Cumberland Regatta Results

On a weekend noted for blustery weather the Cumberland Sailing Society founded in 1775 (aka the Royal Thames Yacht Club) celebrated 236 years of continuous organisation of yacht racing with its annual Cumberland Regatta and dinner. 128 members and guests dined in the Royal Yacht Squadron Pavilion on Saturday evening, while on Saturday and again on Sunday the Cumberland Fleet carried on doing what it has been doing since that very first race back in June1775.

Winds registering 25 knots and more in The Solent somewhat curtailed proceedings and instead of two races, the first for the Queen Victoria Cup, the second for the Challenge Cup and with a stop for picnic lunch between, just one combined race was held, from Cowes to Peel Bank, thence Peel Wreck and back.

Ken Wise's always well-sailed Starlight 46 'Rising Star' was first home but when the Cumberland Numbers were crunched Brian and Elizabeth Lavers' 'Mariposa' just won the Queen Victoria Cup from Peter Bainbridge's 'Skyhunter II'. 'Skyhunter' thus wins the RTYC Challenge Cup.

A recent innovation at the regatta has been a pursuit race to a selected luncheon spot on Sunday morning - but on this particular Sunday morning anchoring for a picnic was not an inviting proposition, while the breeze itself had barely lessened and pursuit racing was no more inviting than picnicing. It had been planned that this year would see the re-introduction to competition of the Club's - and possibly the sport's - oldest trophy, the Cumberland Cup first presented (and last raced for and won) in 1776. With the pursuit race postponed and a short round-the-cans fleet race put in its place, Rear Commodore Sailing Mike Halstead, racing aboard Rear Commodore Peter Methven's exquisitely prepared 1936 classic West Solent Restricted class 'Dilkusha' agreed with Chief Sailing Officer Malcolm McKeag that the shorter race, in which already several yachts of the Fleet had decided they would not take part, was insufficiently Special to attract the accolade of so prestigious and significant a trophy. Mike duly went round the fleet to explain the modified course of action for the morning, and the fact that racing for the 1776 Cup had been postponed.

Even so, 13 yachts of the Fleet put to sea and sailed a tough cross-tide course - a 'CSO Special' - for a trophy temporarily called TBA.

'Dilkusha' won.

Just as well, ruminated the victorious Rear Commodore: if the race HAD been for the 1776 Cup and with not one but two Rear Commodore's aboard, no one would have believed the result hadn't been a fix.

You can view Ruth Tracey's pictures taken before the start of Sunday's race here.  The great big gun, by the way, is an air-portable 105mm howitzer belonging to 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery some of whose Exercise Atlantic Challenge crew under the command of Captain John O'Keefe, RTYC, attended the Cumberland Sailing Society dinner before heading west on the eponymous exercise. The gun crew kindly offerred to signal the start of our race, too.

Full results of the races - and the solution to the Chief Sailing Officer's crossword puzzle - are here