THE inaugural Mayor’s Shield Sailing Race offered an exciting afternoon of racing in the bay.
The event was created by Lyme Regis Sailing Club as part of the town council’s Sporting Lyme initiative.
The racing was held as close to shore as possible to promote the club and the sport, by providing a spectacle for spectators rather than the usual triangular course miles out to sea where the sailing boats are less visible.
It also provided a rare opportunity to combine the club’s dinghy and cruiser fleets to compete together in one race and one start.
The best way to achieve this was to run the race from the club start line on the end of Victoria Pier by the Cobb buildings, which was in fact where the former sailing club clubhouse was located.
This, along with the strong turnout of 19 dinghies and six cruisers, meant the start promised to be interesting to watch from the shore.
Race officer Cameron Moss had the course set, but the wind remained very light, so the majority of sailors were over the line, resulting in a general recall for a false start.
On the second time of asking, the fleet judged the start perfectly and with a slight gust of wind, set off towards the first mark.
This was an awesome spectacle from the pier and the shoreline where past commodore and sailing club stalwart Jeremy Wallace provided commentary on proceedings.
At the first mark, sailing club commodore Andy Robinson led the fleet in his Albacore crewed by new member Sarah Wallis, closely followed by vice commodore Allan Tyler, also in an Albacore and crewed by wife Chris with granddaughter Lily.
Rear commodore Graham Cook rounded in third in his ILCA.
The fleet then headed out to the South Cardinal mark, which is visible from the beach, before turning back toward the harbour and the finishing line.
Due to the light winds, only one lap was sailed.
Graham Cook in his ILCA picked the wind patches and tide advantage to end up finishing a matter of seconds behind Andy. This gave him a decisive win on handicap, the ILCA being a slower boat.
Jeff Vander Bought in his K1 also made up ground on the light downwind leg to claim second on handicap, with Andy taking third place overall despite crossing the line first.
Special mention was given to youth member Rhys Roscoe, who finished fifth to claim the top youth spot, as well as Rob and Margaret Wiscombe for their result as the top cruiser.
The prize giving took place on the Marine Parade where Graham received the new shield from the mayor, Cllr Philip Evans and his wife, Jackie.
Race officer Cameron thanked Jeremy Wallace for his commentary, sailing secretary Ian Wallace, his race team on the water and ashore, all the competitors and those who assisted.
Graham thanked the mayor for promoting the race and added: “A most enjoyable event, we must keep this in the club calendar in future.”
Photo: From left, mayoress Jackie Evans, mayor Cllr Philip Evans and Graham Cook, winner of the mayor's shield.