Royal Burnham Yacht Club Whitsun Regatta 2018
by David Osborne 8 Jun 2018 06:39 BST
26-28 May 2018
Royal Burnham Yacht Club Whitsun Regatta © David Osborne
This took place over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, 26-28 May. The classes were Royal Burnham One Designs, Royal Corinthian One Designs, Dragons, RS Elites, IRC/NHC Cruisers, Dinghy Handicap, Multihulls and Old Gaffers.
The event was combined with a Cadet Regatta, competing for the Minerva Cup and also the Houghton Cup run under the auspices of EAORA (see more on that below). Squibs would normally have featured but they had their East Coast Championship on the same weekend at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, just downriver.
There were four races for most classes (three for cruisers) run from the RBYC line, with courses either downriver to the mouths of the Rivers Crouch Roach or upriver towards Canewden. Conditions were good on Saturday and Sunday, with the wind strong enough on Saturday for the Y Signal to be displayed, but the wind dropped on Monday and was from an awkward direction for course setting. Nevertheless all fleets got back in time for a lunchtime prize giving to close the weekend's events.
The Crouch Yacht Club Houghton Cup is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, yachting trophies in the country, dating from 1911 and originally being for an offshore night race. This year it was won by Golden Fleece of the West Mersea Yacht Club and was presented on Sunday evening by the Commodore of the CYC. Woozle Hunter competed in both the Houghton Cup race and the rest of the regatta, winning the Burnham Bowl.
The RBYC Whitsun Regatta is a club event, unlike Burnham Week later in the season, which is run by the four main clubs on the river Crouch. Nevertheless, the regatta aims to have a broad appeal, with a wide array of classes racing and a full social programme. In keeping with its traditional flavour there was a Concours D'Elegance which was won by the trimaran Persuasion. As a reflection of the changing scene on the river it is likely that next year it will include gig racing, the rapidly growing Burnham on Crouch Coastal Rowing Club being affiliated with the RBYC.