Whilst Covid-19 restrictions had been removed, the bigger obstacle for this year’s Alderney Regatta turned out to be the wind.
However, no less than 12 yachts – including 3 from Alderney , 2 from Dielette and one from Portsmouth – turned up for Alderney’s 4th annual Regatta, bringing with them some 60 crew for a weekend of challenging racing and enjoyable socialising.
On Friday 26th August, 9 yachts took part in the POLYGON Pursuit Race from Guernsey to Alderney, arriving in Braye Harbour in time for a welcome drink and buffet supper at the Sailing Club.
First across the line was Black Jack, followed by Dark Horse in second and Killing Time in third place.
Prompted by the wind forecast, the originally planned events programme for the weekend had to be changed in order to ensure that all visiting yachts could take part in the Alderney races. Regrettably, due to the forecast, 11 yachts from Poole had decided to head for Cherbourg instead of Alderney.
* ROUND THE ISLAND RACE – Saturday 27 August
Due to tricky wind conditions, this race – initially scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon – was brought forward to Saturday afternoon instead which proved to be the right decision and racing, according to Guernsey competitors, was exciting and took place in “Champagne” conditions.
12 yachts – 6 from Guernsey, 2 from Dielette, 1 from Portsmouth and 3 from Alderney were competing in this race. The Guernsey yachts were first across the finish line: FANDANGLE, followed by BLACK JACK and KILLING TIME. Alderney boat A ROAMER (skippers Jake and Alan Woodnutt) was the first local boat home, winning both on Local Line Honours and Handicap.
*ORTAC RACE – Sunday 28 August
The following day’s racing programme proved a challenge for the Regatta organisers as well as all competitors who wanted to take part in the Ortac Race, which was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday.
In view of the forecast, Guernsey and Dielette competitors had decided to head back home on Sunday early afternoon and, in order for them to take part in the Ortac race, the race organisers decided to run a special Ortac race on Sunday morning at 10:00am. 6 yachts (4 from Guernsey and 2 from Dielette) took part in this race and thereafter the Guernsey yachts joined the POLYGON Alderney to Guernsey Pursuit Return Race – a very quick sail back which took exactly 2 hour 30 minutes, while the Dielette boats headed for home.
On Sunday afternoon at 4:30 three yachts – two from Alderney and one from Guernsey -took part in the final Ortac Race which is part of the Regatta: Salmon (Guernsey), and the two Alderney boats Polar Star ( with an all female crew) and A Roamer.
First across the line was SALMON, followed by POLAR STAR , with A ROAMER in third place.
Prize presentations took place that same evening with SALMON’s crew Hagen Voehrs and his young family claiming no less than three trophies and being declared the Overall Winner of the 4th Alderney Regatta
The Organiser of the Alderney Regatta, Vice-Commodore Nigel Vooght said: “We were relieved that by re-scheduling, all the races were able to take place this weekend and clearly this was the right decision and was appreciated by all participants.
The Alderney Regatta is becoming a popular event. It is both challenging and enjoyable and is helping to put our island on the nautical map. We were particularly delighted to welcome two yachts from Dielette this year, but would like to see more boats from Jersey, the UK and France take part in next year’s Alderney Regatta”.
This year’s Alderney Regatta was sponsored by the Alderney Sailing Club and the States of Alderney.
The date for the 2023 Alderney Regatta has been set and will again take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend 26-27 August. ENDS
A large selection of photographs taken during the Alderney Regatta 2021 weekend can be downloaded from our Flickr site.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alderneysailingclub/albums/72177720301637987
RACING RESULTS IN BRIEF:
POLYGON GUERNSEY TO ALDERNEY PURSUIT RACE – FRIDAY 26 AUGUST
1ST BLACK JACK (Guernsey)
2ND DARK HORSE (Guernsey)
3RD KILLING TIME (Guernsey)
ROUND THE ISLAND RACE – SATURDAY 27 AUGUST 15:30
1ST FANDANGLE (Guernsey)
2ND BLACK JACK (Guernsey)
3RD KILLING TIME (Guernsey)
ORTAC RACE FOR GUERNSEY AND DIELETTE YACHTS – SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 10:00AM
1st KILLING TIME (Guernsey)
2nd BLACK JACK (Guernsey)
3rd SUN OF A GUN (Guernsey)
POLYGON PURSUIT RACE – ALDERNEY TO GUERNSEY SUNDAY 28 AUGUST:
1st BLACK JACK
2nd FANDANGLE
3rd KILLING TIME ( SUN OF A GUN was only about two minutes behind)
ORTAC RACE – PART OF THE REGATTA – SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 16:30
1ST SALMON (Guernsey)
2nd POLAR STAR (Alderney)
3rd A ROAMER (Alderney)
ALDERNEY REGATTA – OVERALL WINNERS:
1st SALMON (Guernsey)
2nd A ROAMER (Alderney)
3rd POLAR STAR (Alderney)