Royal Temple Yacht Club 2018 Club Championship
by Martin Law 30 Oct 2018 02:07 AEDT
This year's packed race programme at the Royal Temple comprised 49 races run from April to October, mostly on Sundays with several regatta weekends, evening races, and of course Ramsgate Week in the Summer. Racing was split into seven series with prizes for each as well as the especially coveted award for the overall Club Champion.
23 yachts of all shapes and sizes competed over the year; including top-flight IRC-optimized race machines, production cruisers, and Half-Tonners. All skill levels were represented from novice upwards to crews of a good national standard. We were especially happy to welcome several visiting yachts from neighbouring clubs to the racing. This diversity was accommodated within two IRC handicap classes and a cruiser class with a club-assigned handicap.
IRC Classes
In IRC class 1 (TCC >1.000) Kym and Heather Leatt's Corby 36, Kylla, achieved a near perfect scoreline of 17 points in the series of 15 races to count. This easily gave them the IRC 1 Club Championship which, coupled with the class win in Ramsgate Week, topped off a very successful year for this crew. Twelve points behind, in 2nd place was Peter Jackson's Pronavia 42, Assassin. Followed by Andrew Beaumont-Hope's Grand Soleil 43b, Principessa in third.
IRC class 2 (TCC 0.900 - 1.000) welcomed four new entrants this year including a visiting yacht, Black Diamond, Graham Eggleton's Benteau Figaro from nearby Dover club RCPYC. This class produced particularly tight racing with the majority of boats between 32 and 35 feet and closely handicapped. Races are commonly won or lost by seconds. Mike and Jo Brand's Foxy came out ahead with an emphatic victory to add to their class win in Ramsgate Week earlier in the year. The second place battle came down to the last race of the series with John Barrett and Paul Woodward's SJ320 Slingback just beating Richard Sparrow's J/97, Only Magic into third place.
Cruiser Class
The Cruiser Class, as always, comprised a colourful mishmash of craft and characters. The club-assigned handicaps, although slightly more contentious than an IRC certificate, made for some inclusive and fun close racing. We were delighted to welcome to Jean-Marc Devos and the Crew of Carpe Diem who commuted (by yacht) every weekend from France to race the Autumn series! The Club Champion this year was Andy Ketteringham and the crew of Miss Amelia who have had an excellent run, winning their class at Ramsgate Week this year as well as their third consecutive Club Championship in two different boats. Which is a club historical first, according to elders that remember. Second place went to Frank Barrett's Elan 333, Maverick who showed some great Autumn season form to beat John and Michelle Stonely's Pippy into third place.
After a busy year of competition, the excellent social programme will continue through the Winter. Racing will kick off again in April and we look forward to increased cooperation with European clubs through our newly appointed international ambassador Jean-Marc Devos. Already several new boats are slated to join us and we would like to extend a warm invitation to any visiting racers that could be tempted to join in, so long as you don't take home too much of the Silverware!
Full Results can be found at www.rtyc.com