Yachts & Yachting magazine June 2021

A WHILE BACK I Equatorial Guinea and in the course of the conversation I happened to mention that I had a small yacht that I kept nearby. 'What do you do with it?' She asked: 'Do you go fishing?' I had to admit I did not and she gave me a look of bewilderment until I explained I lived on it. She still looked concerned but at least had a new air of comprehension; there was, in fact, some purpose to my yacht. Clearly the idea of going sailing purely for pleasure is not something that happens very often in Equatorial Guinea. The same was true in the UK not so long ago when pioneers of yacht cruising such as R T McMullen were largely viewed as eccentric cranks by…

As the sailing world paid tribute to HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, previously unseen images of His Royal Highness sailing as a schoolboy came to light. They were released by his former school Gordonstoun and were taken by the great-uncle of a former student. They show the Duke in happy times in 1937, sailing one of Gordonstoun’s boats, Diligent, helming and washing-up (above centre and right). Diligent was a 14-ton Cornish trading ketch, bought in Plymouth in 1936 by teacher Michael-Noel Varvill. Meanwhile tributes have been paid from across the sailling world to the Duke, who was a keen sailor and did much to support sailing. Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Jamie Sheldon, said: “We owe a substantial debt to our Admiral, who was an active and talented sailor and contributed…

The RYA has launched an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy, aiming to “chart and cement the sport’s commitment to developing a culture that celebrates diversity and is free from discrimination and prejudice”. The RYA was the first UK national governing body to achieve the Advanced Level of the Sports Councils’ Equality Standard for Sport, in 2016, and it intends the new strategy to build on this. RYA Chief Executive, Sarah Treseder, said: “We joined other voices from the world of sport last summer to speak out against racism, and in doing so we recognised that more needed to be done to ensure that boating was as inclusive and diverse as we would like it to be. “We reaffirmed our commitment to equality of opportunity then, and we have gone on to develop the…

Entries have opened for Cowes Week and organisers have created a new class for Club Cruisers, designed to welcome cruising yachts and less experienced racers to the regatta. There will also be the first ever Cowes Week opening party, which will take place on Saturday 31 July, after the first race day. Laurence Mead, Regatta Director, said: “What a year! We have so many sailors desperate to get back on the water and I think this will be a bumper year for boat racing all round. We are working flat out to deliver a great Cowes Week. There won’t be any fireworks this year (at least not up in the sky!) as a Covid-safety decision but there will be great racing for thousands of keen sailors and, in the end, that’s what…

Meet our Olympians As the countdown for the Olympics begins, with the Tokyo Games set to open on 24 July, all our interviews with the sailing members of TeamGB are now online at yachtsandyachting.co.uk. The team comprises 15 sailors including Hannah Mills, aiming to make history by becoming the most successful Olympic sailor in history. RORC crewmatch If you’re looking for a boat to race or looking for crew, RORC has launched an updated international Crew Match portal. Anyone can register, whether a RORC member or not. crewmatch.rorc.org Ellen’s Trust in 2021 The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust has outlined plans to take young people on day sails and longer cruising trips across the UK between July and September. The trust had to cancel all its trips last year. Trust CEO Frank Fletcher said: “Nothing would…

With entry open for the 90th anniversary Round the Island Race, the organisers have announced details of the Windeler Cup, a new event for keelboats. The Island Sailing Club will run the new race on the same day as the Round the Island Race, Saturday 3 July, for boats which are ‘too small to safely participate in the annual circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight to join in the excitement of the Round the Island Race weekend’. Boats from the Daring, Dragon, Etchells, Flying Fifteen, Mermaid, Redwing, Sunbeam, Swallow, Sonar, Squib, RS Elite, Victory and XOD classes will compete in a ‘Round the Solent’ race. The race will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes, around 08.30 after the main Round the Island fleet is underway. It will follow a course…