Impressive racing skills and intense competition at The Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta
by Oliver Dewar 14 Jul 14:21 PDT
12-14 July 2024
Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta © Tim Jeffreys
The 16th edition of The Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta (12-14 July) featured 188 boats racing in the Western Solent and based in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.
Both Black Group and White Group (94 boats in each group) start lines were on the Mainland shore with a short postponement prior to the first race on Saturday while the light, south-westerly wind filled-in for both of the day's races with just one race on Sunday in a fickle, but raceable, breeze.
Father-and-son Michael and Sebastian Blair campaign their King 40 Cobra very successfully and won IRC 1 overall in this intensely competitive, 19-boat class and summarise the regatta's overall atmosphere: "There was some really tough opposition," the pair agreed at the prize-giving on Sunday. "Luna is extremely good, then there's Sunrise and Dawn Treader which are both exceptional boats."
The Blairs and their crew had a 1-4-1 scorecard and clearly take their racing very seriously. "We've managed to win just about everything this year and just used very clever tactics at the Taittinger regatta!" Michael comments. But it's not all about racing for the team on Cobra: "We really enjoyed it, it's a tremendous club and event and certainly the crew enjoyed all the parties."
A full Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta report with photographs will follow after the finals of Euro 2024!
Results for this year's regatta can be found here.