Whitstable Week 2024 at Whitstable Yacht Club

Overall winners, Rick and Sarah Perkins - Whitstable Week © Louise Provan

Whitstable Yacht Club's premier club competition, once again supported by Holidaycottages.co.uk, lived up to expectations with some great racing over five days, backed by some epic evening socials. Seven All-in-Handicap races were completed with a mix of strong, medium and light breezes giving conditions to suit most classes and sailors at some time for the 53 boats competing.

Wednesday saw a strong NE breeze that gave the Darts the opportunity to shine - Dickie Ledger and Sarah Oliver won both races with daughter Abby Ledger and Amy Moore following with two seconds. Following were the Tasar of Rick and Sarah Perkins with 4, 3 and Laser of Christian Brewer with 3, 6. Memories of Whitstable Weeks past were made by the Flying Dutchman sailed by Andy Provan and Mike Hanson who finished the first race in style before an untimely capsize in race two.

Note should also be made of a spectacular nosedive and cartwheel capsize by Robert Govier and Peter King's bright orange Tornado, however they were up again and running in less than two minutes to claim 15th place in the race!

The NE breeze slackened for day two giving opportunities to the dinghies which Rick and Sarah took full advantage of with two wins. Christian Brewer took 2,8 to stay in the hunt, John Silk in a Laser took 3,3 to head the Lasers for the day followed by Nick Stephens from Herne Bay SC with 4,5. The Darts struggled with the conditions, Dickie and Sarah with 12, 26 and Abby and Amy with 19,20.

Friday saw another day of NE breeze with the first race in moderate conditions. Rick and Sarah made it three wins in a row followed by the RS500 of Angelyna Gheur and Harry Wilson who made the most of their early speed in a dying wind. Adam Whitehouse was 3rd in his Laser followed by the Tasar of Zanna Gooch and Liz North in 4th and the consistent Laser of Nick Stephens 5th. The 2nd race was abandoned as the wind dropped away leaving a long paddle to shore or a tow for the lucky ones!

Saturday saw a moderate increasing to brisk W/SW wind and saw Abby and Amy's Dart get off the start line well to beat Dad and win both races. Dickie and Sarah's Dart scored 3,2 whilst Rick and Sarah matched them with 2,3. Harry Newton took 4,4 in his Laser whilst Robert and Peter finished 7,5 in their Tornado as the wind increased.

Commodore's cocktails - Whitstable Week - photo © Steve Gray

Sunday dawned bright and sunny but with very little breeze leading to racing been abandoned for the day.

The consistent Tasar of Rick and Sarah Perkins won overall finishing no worse than 4th in any of the 7 races. They were followed by Dickie Ledger and Sarah Oliver in 2nd due to the 12th they scored in race 3. Nick Stephens finished 3rd in his Laser. The Asymmetric prize went to Angelyna and Harry and the under 18 prize to William Marsh in his Laser 4.7, with Finn Crockatt 2nd and Joe Barton 3rd and best Topper.

The social scene reflected the profile of WYC currently with a young person's BBQ on Wednesday, the club band playing a full set on Thursday and a highly competitive quiz on Friday night which absolutely nobody took too seriously. Saturday night started with the Commodore's Cocktails once again supported by Holidaycottages.co.uk followed by star band Sold on Soul which kept everybody dancing until late.

It was an amazing five days which came about due to the efforts of a large number of volunteers who gave their time to make it happen. The race crews, safety boat crews, recorders, bar staff, band members, quizmasters and many more were the true stars. And we even managed to watch the Olympic sailing every day on the big screen in the bar - not something we have done before at Whitstable Week - it was an epic event!

Runners up, Dickie Ledger and Sarah Oliver - Whitstable Week - photo © Steve Gray

Overall Results: (fleet breakdowns available here)