The PSUK Sailing Offshore Championships took place between Monday 9th and Thursday 12th October 2023 in the Solent.

There were eight teams from seven forces. Beneteau Oceanis 37’ yachts with asymmetric spinnakers were chartered from Fairview Sailing at Port Hamble Marina.

The teams were Cambridge, Devon and Cornwall, Hampshire, Metropolitan, Sussex, Warwickshire and West Midlands who entered two teams.

The first race was scheduled to start at 14:30hrs on Monday. There were very light airs with an ambitious course set by the Race Officer Todd Taylor at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The race was postponed to 15:00hrs as there was no wind. There was a hope that the breeze would fill in as the tide built but alas, after the first mark was rounded the course was shortened.
The race was won by Jon Bancroft skippering the Devon and Cornwall team helmed by Darren Roach. Cambridgeshire skippered by Chris Breeze were second. It was the only race in the series when all teams used their kites. The teams had crews of five to eight women and men with a great diversity of ages.

 
Tuesday the wind built from the southwest with gusts of over 26 knots. The Race Officer set three great courses for races two, three and four. Devon and Cornwall showed the fleet the way in all three of the races. Andrew Buchanan, skippering Hampshire, improved his sixth place on Monday to second in each of Tuesday’s races.

The wind on Wednesday dropped but gusts were still over 24 knots. Todd Taylor the Race Officer set three more courses, each dependent on the conditions at the start of each race. Jon Bancroft with his team from Devon and Cornwall continued to dominate, winning races five, six and seven. Hampshire demonstrated that their success on Tuesday was no fluke by coming second to Devon and Cornwall in all three races. Cambridge showed good form in races one to five but began to drop down the fleet in races six and seven when they only managed a seventh and eighth. At the back of the field Sussex, skippered by Owen Poplett and helmed by Chris Young, managed to hold West Mids II skippered by Matt Minton in eighth place after day one and day two but on Wednesday Matt managed to score a fifth and a sixth to take them ahead of Sussex.

Thursday the breeze dropped to the low teens for races eight and nine. In the last race Devon and Cornwall’s genoa car broke off delaying them while they jury-rigged it to complete the course. This allowed Hampshire to break through to win the final race with Devon and Cornwall still managing a second place. Henry Scutt skippering the Warwickshire boat showed great consistency with seven third places and two fourths. The midfield was a closely fought fight between Ian Ingram on West Mids I, Chris Breeze on Cambs and Roger Knight, Mets, with all three trading places during the regatta.

A pairs competition was also run during the regatta with teams paired up from names drawn at random. The combination of scores for each team of a matched pair were added together, the winning pair being the pair with the lowest combined score.
As follows. After nine races, the regatta scores were:-

For the pairs Devon and Cornwall were drawn with Hampshire with a combined score of 23, Warwickshire were drawn with Metropolitan with a combined score of 66, West Midlands I were drawn with Cambridgeshire with a combined score of 74 and West Midlands II were drawn with Sussex with a combined score of 112. It was a little unfortunate that the regatta winners and runners-up were drawn together while the two tail enders were also drawn together.

Tod Taylor set exceptional courses for all nine races and the Island Sailing Club were excellent hosts.

All the teams had a great week with competitive racing right through the field. There was also some good shore-side socialising.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone from this year, with some additions hopefully, for the 2024 Championships in the Solent between 13th to 17th May 2024.

Owen Poplett 

The Winners  -  Team Devon & Cornwall