Royal Southern Oyster Week, 2010 logo
Some yachts lighten ship for Regattas, but the Oysters gathering at the Royal Southern Yacht Club next week will be filling their fridges for a week of champagne sailing in the sun from 28 June to 2 July.
Royal Southern Oyster Week will pit entries like Bill and Denise Cartlidge’s 1986 Oyster 46 against Jose Alvaro’s new Oyster 82, fresh out of the box. Oyster’s own handicapping system recognises that these boats like to race with all the creature comforts on board. With a mix of round the cans, passage and pursuit racing during the Week, everyone is in with a chance to win.
Supported by Oyster Marine, Raymarine, Pelagos Yachts, Lewmar and Dolphin Sails, there are plenty of prizes to go round. Based at the Royal Southern YC in Hamble, the fleet will also visit the Royal Solent and RAF Yacht Clubs, and the Royal Yacht Squadron.
PRO Tony Lovell said: ‘We run racing for One-Designs and IRC, from our own monthly Regattas to World Championships, but this is the first time we have run an Oyster Regatta. They have a few special Rules designed to keep them away from each other, and I hear that the parties are good. Should be a great Week’!
The Royal Southern Yacht Club are holding an Oyster Week this summer, the only Oyster sanctioned on the water event in the UK in 2010.
Oyster Week
John Beardsley, Commodore writes:
“It will be a great pleasure for us to welcome you to the Club for Royal Southern Oyster Week this summer. Our Club facilities are second to none on the South Coast and our shore side team will look after you in our bars, dining rooms and accommodation.
Our Race Management Team runs all kinds of event from cruiser rallies to World championships, and with races ranging from short courses in the Solent to the annual Deauville Race and Cruisers Race in Brittany.
Racing planned for the Oyster event includes two short Solent races, a passage to the picturesque port of Yarmouth IOW, and from there back Round the Island to Hamble using our 50% motoring time formula. It concludes with a short pursuit race to Cowes and lunch with our friends at the Royal Yacht Squadron.
We are looking forward to seeing you and your lovely yachts at the ‘Southern’. Afloat and ashore, we are sure that you will have an enjoyable time.”
The new Oyster 125 Sailing Yacht
ROYAL SOUTHERN OYSTER WEEK
28 June – 2 July 2010
NOTICE OF REGATTA
Royal Southern Oyster Week comprises five days of cruising, racing and socialising for Oyster yachts, their owners and crews. The Organising Authority for the event is the Royal Southern Yacht Club (RSrnYC)*.
The Sailing Instructions and any Amendments will supplement this Notice of Regatta and will be available at Registration at the Club on 28 June. In the event of any conflict, the Sailing Instructions and Amendments will prevail over this Notice of Regatta.
We are pleased to acknowledge the help and support given by Oyster Marine Ltd and the following supporters:
Dolphin Sails Lewmar
Pelagos Yachts Raymarine
MDL – Port Hamble Royal Solent Yacht Club
The George Hotel, Yarmouth Royal Air Force Yacht Club
Royal Yacht Squadron
This Notice of Regatta takes precedence over any previously issued information and will be the basis under which the event is run.
Unless otherwise stated, all times shown are British Summer Time.
Royal Southern Oyster Week is the first Oyster regatta to be run in the UK by a Yacht Club with the active support of Oyster Marine. How did this come about, and how will it be different from Oyster’s own events?
A few Oyster owners had pencilled in an Oyster Regatta in Cowes in June or July 2010, continuing the bi-annual pattern that had evolved. When we heard there wasn’t an event this year, we thought, ‘Why don’t we organise one’, and so with support from the Royal Southern Yacht Club and Oyster Marine we have organised Royal Southern Oyster Week as announced at the Oyster Owners dinner in January. Early feedback suggests that there are many owners now just waiting for the details.
The Notice of Race, the Entry Form, and the Berthing and Event Booking Form are all downloadable above.
