THE Barry Yacht Club Regatta took place in near perfect weather with clear blue skies and wind from the west which was fairly light at the 11am start but then gradually freshened to give competitors a spanking sail back to the finish.

Because of the light conditions before the start the race committee decided to set a course which would give all the fleet a good chance of completing the race without being thwarted by the flood tide.

This meant keeping the course close to the Welsh shore and using the Wolves Buoy, north of Flat Holm, and the South Cardiff Buoy, off Lavernock Point.

A good turnout of 13 boats came to the line and the first leg was a broad reach from the starting line off Jackson’s Bay to the Wolves. This leg enabled several boats to set spinnakers and others to boom out their headsails to windward.

The wind remained light throughout this leg but after rounding the mark there was a freshening breeze for the beam reach to the South Cardiff.

The fleet had stayed quite close during these initial legs but after rounding the second mark the wind freshened again for the windward beat back to Barry.

The apparent wind was increased by the slackening flood tide and the early ebb which boats sought by closing the land just east of Lavernock Point. The beat home was somewhat strenuous for the crews as the boats short tacked inshore to use the first of the ebb and gain an advantage over those that stayed further offshore.

This final leg was most enjoyable with boats sailing fast in a relatively flat sea and in the glorious sunshine. It made all the maintenance work carried out during the winter seem worthwhile.

It is a tribute to the officer of the day, Commodore Phil Rowlands, that all 13 boats were able to complete the course and arrive back at Barry in good time for the barbecue and prize giving which took place on the lawn alongside the clubhouse.

At the prize giving the Commodore expressed his pleasure that the weather had given everyone a great day both afloat and ashore. The prizes were presented by the Commodore’s lady, Lyn, and were as follows:-

1st - Sally Loper, Brian Dotchon, Colin Mason Trophy

2nd - Swifty, Digger Brooks, Western Mail and Echo Trophy

3rd - Patience, Roger Donkin, Vera Francis Trophy

4th - MiSue, Lyn Reeve

A special prize was also awarded to the oldest boat taking part in the Regatta and this was won by Merlin, owned and sailed by Nick Phillips.

This prize takes the form of a lovespoon which was donated many years ago by a Japanese couple who were members of the club for a number of years before sailing their boat home to Japan.

The full results of the race are set out below.

Boat Handicap Finish Time Elapsed Time Corrected Time Position Performance

Sally Loper 1128 14:00:32 2:30:32 2:13:27 1 1040 -7.8 per cent

Swifty 1164 14:14:03 2:44:03 2:20:56 2 1134 -2.6 per cent

Patience 1134 14:12:30 2:42:30 2:23:18 3 1123 -1.0 per cent

MiSue 1039 13:59:25 2:29:25 2:23:48 4 1033 -0.6 per cent

Shadow 957 13:52:51 2:22:51 2:29:16 5 987 3.2 per cent

Lesmar II 1050 14:07:36 2:37:36 2:30:06 6 1089 3.7 per cent

Ripple 1047 14:09:08 2:39:08 2:31:59 7 1100 5.0 per cent

Shiraz 945 13:57:35 2:27:35 2:36:10 8 1020 7.9 per cent

Garland 1100 14:26:20 2:56:20 2:40:18 9 1219 10.8 per cent

Merlin 1201 14:45:00 3:15:00 2:42:22 10 1348 12.2 per cent

Glad Too 959 14:06:49 2:36:49 2:43:31 11 1084 13.0 per cent

Crows an Wra 1156 14:42:10 3:12:10 2:46:14 12 1328 14.9 per cent

Tessa Bear 850 14:01:24 2:31:24 2:58:07 13 1046 23.1 per cen

Brian Dotchon