Brown Cup Scottish Schools Sailing Championships Preview

by Brown Cup Scottish Schools Sailing Regatta 13 May 2022 06:30 BST 11-13 June 2022

Brown Cup Scottish Schools Regatta © LESC

The Loch Earn Sailing Club is delighted to announce the return of the Brown Cup Scottish Schools Sailing Championships for 2022 following its Covid-forced cancellation in 2020 and 2021.

The Brown Cup Scottish Schools Sailing Event is a three-day event that will run from 11th to 13th June 2022 and take place on Loch Earn from the Loch Earn Sailing Club. The event is an inter-school sailing regatta with two days of coaching to enable sailors at Primary and Secondary school to race in the Scottish Schools Race, which forms part of the event. The event includes race coaching on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12 June and Scottish School Sailing Championships on Monday 13 June.

The event is designed for pupils and students aged 7 to 18 years. It is a "bring your own boat" event open to all established sailing dinghies with RYA Portsmouth Yardstick handicaps. There will be separate class racing for Optimist, Topper, and general handicap fleet, including Laser, Feva, and RS200.

The Brown Cup is a unique event. As well as experienced sailors who are seasoned race competitors, many of this year's entrants will be sailing in a regatta for the first time. If, as anticipated, this year repeats the pattern we have seen in the past, we can look forward to a high standard throughout all the entrants.

Prizes

The Brown Cup will be awarded to the top School team of 3 boats. In addition, cups will be awarded for the 1st Handicap, Topper class, and Optimist classes and additional individual prizes. Schools may enter multiple teams of three for the Brown Cup. Event entry is free, though fees apply for the optional training sessions.

Sponsors

Sponsors of the Brown Cup include Optos, the retinal imaging company owned by Nikon, which has committed to a 3-year sponsorship deal to support Scottish School Sailing. Previous supporters have included Brooks MacDonald Investment Management, Schroders, and Skandia.

History

Jack Brown, the Commodore of Loch Earn Sailing Club from 1960 to 1962, created the Brown Cup Regatta in 1959. The young sailors were usually members' children sailing their parents' boats. The event was opened to all Scottish schools by Harvey MacMillan in 1992. Apart from the covid years that caused the event to be cancelled, it has taken place every year subsequently.

The latest Brown Cup Event was in 2018. It attracted 64 entrants from over 28 Scottish schools. Twelve teams of three pupils competed for Brown Cup. The winner was the High School of Dundee A-Team with Anna Sturrock (Laser Radial class), James Gifford (Optimist class) and Tom Mitchell (Topper class).

Location

Loch Earn is a freshwater loch located in the southern Highlands of Scotland within rural Perthshire, about 45 km from Perth, 151 km from Aberdeen, and 122 km from Inverness. The Loch Earn Sailing Club is located at Sandy Point, St Fillans, Perthshire PH6 2NG.

Event timetable