Scarborough Yacht Club's 125th Year Regatta is on!

Two minutes after crossing the start line in the Scarborough YC New Year's Race 2020 © Chris Clark

Scarborough Yacht Club 125th Year Regatta IS taking place, offering three days of competitive sailing from Saturday 29th to Monday 31st August.

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, whilst following social distancing rules we have had to implement extra measures for everyone's safety, so the weekend will be differently organised and run.

We need to advise up front that if the Pandemic causes Government advice to change, then we may need to change our plans, perhaps substantially, at little or no notice.

This year we are only inviting SYC members to enter the regatta with their boats.

The Racing Events

Yacht entry to the regatta will be for SYC members only. Timings are:

• Saturday Start: 1200 HW 0151 and 1430
• Sunday Start: 1300 HW 0255 and 1530
• Monday Start: 1400 HW 0345 and 1616

(We are of course open on the Friday evening as normal)

There will be up to 2 races per day over 3 days, start times can also be found in the NOR and SI's, links below.

The first race is intended to be a short course, most likely using a special mark to get over the risk of low winds, the second race of the day may or may not be longer.

All races run will be counted towards the overall score, with discard information contained in the SI's, and the commodores' sail past will be done as vessels finish the last race of the last day on returning to the harbour.

This year we will not be lining up in alphabetical order for the sail past, it will be in the order of finish passing from the finish line to your berth without waiting for other yachts to finish racing.

Recognising our Sponsors

Highlighting our sponsors the #1 will be the Boyes (for good value) mark and the balcony will display the James Stockdale banner. Buoys will be in their charted position, but may be swapped for more prominent marks during the regatta.

Race Details

The full Notice of Race (NOR) and Sailing Instructions (SI's) can be found on the SYC website at syc.org.uk/regatta-documents

Racing will consist of three classes of racing - IRC, 707, and SYC.

The decision to carry out prize-giving and how we will do it will be made post racing on each day. This will most likely be determined by numbers of sailors at the clubhouse (CV19 restrictions) and weather conditions.

We hope you enjoy this years regatta, especially during these challenging times. And most importantly, have fun!

The after-race Social Events

We have put in place special social distancing arrangements for the days, but please note, we will need to keep the closest eye on Government and Council advice that could cause us to change things at very short notice. We're limiting numbers prioritising SYC boat-owning members and crews and immediate families; guests can only be admitted if we're not at capacity.

We'll be using the Clubhouse, new furniture on the Balcony, and the Marquee placed as usual on the landward side of the Lighthouse. There will be a picket fence to separate members from pier visitors.

Advance Booking Only

Members will need to book their places and preferred meals in advance. Can we do this by 12pm Wednesday 26th please. This is done by completing the Regatta Booking Form Online (quick and dead easy) at forms.gle/uDySw29LYWPxbotMA advising which day(s) you are coming, which vessel, and how many crew and immediate families they want to bring, and meat or vegetarian dining preferences.

Payment for the food will be taken by Karen each day and you will be issued a food ticket. The Bar Stewards will serve Clubhouse and Balcony, but for the Marquee area, Rich Egan of TiPi has kindly agreed to set up and staff a bottle and Keg Bank in the Committee Room. For all areas, can we ask that members bring all glasses back to the Committee Room or Bar locations to avoid staff needing to collect them.

Payments

We are going to run a PAYMENT CARD ONLY tab system for both upstairs and Downstairs. Could all boat owners please leave their cards with the Bar Stewards, and settle their tabs on departure.

Marquee/Picket Fence Help Wanted

Thursday August 27th at 10:00am is Marquee Setup Day. As usual we are calling for volunteers, particularly those who have helped set the Marquee up before.

So our top message here in these strange times is let's have racing, thrills, spills, fun, and safety, and be one of the very few Sailing Clubs to do this in the UK.

Good Sailing!

Clive Murray, Commodore
Sam Kennedy, Vice Commodore
Rich Craven, Hon Handicapper
Rudi Barham, Rear Commodore
Chris Clark, Hon Secretary