SYH Classic Regatta 2026

The weekend of the 24^th Suffolk Yacht Harbour Classic Regatta at the end of June provided gloriously contrasting conditions for all of the vessels - thirty-seven sailing boats and eighteen motor boats - entered for the event. Nine of the sailing boats took part in the Friday evening race – which was not part of the official series - and all nine managed to finish despite the light winds. Andy and Jane Easdown’s 1968 Italian-built S&S sloop Illiria won line honours but on corrected time the first four places went to Stellas, the first of which was Andrew Gilmour’s Timoa.

For the Saturday and Sunday races, the sailing boats were separated into four classes: Stellas, of which there were seven; gaff rigged boats; oyster smacks - of which all five are over a hundred years old and three were built in the 19^th century - which were separated from the other gaff rigged boats not least because they have their own handicapping system; and the Bermudan yachts which, from the results point of view, were split into two classes, fast and slow. The decision to confine last year’s Sunday race within the Orwell and Stour rivers rather than in Dovercourt Bay seemed to be a generally popular one, and so this year’s event was deliberately held over a weekend with middle-of-the-day high tides to allow that to be repeated in all three races.

Although Saturday morning brought glorious sunshine, the wind was very light and became lighter still soon after the smacks crossed the start line. So Race Officer Peter Martin called them back and postponed the other starts, a decision that proved to be the right one because half an hour later a south easterly sea breeze began to build and then – without ever becoming particularly strong - remained steady for the rest of the day. With the start and finish line just downstream of the entrance to Suffolk Yacht Harbour, the courses were kept within the River Orwell, taking the yachts downstream as far as Fagbury Buoy and upstream as far as Bay Buoy. 

Ashmole Faire-Ring’s Primrose was the winning smack in the first race followed by Daniel Tester’s Yet, and then in the next race Yet went one better with Jas Limcke’s Lizzie Annie second.  In both races in the Stella class, Timoa was first and Nigel Waller’s Polaris was second.

The two boats that took the top places in both races in the slow Bermudan yachts class have recently had extensive restorations. Having been out of commission for some thirty years, Angus Bate’s 1926 West Solent One Design Erin was taking part in only her second event, and the first in which she flew a spinnaker; and she was followed by the 1938 Conway and Menai Strait Fife one design Merlin which was being sailed by brothers Ben and Shannon Simpson and their father Pat who had restored her themselves over a period of three years.

Robert Gillespie’s Spirit 30 Lady Eleanor won the first race in the fast Bermudan yachts class with Amanda Steer and Ben Van Dijke’s 1966 varnished S&S sloop Nini second, and in the following race those two places were reversed.

In the gaff rigged class Andrew Balfe’s Fable won the first race but spoiled her chances in the second by going aground on a falling tide. This allowed Richard Ham’s 1870 Itchen Ferry Fanny of Cowes – the oldest boat taking part in the regatta – to win that race having previously come second.

Meanwhile the motor boats were taking part in a time trial in the River Orwell before venturing out into Dovercourt Bay for a Parade of Power. Of the twelve Fairey motor boats taking part, Oliver Rees’s Huntsman 28 Sunday Girl proved fastest, while Nigel Weir’s 1938 Ryegate - which may have been a Dunkirk Little Ship although it hasn’t been possible to establish proof of that – was fastest displacement boat.

With all the boats moored back in the marina, crews were able to collect their complimentary beers from the Harbour Room while an adjacent wood-fired pizza oven was fired up prior to the evening’s entertainment on board Haven Ports Yacht Club’s 1932 lightship clubhouse LV87. This included a live band and impromptu karaoke – largely led by oyster smack crews – the highlight of which was a rendition of American Pie.

For the final race on Sunday, a blustery south-westerly provided more challenging conditions for everyone. This time the course included a hard beat up the Stour to Ramsey Buoy as well as reaching legs along the Orwell as far as Bay Buoy.

In the slow Bermudan yachts class, the windier conditions suited Ross Wey’s 1920 Mylne-designed Gudgeon which won comfortably, giving her second place overall behind Erin and ahead of Merlin. Golden Fleece won the fast Bermudan yachts race giving her third overall, while Nini and Lady Eleanor did enough for overall victory and second place respectively. In the Stella class Timoa completed a clean sweep of victories while unfortunately Polaris carried away her mast off Felixstowe. This allowed Star Shell - owned by SYH chairman Jonathan Dyke but sailed by Team Squirell and Wincer - to take second place. However, Polaris managed to hang on to second place overall – actually equal on points with Mark Montgomery-Smith’s Lodestar but ahead thanks to the “most firsts” tie break procedure – and her owner Nigel can rest easy in the knowledge that there are spare masts and fittings available at SYH. “With so many Stellas to race against and in such lovely conditions, it was the most fun I have ever had at a Suffolk Yacht Harbour regatta,” said Mark who has taken part in almost all of them since 2011.

Fanny of Cowes had another second place in the gaff rigged class, this time behind Paul Cook’s 1912 Morgan Giles Capriccio, giving those two boats first and second places overall respectively. “After the anxiety of thinking Saturday would be awful with such a light wind, we had two fantastic races,” said Fanny’s owner Richard, “but today was even better with a proper wind for proper gaffering!”

I was lucky enough to join the 1906 smack Lizzie Annie for a hugely enjoyable race that day. Jas had previously owned another smack but when, about three years ago, Lizzie Annie’s owner of forty-plus years decided to sell her, Jas found herself making a very easy decision. “I had wanted Lizzie Annie since I was eleven years old,” she told me. Lizzie Annie has recently had a fair amount of work carried out in SYH’s workshops - including sheathing the decks, renewing the bulwarks and repairing the rudder – and has also had a new mainsail made by One Sails. Although Yet got away from us at the start, we enjoyed some close racing and frequent place changes with the other smacks throughout the race. At the end Jas took some approximate finishing times and tried to work out if we might have been second which would have been enough to give Lizzie Annie second place overall. Sadly it was not to be, and overall victory went to Yet with Tom Bowman’s Harriet Blanche second.   

It was initially planned that the motor boats would go out to Titchmarsh Marina for lunch on Sunday, but in the blistery conditions it was decided that they would be better off going upstream to Woolverstone for lunch at the MoniMar Restaurant. 

Once the racing was over, the prizegiving was held in the Harbour Room. The final prize to be presented was the Je Ne Sais Pas trophy which goes annually to the boat that has best entered into the spirit of the event, and this was awarded to Merlin. “This regatta is pitched at exactly the right level,” her co-owner Shannon told me. “A great variety of boats and a good balance between competitive sailing and entertainment.”