Please select your home edition
Edition
Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca 2025

1,2 for S&S classics in West Mersea Yacht Club EAORA Buckley Goblets

by Paul Wood 26 Sep 2023 01:50 PDT 22-24 September 2023

On Friday 22nd September at 7am, eight IRC yachts and one MOCRA Trimaran raced in the annual 90 mile race from West Mersea to Ostend. The Glass Goblets were first presented to the West Mersea Yacht Club in 1968 by J.C. Buckley.

It was agreed back then that minimum waterline length could be reduced from 24ft to 18ft so that smaller EAORA yachts were not debarred from the overall points series, obviously these days we have a different set of rules governing who can or cannot race EAORA.

Jon McColl with shockwave the Mocra Tri started at 7.10, this time with a couple of other Mocra owners onboard which is very encouraging for the growth of our Mocra Fleet for 2024.

Photos were soon out on social media showing a slow start with yachts under spinnaker amongst a very low cloud base. For most it was a fetch across the channel, but many yachts were caught in a wind free zone which made it challenging for trimmers and navigators heading towards the buoy called Twin just East of the Shipping lanes. Richard Matthews with Oystercatcher XXXV parked up for almost half an hour within this zone. But the wind soon filled in and they finished at 17.07 (UK time). Being the first boat to arrive they did however benefit from missing the thunder, lightning and squally conditions that the rest of the fleet endured just off the Belgium coast in the dark between 9pm & midnight.

Just after 2200 hours Will & Jenny Talyor-Jones onboard Sunstone the S&S 39 were greeted with a rapturous applause from the Royal North Sea Club. The race Committee and everyone who raced over on Oystercatcher XXXV were there on the Balcony, Richard Matthews had already figured out that they may had been beaten on handicap, Sunstone experienced a very warm EAORA welcome especially as they had Shockwave in tow.

All yachts arrived by midnight and the Royal Northsea Yacht Club kept the bar open to 1.30 so all competitors could share the experiences, drink beer, and compare stories of the closeness of the lightening strikes. As the competitors came up the stairs in the RNSYC they looked like "drowned rats sniffing out beer and food"

At the prize-giving the following day, it was confirmed that Will & Jenny Talyor-Jones with Sunstone from RHYC had won Class III the Lawson Trophy and Overall. Very popular winners with a family run boat with their children onboard Issy & Sam aged 19 & 21 and Josh Beck & Ben Rowland who may all now qualify for prizes at the end of the season for the Youth series sponsored by Foxes Chandlery. Will Taylor-Jones had last won this race in 1991 with his father onboard Deerstalker.

Second overall was Michael & Jason Wheeler with Golden Fleece from WMYC and a former winner of the Buckley Goblets three times before. Golden Fleece also a classic S&S which proves again that these classic displacement yachts can still be on the podium.

3rd - Oystercatcher XXXV. Richard Matthews. 43rd Light Infantry Trophy (1st CLASS 1)
4th - Woozle Hunter. P Hammond, D Harrington-Lynn & A Pentelow
5th - Sweet Caroline. William Sunnocks
6th - Spirit. Paul Scott. RNSYC Challenge Cup (1st CLASS 2)
7th - Magic Moments. Andy & Pelham Etherington

Related Articles

Warrior EAORA top scoring boat in North Sea Race
Winning the Charlie Mills Memorial Trophy Simon Farren's A40 Warrior, co-skippered by Ben Peter, won class two in ther RORC North Sea Race - so winning the Charlie Mills Memorial Trophy for the highest placed EAORA boat in the race. Posted on 4 Jun
2025 North Sea Race
Wind farms, whiskers, winning moves After time correction, Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing double-handed with co-skipper RORC Commodore Deb Fish, was the winner by just 53 seconds after 22 hours of racing. Posted on 1 Jun
Ralph Herring Trophy and Pattinson Cup
A double win for West Mersea YC boats in the first two EAORA races On May 10 and 11 the first two East Anglian Offshore Racing Association races took place in unbroken sunshine. First came the Royal Burnham YC's Ralph Herring trophy - from West Mersea to Burnham on Crouch. Posted on 22 May
Entries open for EAORA's Offshore Regatta
4-day event in June will go from Harwich to Ostend Entries are now open for the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association's four-day Offshore Regatta. On Thursday June 26 two fleets will race from Harwich to Ostend. All the yachts will enjoy time ashore with lay day in Ostend on the Friday. Posted on 14 Mar
EAORA End of Season Prizegiving and AGM
Celebrating 75 years The West Mersea Yacht club hosted the EAORA 75th year celebration party & AGM on the 9th November 2024. A good turn out for the AGM which is encouraging for the 2025 season. The programme was signed off by all those present. Posted on 21 Nov 2024
EAORA Buckley Goblets 2024
The final race of the Offshore series for EAORA at West Mersea YC On Friday 13th September it was the final race of the Offshore series for EAORA. It turned out to be lucky for some and not so lucky for others. Posted on 24 Sep 2024
EAORA Week
6 yachts enjoy everything that the Netherlands has to offer The second part of the week found us racing in the calm waters on the Veerse Meer, Oosterschelde and Grevelingenmeer and is still a hidden secret for so many. But this year six yachts enjoyed everything that the Netherlands had to offer. Posted on 19 Jul 2024
RORC East Coast Race and EAORA Week
The weather forecast had predicted a possible force 9 for a while The start of the biannual East Anglian Week in southern Holland was thrown into turmoil with strong winds in the RORC feeder race from Harwich to Ostend. Posted on 8 Jul 2024
EAORA Pattinson Cup & Ralph Herring Trophy
Double whammy for our Sigmas Race two for the EAORA season, the West Mersea YC's Pattinson Cup was won by a Sigma 33, Magic Moments and sailed two handed. Posted on 31 May 2024
Extra Djinn wins RORC North Sea Race
The 2024 edition had 53 boats racing from Harwich to Scheveningen The Royal Ocean Racing Club's North Sea Race is hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club in association with the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association, the Yacht Club Scheveningen and the North Sea Regatta. Posted on 12 May 2024
Lloyd Stevenson - AC ETNZ 1456x180px BOTTOMHenri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeMaritimo 2023 S600 FOOTER