Falmouth Sailing Week 2025
by Nigel Sharp 21 Aug 00:16 AEST
10-16 August 2025
Scallywag, Andy Platt, won the overall Gaffer class series - Falmouth Sailing Week 2025 © Ross Freebon
A total of 172 boats entered this year's Falmouth Sailing Week, 111 of them racing in the Carrick Roads and 61 in Falmouth Bay. While a frustratingly ironic combination of big seas and lack of wind forced the abandonment of racing in the Bay on the Monday, and all racing was cancelled on the last day due to strong winds, great racing was otherwise enjoyed by all despite the sometimes light and shifty breezes.
In the Bay, the three IRC classes took part in a long series comprising ten races and a six-race short series.
In IRC 1, the long series was dominated by Craig Brown and Duncan Adams's Trigger's Broom followed by Steve George's Farr 280 G Force; while in the short series, those two boats were both trumped by Tim Cunliffe's Mumm 30 Insatiable. In IRC 2, John Allen's X302 Antix beat Toby Claridge's Sigma 33 Excelle by the narrowest of margins in the long series, and Stephen Thomas's Projection 762 No Cash No Splash was the overall winner in the short series. Tom Hill's Albin Express White Magic won IRC 3's long series with Stuart Higgins' Impala Atalanta in second place (after those two boats had finished first equal with identical corrected times in one of the Tuesday races), and in the long series these places were reversed.
The remaining Bay classes just took part in a long series in which Roly Hartford's Hunter 707 Shere Khan and Chris Bell's Sadler 34 Hawk took the first two places in E Division; Lorna Graham's J24 Easy Tiger won every race in Q Division, with Kevin Bailey's IF Boat Emily Too in second place; and the Firebird class was dominated by Firefly followed by Ultraviolet.
In Wednesday's stand-alone Ancasta Champagne Race, (this the 70th Anniversary year) there were class wins for Jonty Layfield's Swan 48 Sleeper X, Garth Weaver's Corby 25 Chiot Noir, Jon Brown's Intro 22 Nitro, Hawk and Bridget Macklin's IF Boat Annika.
In the Carrick Roads, the handicap dinghy class was dominated by Ellie Craig with Patrick Clarke in second place (both sailing RS Aeros); and in the Mirror class Huw & Matilda Beverley-Jones's TeFiti had a clean sweep of race wins while Ted & Rupert Pugh's Neptune was second overall. Lennie Trenoweth's Folkboat JOS, in the handicap yachts class, was another boat that managed to win every race, with Florya in second place overall; and David Liddington's Mistress dominated the Piper/Rustler class, followed by Simone Kennett's Morgana.
The Falmouth Gaffers' class was closely fought, with Andy Platt's Scallywag winning by just two points ahead of David Carne's Tom Tit and Nick Bradley's Charm which were equal on points, the former coming out on top on countback. Miles Carden's Ariel won the St Mawes One Design class, with Jonathan Pearce's Outlaw in second place; and in the large Falmouth Working Boat class, Will Miner's Nellie May came out on top ahead of Steve Miles's Florence. In the smaller Working Boat class, there was a tie for second place, with Peter Caldwell's Iris Elizabeth just getting the better of Adam Bird's Leila on countback, while both were beaten by Phil Slater's Lottie.
The other three Carrick Roads classes took part in a seven-race long series and a short series comprising four races. Stuart Sly's Jackdaw dominated both series in the Shrimper class, followed by Philip Swatman's Alcina in the long series and Brian Phipps's Ysella in the short series. Peter Crockford's Saucy Sally won the Sunbeam class's long series with Michael Ewart-Smith's Penny in second place; and in the short series Simon Carter's Audry pushed Saucy Sally back to second place. In the Ajax class, Mike Grice's Polyphemus won the long series followed by Paul Scullion's Artemis; while in the short series these two places were reversed.
In Wednesday's stand-alone Mainbrace Rum Race (the Carrick Roads' equivalent of the Bay's Champagne Race) there were class wins for Ellie Craig's Aero, Martin Egan's Mirror Bold Forrester (just one second ahead of TeFiti), David Mitchell's Folkboat Aries, Mistress, Tom Tit, Ariel, Jackdaw, Ollie Graffy's Falmouth Working Boat Endeavour, Lottie, Saucy Sally and Polyphemus.
Rupert Pugh was presented with the Trafalgar Cup for the youngest helm to race the stand-alone long-distance races at the age of 9 years old.
And finally, the overall junior helm winner was Huw Beverley-Jones who was presented with the Nick Gill Cup.
The dates for next year's Falmouth Sailing Week will be 9 to 15 August 2026.
Event website: falmouthweek.co.uk/sailing-week