Please select your home edition
Edition
HKJ YY Leaderboard

The oldest video footage of Weymouth Speed Week

by Magnus Smith 27 Oct 2024 12:00 GMT
A revealing picture of an early version of Icarus, when although the boat could foil, the speeds were scarcely any faster than that of a standard Tornado © Austin Farrar Collection / David Chivers

With the 2024 edition of Weymouth Speed Week under way - and still bringing many to the UK's south coast in search of 30 knots, 40 knots, 50 knots - let us look back into the video archives for the most advanced designs of yesteryear! There are two boat names you will see cropping up repeatedly...

It's great that we can see footage from the first ever event - 1972 - with 'Icarus' and 'Crossbow'.

Also from 1972 and - we think - from Weymouth, is the Flying Proa.

1973 - with C class cats and 'Crossbow'.

1977 - with 'Crossbow', 'British Oxygen', plus Tornado and Unicorn cats.

1981 - all windsurfers.

1985 - with a triple windsurfer, and 'Icarus'.

We don't know the exact year of this last video, so let's end with a guessing game, and a wonderful musical number to accompany it! 1970s? 1980s? 1990s?.

What of the rest?

Do you know the location of any other videos about sailing record attempts, from the time before videos went digital? We would love to share these with sailors worldwide. You can submit video links for immediate review.

Keep watching with:

Weymouth Speed Week 2022: Icarus - photo © Pete Davis
Weymouth Speed Week 2022 - 'Icarus' still at it - photo © Pete Davis

Related Articles

The Cat Shot
Fall over the bow and rely on sheer horsepower to get you away. Decent AC parallel me thinks... May 14, 2026 may well have been when the fighter was 'thrown' off the front of the carrier, as it were. Aviator saluted the Shooter, who then tapped the deck, and a couple of seconds later you disappear over the bow, only to climb back out into free air. Posted on 14 Jul Think Destination, Do it Different
Some unique events in sailing are thriving Attending and reporting on a myriad of events - which has admittedly eaten into my own sailing time - does give a unique perspective on what is working and what isn't in this day and age. Posted on 7 Jul Take the long way home
A few days ago, my phone lit up with a WhatsApp call from Michael 'Spiesy' Spies It was an email from Rob Brown OAM that was the genesis for The Kings of the Lowriders. During the calls that ensued, Michael 'Spiesy' Spies name came up. Posted on 1 Jul Tideway Dinghy Derby Video
It's been a long, long time since this race was last held! It's been a long, long time since this race was last held. 1977 in fact when 300 boats took part during the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Posted on 25 Jun Seven decades of B&G innovation
The Past, Present and Future of Marine Instrumentation 70 years is a long time for any company, but in marine electronics it's extraordinary. B&G was founded in 1956, and has been a pioneer in the sector ever since. Posted on 23 Jun History-making Tideway Dinghy Derby
On Saturday in London, 80 dinghies raced ten miles up and down the River Thames On Saturday in London, 80 dinghies raced ten miles up and down the River Thames as part of the Tideway Dinghy Derby supported by Laing O'Rourke, celebrating a cleaner tidal Thames and supporting a life-changing sailing programme for young people. Posted on 22 Jun Stories of the Cadet class in the 1960s discovered
South African sailing magazine archive is fascinating reading Thanks to Richard Crockett of 'Talking Sailing' there is an archive of 1960s magazines, and while they focus on local racing in South Africa, there is enough of historial interest to attract Brits in a few interesting cases. Posted on 21 Jun Inaugural X-Yachts Spanish Gold Cup Video
Stunning conditions for three days of racing and celebration The Bay of Palma has become a natural mecca for Mediterranean sailing events. The central location, with easy access from mainland Spain, the French Riviera, Italy, and teams further afield coming across the Atlantic and through the Straits of Gibraltar. Posted on 19 Jun Inaugural X-Yachts Spanish Gold Cup
Palma provides the X-Factor for a fantastic event I've attended a couple of X-Yachts Gold Cups in Denmark, one in Aarhus and one in Haderslev, which has been the obvious location for the Danish boatyard to host events, but the yachts, and their sailors, have naturally ventured further afield. Posted on 17 Jun The Kings of the Lowriders
Well before SailGP, there was Grand Prix 18-Foot Skiff Sailing, so what links the two? Rob Brown OAM reached out to me but a few weeks ago. Dangerous thing that, for it got me to thinking. As I pondered this, and reviewed that, I reached out to another great pal in Bill Macartney, to assess what I had been pondering. Posted on 16 Jun
Copyright 2026 YY Online Services Ltd. registered in England no. 7895890
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy