Princess Anne delights young Royal Lymington sailors with a visit to Centenary Youth Regatta Week

On Tuesday 26th July 2022, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal popped in to Royal Lymington Yacht Club to visit young sailors during their Centenary Youth Regatta Week.

Royal Lymington’s Patron delighted sailors and volunteers alike with a second visit to the Club in as many months! The Princess met children on the slipway and chatted to them in the Club’s ‘Balance Pond’ dinghy park before heading to the Royal Lymington Yacht Club pontoon. There she named a new Lymington River Scow in honour of Dr Jonathan Rogers, one of the founders of the Club’s volunteer-led community sailing programme “Wednesday Junior Sailing” that has now been running over 38 years.

A fun annual fixture in Royal Lymington Yacht Club’s calendar, this year’s Centenary Youth Week, sponsored by Durlston Court School, took place from 25th to 28th July 2022. The event brought together many of the Club’s Junior Members and Wednesday Junior Sailing participants for four days of racing. For some it was their first taste of a regatta, with Covid-19 having stifled the event over the past few years.

Monday provided rather too much wind! Gold Fleet managed to complete one race in the testing conditions, seeing gusts of 28 knots, big seas and wind against tide. Bronze Fleet relocated to the slightly more sheltered waters of nearby Salterns Sailing Club and the race committee organised instead the “Tar Barrel Challenge” for the more experienced fleets. Silver Fleet, Gold Fleet and Scow Fleet could choose to participate in speed trial racing between the Clubhouse and a Tar Barrel marker. In total 35 boats ventured out to compete in the challenge.

In the evening, the sun shone for a BBQ at the Clubhouse, with local musician Lucas Raye playing on the balcony whilst the young sailors discussed the day’s challenging endeavours!

Tuesday and Wednesday brought fairer winds with sunshine, and each of the fleets managed multiple races out on the Solent. It was great to see so many smiling volunteers helping each day, both on and off the water.

After a busy day of racing on the Wednesday, over 110 of the young sailors somehow found the energy to have fun at the Lymington Sea Water Baths in the evening, where they also enjoyed a barbecue.

As tradition has it, the final day of Youth Week is always dress up day! This year’s “Best Fancy Dress” went to Will Hutchinson and Louie Punton, who sailed for the day dressed as a pair of bananas!!!

A slightly breezier day, Thursday’s races included fun games, running along paddle boards and paddling on inflatable flamingos! The Scow Fleet completed varied courses round the cans, with a pursuit race around Pylewell finishing at the Club line.

RLymYC Commodore, Phil Lawrence, said: “Our Centenary Youth Week was a great success. It was wonderful to see so many young sailors having huge amounts of fun out on the water. We were delighted to welcome HRH The Princess Royal on Wednesday, that she took the time to speak with so many of the children, who were proud to meet her.

We would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time to help make the event such as success, both on and off the water. Many thanks also to Durlston Court School for sponsoring the event.”

Congratulations to all sailors who took part, including:

Gold Fleet Class 1:

1st - Cameron Bignold-Kyles

2nd - Archie Munro-Price

3rd - Teo Sheffield

Gold Fleet Class 2:

1st - Dirk Rogers and Jonny Rogers

2nd - Harry West and Daniel Vaughan

3rd - William Hutchinson and Louie Punton

Silver Fleet RS Teras:

1st - Harriet Paley

2nd - James McStay

3rd - Philippa Paley

Silver Fleet Optimist:

1st - Rupert Garlick

2nd - Olivia Grant

3rd - Henry Finch

Scow Fleet:

1st - Annabel Hutchinson, Maisie Hutchinson and Olivia McAlister

2nd - Anoushka Farrelley, Hannah Moore and Scarlet Masters

3rd - Holly Pritchard, Olivia Maguire and Florence Newbery

Special awards:

• The AJ Slipway Trophy was presented to Nicky Curley and Helen Erdbeer for their efforts on the slipway, for helping with the tally, making sure all boats rigged properly and sailors dressed appropriately for the conditions.
• The Lymington Yacht Haven Trophy for family team effort was awarded to the Grealish Family.
• The Dr Jonathan Rogers Trophy was awarded to Anoushka Farrelley for taking on the spirit of the event and taking two new Scow crew members under her wing.
• The Olivers Boat Trophy was awarded to Scarlet Masters for overall perseverance in the event.
• The Durlston Court School Trophy was awarded to Benedict Kelso for showing determination and resilience.

Royal Lymington Yacht Club is celebrating its centenary throughout 2022 and welcomes new members of all ages and all abilities. Find out more about becoming a member of Royal Lymington Yacht Club here.

During the school summer holidays Royal Lymington Yacht Club is running a number of RYA Youth Sailing Courses for young people keen to learn or improve their sailing skills. Find out more here.

Images: Sportography.tv and Coolpix

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