11:17am Wednesday 5th August 2009
Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week gets underway at the weekend and will be offering an exciting variety of both competitive and fun challenges for the racing sailor, including some new events.
Ashore, there will be a host of other events to attract all ages, both during the daytime and evening and the whole town will be buzzing with life.
For sailing enthusiasts, the week begins with a feeder race from Fowey to Falmouth, leading in to Falmouth Classics day on Saturday, August 8.
Falmouth Classics is a fun regatta for every conceivable type of yacht. It provides a terrific spectacle with 22 classes racing in Falmouth Bay and the Carrick Roads, and some fun for the competitors afterwards at The Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.
Some classic yachts have entered for the whole of Falmouth Week.
Sunday sees the start of Henri Lloyd Falmouth Dinghy Week, with two races on most days and the popular Harbour Race on one day, all expertly run by Restronguet Sailing Club.
Falmouth is special in that it hosts an amazing range of dinghies – from proven classics such as the Firefly, some of which date back to the 50s but are still raced competitively, to modern state of the art racing machines such as the RS series. The one thing that is assured is that everyone has a great time.
Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week series racing for all other classes also begins on Sunday at the Helford River Sailing Club.
It continues all week, with each day being hosted by a different sailing or yacht club around the harbour. All the involved clubs make up the Port of Falmouth Sailing Association. For a change this year the Bay Fleet will have two committee boats, one providing regatta courses around the marks in the bay, the other two windward/leeward course races each day. Whatever type of racing skippers like, they will have the chance to do both this year.
In another change this year, the traditional classes will finish as close to the host club of the day as possible. On some days, with the help of extra safety cover, the Falmouth Working Boats will race through the inner harbour to finish on the RCYC and Flushing SC’s lines. On Tuesday, Restronguet Sailing Club’s day, the remainder of the Carrick Fleet will compete in two races instead of just one – a feature that proved popular last year.
The Falmouth Town Regatta Committee’s Champagne Race, sponsored by Golder Associates, will be on the Wednesday. There will be three IRC and two PY yacht classes for this long coastal race, all with champagne prizes.
They also award the Trafalgar Cup to the youngest keel boat skipper.
Sponsor Henri Lloyd is providing prizes for all weekly class winners, which will be presented on the Friday and Saturday of the week, plus a special Henri Lloyd trophy for the best under-18 dinghy sailor.
Henri-Lloyd Falmouth Week runs from August 8-15 with racing for classics, offshore yachts, day boats, traditional craft, dinghies and Falmouth Working Boats.
There is a full shoreside programme, including the carnival, Red Arrows, spectacular fireworks display and a wide range of evening activities around the waterfront.
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