Inaugural Mayor's Shield at Lyme Regis Sailing Club
by Ian Wallace 19 Aug 06:42 BST
16 August 2026
Inaugural Mayor's Shield at Lyme Regis Sailing Club © Rob @ lovelymeregis
Light winds and a slightly moody sky greeted sailors for the inaugural Mayor's Shield, a new concept created as part of the sporting Lyme initiative. The idea being that the racing is done as close to the shore as possible to promote the club and more importantly the sport, rather than being a miles out to sea where we aren't as visible to the public. It also provided the rare opportunity to combine our dinghy and cruiser fleets to compete together in one race and one start.
It seemed almost obvious that the best way to do this was to run the race from the old club line which sits on the end of Victoria pier just where the Cobb building is, which was of course the old LRSC clubhouse back in the day. This along with the strong turnout of 19 dinghies and 6 cruisers meant the start promised to be very exciting to watch from the shore.
As sailors left the harbour, members of the public also started to build up, slightly curious as to what might be happening. With the course set, the wind remained very light and with a slight bit of confusion as to where the end of the start line actually was, the majority of sailors were over the line resulting in a general recall (false start)
No matter though, on the second time of asking the fleet judged the start perfectly and with a slight gust of wind set off towards the first mark, an awesome spectacle from the pier and the shore line where past commodore and sailing club stalwart Jeremy Wallace provided excellent commentary on proceedings.
At the first mark, Sailing club Commodore Andy Robinson led in his Albacore crewed by new member Sarah Wallis closely followed by Vice Commodore Allan Tyler also in an Albacore and crewed by wife Chris Tyler as well as granddaughter Lily! Graham Cook in his laser rounded in 3rd... you guessed it the Rear Commodore
The fleet then headed out to the South Cardinal mark which is perfectly visible from the beach before turning back toward the harbour and the finishing line. Due to the light winds only 1 lap was sailed. Graham Cook in his Laser made up tremendous ground to end up finishing a matter of seconds behind Andy, meaning a decisive win on handicap with the Laser being a slower boat on paper. Jeff Vanderbought in his K1 also made up ground on the light downwind leg to claim second on handicap, with Andy taking 3rd place overall despite crossing the line first.
On team Tyler's boat, the proximity to the shore and swim area meant the strategy was for some mid race weight shedding with Chrissie and granddaughter jumping in to cool off and then swam the very short distance back to the beach! Skipper Allan now in his "superleggera Albacore" sailed at considerable pace back towards the harbour and a nice refreshing beverage.
Special mention to Youth Member Rhys Roscoe, who finished 5th to claim the top youth spot, as well as Rob and Margaret Wiscombe for their result as the top cruiser.
The price giving took place on the marine parade where Graham recived the shiny new shield from the Mayor and his wife, which provided the opportunity to once again showcase the club and for Jeremy to say a few more words on how the day went.
As well as Jeremy, special thanks need to go to Ian Wallace for being the main liaison for the event as well as Jack and Ella Woodhouse for providing tremendous support on shore to get the results calculated and published as soon as possible to fit in with the proceedings of the day. Also to RNLI and LRSC member David Knott who drove the safety boat with crew Peter Edwards. As well as Maia Smith and John Tattersall for helping as part of the race committee team. Without their help the race simply would not have worked.