Coppet Week Regatta 2025 at Saundersfoot Sailing Club

by Kevin Upstill 13 Jun 06:41 BST 24-30 May 2025

After one of the longest stretches of Spring sunshine in West Wales for a long time the opening Sunday of Saundersfoot Sailing Club's Coppet Week Regatta saw a noticeable change in the weather.

After a course inspection by the Race Officer David Plester and Event Safety Officer Tom Eyre it was decided to postpone the first day's racing. The wind was gusting 25 knots, West-North -Westerlies. It wasn't all bad news for the racers with some fantastic spot prices on each day's tallies.

The club house team was also warming up the week's social events by opening the bar and offering a fantastic location to eat your takeouts.

Monday saw a small improvement in the weather, enough to run a couple of races, including the RNLI Pennant race. The forecast was still for some gusty wind developing during the day, which proved to be correct.

Race 1

The race started with a good showing of over 40 boats braving the fresh conditions. Shortly after the starting gun a squall came blasting through the fleet with some very strong gusts causing a bit of carnage across the triangular course with several boats capsizing and a few reported equipment failures, which resulted in about 10 boats retiring.

The remaining boats experienced some exhilarating racing, The Osprey fleet looked like they were able to handle the condition the best. Carpe Diem was picking up from last year's winning streak by winning the first race.

Race 2

The squally conditions subsided enough for a second race to be held back-to-back with Race 1. The wind was still blowing strong westerly, and a slightly reduced fleet due to early retirements saw a fleet of about 30 boats brave the conditions.

As forecast the wind was increasing during the day, which took a noticeable victim in the form of a de-masting on the leading Osprey, Carpe Diem.

Tuesday - The forecast for Tuesday didn't look promising, gusting 36kts westerlies - was this summer over already? Unfortunately, the racing was cancelled, maybe a few aching muscles sighed a breath of relief.

Another small break in the weather on Wednesday enabled a couple more races for the series. The wind was still fresh, but the sun was trying to make an appearance.

Race 3

Some good hard racing commenced with the wind veering around the nearby headlands making for some gusty and variable wind. Great effort from Sam McKay and James Vyse in their Kestrel, outpacing the Ospreys and Merlin Rockets on the triangular course.

Race 4

The course was expertly reconfigured to a Trapezoid between races 3 and 4. Conditions were similar to Race 3, but now most of the spinnaker boats were committed to two two-sail reaches and a run downwind. There were good battles going on throughout the fleet, with Dan Jackson and Matt Goldwait coming out on top with a tie for second place between the Osprey of Oscar Chess with guest crew Maurice Clarke and Ben Dancer in the Phantom.

This left Dan Jackson and Matt Goldwait in their Osprey as worthy Coppet Week 2025 champions.

On Thursday racing was again cancelled due to strong winds and a large swell, concluded the series racing for the week.

As is tradition, the final race of the week on Friday was the pursuit race. The sailing conditions were much more favourable. This was won by Sam McKay and James Vyse in their Kestrel, followed by the D Zero of Finlay Watson.

Congratulations to all the winners and also all who participated, the gusty conditions delivered some great, albeit challenging racing. Some great stories were told, and there will be some busy boat bimbling and fixing over the next few weeks.

Just a few well deserved shout outs:

Thank you to our local sponsors, Kookaba, Philly's Sea and Steam (sauna), Sip and Sea and Salty Spaniel who supplied spot prizes from the Tallies lottery.

Thanks also to Saundersfoot harbour for accommodating a fleet of over 50 boats, trailers, and lost travellers. Thanks for your support to host these events, especially when the village is so busy during the holidays.

Thanks to Tenby Sailing Club for assisting with safety boats and crew, much appreciated.

Lastly, but by no means least, a massive thanks to all the volunteers who make Coppet Week such a fantastic regatta. Thanks to all the crews out on the water, it was a busy week in challenging weather conditions, The committee boat and rescue boat teams both did an amazing job at keeping everyone safe whilst enabling some fantastic racing. Thanks also to the land crew for organising the racing and putting on some great evening entertainment.

