Lymington Dinghy Regatta 2024
by Luke McEwen 5 Jun 16:50 BST
1-2 June 2024
Scorpions at the Lymington Dinghy Regatta © Adrian Chisnell
Once again the Lymington Dinghy Regatta hit its 120-boat entry limit before the weekend of racing. Locals and visiting sailors from as far away as Scotland enjoyed this fun event hosted jointly by the two Lymington clubs every year for the last decade.
The sun shone, the wind blew and the boats flew around the two courses, with six races spread over the two days. On Saturday evening the competitors and race teams enjoyed a tasty BBQ and topical quiz celebrating the 200th anniversary of the RNLI with plenty of refreshments, watching a lovely sunset over the Lymington River.
Warm northerly winds are rare in the Western Solent but made for manageably flat water despite gusts up to 24 knots against the flood tide on Saturday afternoon. Eleven classes were spread across two race courses run by over 70 volunteers. The RS400, 500, 700 and 800 classes, the Musto Skiffs and the PY Fast fleet raced on the East course run by LTSC while the Scorpions, RS Aeros, PY Medium and Slow and the Lightnings raced on the West course run by RLymYC. The very efficient slipway team, average lap scoring and a 3-minute rolling start sequence kept the waiting time to a minimum so we could get lots of good racing and be back in time for the legendary Lymington doughnuts, a well earned reward after each exhilarating day on the water.
Up and coming local junior sailors showed their mettle with Arthur Greaves and Angus McEwen winning the PY Medium fleet in their 420 and Dirk Rogers and Will McEwen taking second place in the PY Fast fleet in their 29er, while older local sailor Richard Lilley won the RS700s, Robbie Claridge won the Lightnings and Stuart Hudson with daughter Lizzie won the PY Slow fleet in their Firefly.
The clubs are very grateful to local company Harken UK sponsoring the prizes.
Overall Results: