Clipper Race Yacht Club Regatta 7-9th October

The Clipper Race Yacht Club is open to everyone who has sailed on a Leg of the Clipper Race. This year they decided to allow crew who are taking part in the current Clipper Race to take part in their annual regatta which takes place from Lymington.

We had hoped to have a full crew of 7 from Welcome to Yorkshire but in the end only 4 of us were able to make it - James, Tony, Harriet and myself. We were allocated to an 11/12 crew boat along with Aggie and Simon from the Qingdao boat, and Jane who is a non-Clipper sailor. Our skipper for the weekend was David and our boat was Whisper, a Sun Odyssey 42.

Friday night was spent in the Mayflower pub, having a great dinner and socialising with the other crews. It was very interesting to meet crew from previous races and be able to pick their brains about kit, stopover ports etc. There were people there from every previous Clipper Race (the current race is the 8th).

Saturday was spent racing (or cruising in company as the charter company dont allow racing), with two races - before and after lunch. The Clipper 11/12 crew won the first race by a large margin, and we came second in the afternoon so we won the race trophy! A great result.

Leading the race!

James, Harriet and Jane celebrate being first past the mark

Saturday night was spent in Cowes. We ate at Manuels, a lovely little Portugese restaurant at the Marina. We took over the entire restaurant and had a long and cheerful evening with lots of toasts and awards for various deeds!

On Sunday we sailed back to Lymington in fairly strong winds which was good practice. The other boats were keen to get back to the Marina so no more racing!The Jamaica 07/08 crew in blazers, tie and red wig!

It was a very good weekend, and a lovely introduction to the CRYC. We are all encouraged to join once we have completed our bit of the race, and I think that next year there will certainly be a Welcome to Yorkshire boat taking part in the Regatta.