NJO Sails and Dart Sails & Covers Regatta 2026 at Plym Yacht Club
by Plym Yacht Club 22 Jun 18:16 BST
NJO Sails and Dart Sails & Covers Regatta at Plym YC © D Eales
After many years away, PYC Regatta returned for a weekend of mixed yacht racing. Generously sponsored by NJO Sails and Dart Sails & Covers, the plan was a weekend of competitive sailing with fun on and off the water. 14 boats entered across three fleets meaning the Race Committee took the decision to put all the boats into one YTC fleet, ranging from a Charisma to a J/122e, with a trimaran and handful of J/24s thrown in for good measure!
All week Plymouth has suffered with severe fog, and although it wasn't in the forecast, Race 1 was AP'd after the visibility dropped to only four boat lengths! A painful few hours waiting for it to clear saw several false starts, but the visibility never came, forcing the RO to abandon racing for the day. Racers were given the choice to replace Sunday's planned Pursuit Race with some fleet racing, which all were in favour of, and boats returned to the Yacht Club for drinks, barbecue and ice cream, which by now was welcomed due to the scorching heat.
Sunday came, and boats optimistically headed to the startline. A short AP from RO Mike Pearson allowed the wind to fill in across the course, and racing got under way. Racing south towards Plymouth Breakwater, boats that went left tended to benefit from the end of the incoming tide, and the bigger J/122e, Corby 35 and J/92s were leading at the first buoy. An early gybe at the windward mark from the J/24 of Caspar Barton and Jason Culmer pulled them forwards to Stitch, the Formula 28 of Dominic Hanley, which they held onto enough to win race one comfortably by just under 2 minutes.
The light winds and not insubstantial tide caught several boats out on the starts, and a third row start for the J/122e JuJu of Johnny Hearth and Tim Octon's NJOS forced them both right off the start. Stitch and Tilted went hard left, and the port lay line proved to be advantageous, with both boats coming in ahead of the markedly quicker Corby and J. A long run against the tide however did allow the larger boats to extend, and a large split opened up across the fleet.
At the finish, however, it was still the small boats that were found to have done well, with Ann & Keith Whitfield's Tilted doing just enough to take 3rd from NJOS. Mark Lewers' DanJerous When Wet came in second, with Dominic Hanley's Stitch comfortably winning by a 3 minute margin, therefore winning the Regatta by 2 points. 5th in the last race meant Violent J had to settle for third to DanJerous When Wet overall, and the top Cruiser was Chris Cload's Calypso.
The fleet returned to PYC for the prize-giving, where many prizes were dished out from NJO Sails and Dart Sails & Covers, and everyone left having had a great days sailing in the glorious sunshine. Thanks go to the sponsors and all the volunteers that make Plym Yacht Club so successful. Sailors can still enter our Friday night yacht racing, where the current wave of enthusiasm has attracted a Cork 1720 and a Backman 21.
Full results: halsail-1e484.kxcdn.com/Result/Public/96874