of classically designed boats, which have been racing for nearly eighty years. The class is still expanding and now boasts over 180 boats, with helms from teenagers to eighty year olds. Their August series is one of the most keenly fought on the south coast, with skills ranging from Olympians to beginners.

The Swan Dinghy Class is a 15ft Bermudan rigged, clinker built half decked day boat originally built by Alan Coombes in the early 1960’s for members of BHYC who wanted a more manageable boat than the Brading Haven One-Design. An ideal family boat as well as an excellent class boat, No 7 "Cygnet" was built for Peter Smith who was a founder member and long time Hon Sec of BHYC. The last wooden one (No 20) was built in 1974. A GRP version was built a few years ago.

For late entry and further details, please contact Mike Samuelson, Secretary to the club at