Look forward to welcoming you all next year, and have a great sailing season.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Class	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	PY	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st		OSPREY	1380	DAN JACKSON	MATT GOLDWAIT	TENBY SC	932	3	3	(6)	1	7
2nd		KESTREL	1628	SAM MCKAY	JAMES VYSE	CHASE SC	1042	(15)	2	1	8	11
3rd	JAMMY DODGER	OSPREY	1348	OSCAR CHESS	PAUL GRIFFITHS/MAURICE CLARKE	TATA SC	932	7	(15)	2	2.5	11.5
4th		MERLIN ROCKET	3787	CHRIS MARTIN	CILLIAN DYNE JC	BARTLEY SC	983	(16)	8	3	4	15
5th		MERLIN ROCKET	3700	ROBERT KENNAUGH	ASHANTI LENNOX JC LC	MIDLAND SC	983	4	7	4	(DNC)	15
6th		OSPREY	1331	GARETH CALDWELL	JON GIBBONS	BLITHFIELD SC	932	5	(13)	8	5	18
7th		RS200	725	BEN PICKERING	FANNY FRESNEDA LC	CHASE/GURNARD SC	1050	8	4	9	(14)	21
8th		SCORPION	2002	CHLOE WILLARS LH	JOHN TAILBY	NOTTS COUNTY SC	1042	6	1	(18)	16	23
9th		SOLO	6076	RICHARD INSTONE		CHASE SC	1139	2	11	(12)	11	24
10th		FIREBALL	15132	KEITH MCDONALD	ANDY BRITTAIN	SMALL HEATH YC	959	9	(10)	10	7	26
11th	DYLAN	RS400	1186	STEVE STUBBS	JAS STUBBS LC	TENBY SC	942	(17)	9	5	13	27
12th		DEVOTI D‑ZERO	77	FINLEY WATSON		CHASE SC	1029	(DNF)	6	15	6	27
13th		SCORPION	1984	STEVE MCCARTHY	PETE TATE	CHASE SC	1042	12	(DNC)	7	9	28
14th		SOLO	6009	ALISDAIR JAMES		GRAFHAM WATER SC	1139	10	5	(20)	19	34
15th		HADRON H2	176	PAUL WALKER		SHOREHAM SC	1045	11	14	(16)	12	37
16th		PHANTOM	1460	STEVE POPPLE		SHOREHAM SC	998	14	18	19	(20)	51
17th		GP14	13956	NEIL DAVIES	MICHELLE EVANS LC	CHASE SC	1141	25	(DNF)	14	15	54
18th		ICON	11	RUSSELL LUTCHWYCH	JAMES HARRIS	CHASE SC	976	(DNF)	23	22	10	55
19th	RED DWARF	LASER STRATOS	782	NEIL WILLIAMS	GILL WILLIAMS LC	LLANDEGFEDD SC	1103	22	17	21	(23)	60
20th		ILCA 6	77936	KEITH JONES		SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1154	19	20	(31)	21	60
21st		SOLO	4676	DAVE WATKINS		CHASE SC	1139	20	19	(30)	22	61
22nd		DEVOTI D‑ZERO	154	MAT MINTON		CHASE SC	1029	24	16	24	(DNF)	64
23rd		RS600	874	STEVE LEACH		TENBY SC	921	(DNF)	21	11	33	65
24th		PHANTOM	1478	BEN DANCER		SAUNDERSFOOT SC	998	(DNC)	DNC	13	2.5	69.5
25th	Out of the Blue	ENTERPRISE	22901	PAUL YOUNG	JAN KIMBER LC	MIDLAND SC	1137	21	25	(29)	25	71
26th		REDWING	241	ELLIE CUMPSTY LH	JULIAN CUMPSTY	TENBY SC	1130	23	26	(DNF)	24	73
27th		SCORPION	2049	DAVE SNUTCH	PHIL DYNE	NOTTS COUNTY SC	1042	26	27	23	(29)	76
28th		MIRROR	70159	JAMES HAYDEN	OTTO/LOUIS HAYDEN JC	SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1368	27	24	(32)	26	77
29th		FINN	98	PAUL LESTER		CHASE SC	1049	13	12	(DNF)	DNC	79
30th		INTERNATIONAL MOTH	3909	LYNDON BEASLEY		GREENSFORGE SC	1080	(DNF)	DNC	17	17	88
31st		ZENITH	007	STEVE TURNER		CHASE SC	1030	29	29	(38)	30	88
32nd		SOLO	4580	RALPH EVANS		ARDEN SC	1139	28	28	(37)	35	91
33rd		PHANTOM	1330	GREG PHILLIPS		LLANDEGFEDD SC	998	(DNF)	DNC	25	18	97
34th		DEVOTI D‑ZERO	177	GUY HUMPHREY		GRAFHAM WATER SC	1029	(DNF)	DNC	26	28	108
35th	CARPE DIEM	OSPREY	1365	DAVE GRIFFITHS	MAURICE CLARKE	SAUNDERSFOOT SC	932	1	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	109
36th		PHANTOM	1316	EVAN BASE		MIDLAND SC	998	(DNC)	DNC	28	27	109
37th		MAGNO	3093	RUTH GUY LH	BEATRICE EVANS JC LC	SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1175	30	(DNC)	33	DNC	117
38th		DEVOTI D‑ZERO	228	KEVIN UPSTILL		SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1029	(DNF)	DNC	35	32	121
39th		RS TERA SPORT	4168	HARRY HAYDEN JH		SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1445	(DNC)	DNC	39	31	124
40th		GP14	12158	IAN COOPER	JULIA HOOK LC	GRAFHAM WATER SC	1141	(DNF)	DNC	36	34	124
41st	BAKERS DOZEN	OSPREY	1312	MIKE MURRAY	PAM MURRAY LC	TATA SC	932	18	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	126
42nd		RS400	792	RICHARD VOADEN	STUART CALEY	BARTLEY GREEN SC	942	(DNF)	22	DNF	DNC	130
43rd		RS200	411	RICH ADAMS	CHARLOTTE ADAMS JC LC	MIDLAND SC	1050	(DNF)	DNC	27	DNC	135
44th		RS200	1317	ALEX FARR	RUPERT/MATILDA FARR JC	MIDLAND SC	1050	(DNC)	DNC	34	DNC	142
45th		RS200	1398	PAUL GRIFFITHS	JULIA GRIFFITHS LC	SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1050	(DNC)	DNC	DNF	DNC	162
45th		PHANTOM	1397	JULIAN HARMS		MIDLAND SC	998	(DNF)	DNC	DNS	DNC	162
45th		REDWING	228	BILL DOWELL	NAN DOWELL LC	TENBY SC	1130	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	162
45th		RS TERA SPORT	2382	ARCHIE HAYDEN JH		SAUNDERSFOOT SC	1445	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	162
45th		SOLO	4877	KEVIN HOPKINS		MIDLAND SC	1139	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	DNC	162
45th		SOLO	5463	DAVID PICKERING		CHASE SC	1139	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	162
45th		STREAKER	1544	NICOLA TAYLOR LH		GREENSFORGE SC	1124	(DNF)	DNC	DNF	DNC	162
45th		ILCA6	182288	ROBERT WHITEHOUSE		WALDRINGFIELD SC	1154	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	162
45th		EUROPE	313	ROBIN WOOD		TENBY SC	1140	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	162

