Falmouth Week 2018 - Preview

by Andrew Laming 7 Aug 2018 16:08 BST 10-19 August 2018

A spectacular week of sailing awaits next week, as Falmouth gets ready to host the annual regatta in the Carrick Roads and Falmouth Bay from Sunday August 12th - Saturday August 18.

Falmouth Week, from August 10 - 19, for the first time in many years welcomes back the dinghies to the main regatta week, so dinghy sailors can once again enjoy the shoreside fun, live music fireworks and the ever popular Red Arrows display, which this year takes place on the Tuesday of regatta week. It all combines to make this an unmissable week for sailors of big and small boats alike, on and off the water and plenty to watch for non sailors.

The action is split between two sailing areas. Dinghies, working boats and the other smaller classes will be racing around marks in the Carrick Roads. Classes to look out for here include the Flying Fifteens, Ajaxes, Cornish Shrimpers, Sunbeams and the spectacular Falmouth Working Boats and Gaffers, plus the unique St Mawes One Designs and Dayboats.

The bigger yachts will head out into Falmouth Bay racing between various marks along the coast from Gyllngvase and Maenporth, as far as the Helford River and the Lizard to the west. Races are hosted each day by one of the local sailing clubs and yacht clubs, coordinated by the main organising authority, POFSA, the Port of Falmouth Sailing Association. Daily prize givings and teas are hosted at each of the clubs, with live music and a warm welcome.

On the Wednesday the largest number of racers is expected as all classes take part in a longer format Champagne race. The Bay Fleet comprises Firebird catamarans, IRC and YTC (South West Yacht Time Correction) yachts, Marieholm and YTC Cruising (No spinnaker) yachts. The YTC cruising class is aimed at the less ultra-competitive and family crews. There will be both Regatta, style round-the-cans courses and windward-leeward racing for most classes.

For dinghies, there is easy launching and recovery from a variety of sites around the 2 miles by 1 mile racing area of the Carrick Roads with racing open to dinghies with Portsmouth Yardsticks of 930 or less.

The event kicks off for all classes with a skippers briefing on Saturday August 11th, and racing is from the Sunday to the following Saturday.

Full details of racing for all classes are contained in the Notice of Race which can be downloaded here: bit.ly/2Iw0Nnp. All racing documents and full details of how to enter are at the Falmouth Week website.

Last year 130 boats took part in the regatta, and with the return of dinghies further boosting numbers, there should be a huge amount to see and a great atmosphere in the historic port.

Falmouth Week Regatta aims to provide top-level competitive racing in a fun atmosphere, using a variety of courses during the week, followed by enjoyable teas, presentation of prizes and entertainment at a different host club every day. Many of the competitors combine the racing with their annual family holiday! There are many viewing points on the banks of the River Fal to see the Carrick Road fleet racing such as the coastal walks around the estuary. Another good vantage point looking out to the Bay and also looking down on Carrick Roads is Pendennis headland, especially the ramparts of Henry VIII's Pendennis Castle.

The host clubs are:

• Sunday, Helford River Sailing Club & Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (Carrick Fleet)
• Monday, Mylor Yacht Club
• Tuesday, Red Arrows (tbc)
• Wednesday, Restronguet Sailing Club (tbc)
• Thursday, Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (including prizes for Champagne Day)
• Friday, St Mawes Sailing Club
• Saturday, Flushing Sailing Club

The presentation of overall series prizes will take place at Flushing Sailing Club on Saturday evening. A complimentary launch service will be available during the evening to take participants to Flushing Sailing Club from Falmouth, and back again.

ANCASTA Champagne Race - Wednesday 15th August

For some 60 years Falmouth Week has included a long coastal race on Wednesday for offshore yachts, with prize bottles of champagne - the prestigious ANCASTA Champagne Race! The tradition commemorates an occasion back in 1951 when friends Lord Shawcross and H. A. J. (Jack) Silley, owner of Falmouth Docks, were competing in a yacht race off Falmouth. The spirit of competition was so keen that the friends broke away from the main race in which they were taking part, in order informally to settle the result between themselves. The loser, in good grace, presented a case of champagne to the winner, and so the legend of the ANCASTA Champagne Race was born.

In 1955 Philip Fox, the then chairman of GC Fox & Co, started the first official Champagne Race, to be sailed under the auspices of the Falmouth Town Regatta Committee, by donating a case of champagne as first prize. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, all classes racing in Falmouth Week now get their chance to win champagne prizes under the banner of Champagne Day.

For the Bay Fleet the ANCASTA Champagne Race usually attracts a strong daily entry by boats drawn by the challenge that the race presents. Long courses, in keeping with the tradition of the event, are set to suit the conditions and the boats taking part. The course area will encompass the whole Bay and extend up the coast in the direction of Gull Rock. The finish is usually to the west side of Pendennis headland.

The Carrick Fleet races normally but with champagne prizes.

Because of the excitement, and congestion in and around the town, surrounding the customary display by the Red Arrows, which is normally on Wednesday, there are no teas after racing that afternoon and no presentation of prizes. Instead the prizes are traditionally presented at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club on Thursday evening. It is intended to stay with this tradition in 2018 even though the Red Arrows will not be performing on Wednesday.

TO RECEIVE THEIR CHAMPAGNE, WINNERS MUST ATTEND THIS PRIZEGIVING