Results / Salcombe Yacht Club Regatta Week Salcombe YC - 03/08/2003

If you are looking for a fun family holiday week with your 200, then look no further than coming to Salcombe next year. 18 RS 200s took part in this year�s Salcombe Yacht Club regatta and the format as always, was one race every morning of about 2 hours in the beautiful Salcombe estuary. It�s very tidal sailing, with changeable conditions and the notorious �Bag� where the wind is a law unto itself, and it�s the sort of place never to give up, as anything may happen right up to the end of the race, and usually does. It�s great close, competitive racing though and geared to families, as the racing will never overrun (as they have other fleets to start in the afternoon). The boats are kept on the main beach so the younger children spend the mornings on the beach with Granny ( or whoever!). Charles� first Salcombe weeks were spent playing on the sand and in the Millbay stream!! The older children are often enlisted as crews, so long as the wind stays light. The logistics of getting, and keeping your boat on the beach all add to the fun, as you have the choice of delivering the boat to the beach by car (down narrow Devon lanes and then facing unloading in a tiny National Trust Car Park onto a beach already packed with families � not advisable after about 8am), or unloading on the town side of the estuary and sailing across and hitching a lift for your trolley from a rib or launch! And then each morning it�s a ferry or launch ride to the boats. After racing each day the afternoons can be spent on the beach, or watching the local Salcombe Yawls and other fleets racing from the club which is extremely friendly and welcoming. Or you could enjoy some retail therapy in Salcombe�s trendy clothes shops which are second only to Cowes High Street! This year the racing was very close with about six boats alternately sharing the top spots. Harry and Prue Roome managed to triumph again with three firsts on the first three days, but they were hotly pursued by Cliff and Rebecca Milliner and Tim Fells sailing with his daughter Rebecca. The other boats in the hunt all week were Paul and Julie Rayson, Charles Roome, ably crewed by Lynn Ratcliffe once he�d weaned her from her Europe, and Steve Conroy and Amanda Pickard. Also winning a race on Thursday was Graham Canford-Smith - luckily for him, as apparently it redeemed his street cred with his son Hamish who agreed Dad was now cool enough to crew for again! So if you want a change from Championship courses and a fun social week, come to Salcombe next year � we�ll be there. P.S. There were also some 400�s and the odd Feva too!! Prue Roome