Nordic Folkboats at the Royal Solent Yacht Club Taittinger Regatta
by Chris Baldwick 2 Aug 2016 09:41 PDT
30-31 July 2016
Nineteen Nordic Folkboats entered the Folkboat Class in the annual Taittinger Regatta, held at the Royal Solent YC at Yarmouth over the weekend of July 30th/31st.
At the start on Saturday morning competitors arrived to find no wind and a long postponement. Eventually the wind filled in from the northwest, which allowed the race officer to set a course along the shore and against the tide. Crackerjack finished 1st followed by newcomer Svane with Madelaine 3rd. The wind became very light and the tide turned just before the end, which gave the last boats a challenge getting back to the finish.
The second race of the day saw the wind swing to the southwest and with the tide now flooding the tactics changed completely. Again a course up and down the island shore was laid; though not as long as the first race. This time Tak came first followed by Svane and Pilgrim.
Sunday dawned, again windless, but with more sunshine and after another postponement competitors set off to the west with a strong ebb tide towards Hurst. There then followed a long downwind spinnaker run against the tide, and an eventual finish off the Royal Solent YC. Padfoot finished 1st followed by Pilgrim and then Riot.
The racing proved close with different boats winning each race, but the overall winner in the Nordic Folkboat Class was Svane with two second places and a fifth, a great result for a new member of the Folkboat fleet. Padfoot was 2nd over all and Pilgrim 3rd.
Despite this year's lack of wind, the Taittinger Regatta is always a very popular event with many other classes competing and a great social programme.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Owner | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Svane | GBR 702 | Sean Muskett | | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Padfoot | GBR723 | Chris Hills | | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | Pilgrim | F 734 | Julian Sowry | | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 4 | Crackerjack | GBR 718 | Matthew Jones | Stuart Watson | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| 5 | Madelaine | FGBR 707 | Ed Donald | Ed Donald | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Tak | GBR 713 | Jeremy Austin | | 7 | 1 | 9 | 17 |
| 7 | Riot | F695 | Melissa Ashcombe | Peter Scholfield | 8 | 10 | 3 | 21 |
| 8 | Gremlin | 625 | Leslie Ross | | 5 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| 9 | Cloud Cuckoo | 693 | Martin Le Gassicke | | 9 | 8 | 10 | 27 |
| 10 | Mimi | GBR722 | Chris Beane | | 13 | 12 | 11 | 36 |
| 11 | The Otter | GBR720 | Claire Locke | | 12 | 11 | 13 | 36 |
| 12 | AJAX | F747 | John Gallimore | | DNF | 6 | 12 | 38 |
| 13 | Eala Bheag | F GBR 754 | Alasdair Maclean | | 10 | 13 | 17 | 40 |
| 14 | Bossa Nova | F685 | David Fox | Dave Hirst | DNF | DNC | 4 | 44 |
| 15 | Scaramouche | FB738 | John Whyte | | 11 | DNC | 15 | 46 |
| 16 | Strider | 611 | Susie Potter | | RAF | 15 | 16 | 51 |
| 17 | Millie | 717 | Gordon Drury | Seanine Joyce | DNF | DNC | 14 | 54 |
| 18 | Hannchen | 613 | Toby Waite | | DNF | 14 | DNC | 54 |
| 19 | Columbine | F615 | Christine Hartley‑Webster | | DNC | DNC | DNS | 60 |