Prize Winners:

Prize	Helm	Crew	Boat	Club
Overall Winner	Dan Jackson	Matt Goldwait	Osprey	Tenby SC
2nd Place	Sam Mckay	James Vyse	Kestral	Chase SC
3rd Place	Oscar Chess	Paul G / Maurice C	Osprey	TATA
4th Place	Chris Martin	Cillian Dyne	Merlin Rocket	Bartley Green
5th Place	Robert Kennaugh	Ashanti Lennox	Merlin Rocket	Midland SC
Fast Handicap	Dan Jackson	Matt Goldwait	Osprey	Tenby SC
Slow Handicap	Richard Instone		Solo	Chase SC
1st Lady Helm	Chloe Willars		Scorpion	Notts County
1st Lady Crew		Ashanti Lennox	Merlin Rocket	Midland SC
Junior Helm	Harry Hayden		RS Terra	SSC
Junior Crew		Cillian Dyne	Merlin Rocket	Bartley Green
Class Prizes
Devotti D Zero	Finley Watson			Chase SC
Osprey	Dan Jackson	Matt Goldwait		Tenby SC
Phantom	Steve Popple			Shorham SC
RS 200	Ben Pickering	Fanny Fresneda		Chase SC
Scorpion	Chloe Willers	John Tailby		Notts County
Solo	Richard Instone			Chase SC
RNLI Penant (Race 2)	Chloe Willers	John Tailby	Scorpion	Notts County
Race 1	Dave Griffiths	Maurice Clarke	Osprey	TSC
Race 3	Sam Mckay	James Vyse	Kestral	Chase SC
Race 4	Dan Jackson	Matt Goldwait	Osprey	Tenby SC
1st Saundersfoot Boat	Keith Jones		Laser	SSC