If you have previously taken part in an Oyster Regatta, you will recognise a lot of the format, by design. What is different is the scale of the sponsorship and some of the administration, as you won’t have Liz Whitman and her colleagues doing all the back up that we have become used to. But Royal Southern Oyster Week will be recognisable as an Oyster style event, with good racing under Oyster Rules and Handicaps, and excellent parties in a variety of venues ashore. The Royal Southern has run many World and National Championships and has the experience and facilities to make the event a great success on and off the water.
You will recognise some familiar names among the event’s supporters – Dolphin Sails, Lewmar, Pelagos Yachts and Raymarine, and some new ones – MDL Port Hamble, the Royal Solent Yacht Club, Yarmouth Harbour Commissioners, the Royal Air Force Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron, all of whom are providing us with facilities and to whom we are most grateful.
AFLOAT
We will be racing primarily with Oyster Rules, particularly those affecting starting procedures, and Oyster Handicaps, meticulously calculated by Alan Brook over many Oyster Regattas. We will also follow the practice of asking you to declare your downwind sails on a daily basis
The first race day, Tuesday 29 June, has two short races in the Central Solent with a lunch stop at anchor in Osborne Bay. On Wednesday 30 June, we start from 1200 to sail round a few cans on the way to Yarmouth IOW to finish around 1600 at the Royal Solent YC.
On Thursday 1 July, we have an early start to catch the last of the ebb from Yarmouth down to the Needles and then Round the Island and back to Hamble. There are times in summer when the wind gives up in the Solent, so to ensure that we all finish in time, this race will be under RSrnYC Cruiser Race Rules which allow for 50% motoring time without penalty.
On the final day, 2 July, each entrant will be given a handicapped start time for a pursuit race designed to finish off Cowes at 1200. First to finish is first, in time for a celebration and lunch at the Royal Yacht Squadron. After lunch, it’s back to Hamble for the Prize Giving party in the evening at the Royal Southern.
The different types of race should give a few variations on the daily leader board, and we thank our supporters for providing the Day Prizes.
ASHORE
First, the administration:
To take advantage of the special berthing rate of £25 per boat (any size) per night from MDL Port Hamble, you must book in advance though the Club on the event order form. The special rate is available from Sunday 27 June to Friday 2 July inclusive. Yachts over 55′ are especially urged to book early as spaces are very limited. See details in the Notice of Race.
We know how difficult it is to give crew numbers for functions weeks ahead of the event. So you will see that on the event booking form, we are asking for your best estimate of numbers for each of the functions which will act as an overall guide for those providing each function. We will charge you a single £25 deposit for each crew member on entry and then when you register at the RSrnYC on Monday 28 June, we will ask you for your actual numbers for each event and charge to your Credit Card allowing for the £25 per person deposit. This way, you won’t have to tell us every time the numbers change, but providing the numbers don’t change a lot, the caterers will be happy.
Event clothing may be ordered direct from Printing Crazy in Hamble via their website and by telephone, not through the Club or Oyster. They will apply the event logo to any item feasible in their catalogue, so the choice is yours.
Now the events:
There is a compulsory Skippers/Owners briefing at the Royal Southern at 1600 on Monday 28 June, so please do ensure that you are represented.
That is followed by the Welcome Drinks Party, courtesy of Oyster Marine for which we thank them, and then by a barbecue at the Club, al fresco if possible. As you would expect at an Oyster barbecue, there’s steak and seafood as well as a sausage or two.
After the two races on Tuesday, results and the day’s prizes will be given at the Southern at approximately 1830. After that, there will be a Table d’hôte menu available in the Club, and/or the many hostelries of Hamble await the pleasure of your company.
After racing to Yarmouth on Wednesday, the prize giving will be in the Royal Solent Yacht Club, open from 17.45. Wednesday is race day at the Royal Solent and you are welcome to join in with their Sailing Supper, or just round the corner you will find the famous George Hotel and the best food on the Island. Jeremy Willcocks, Commodore of the Royal Solent, also runs the George and will be pleased to see you at either of these fine establishments!
Back at Hamble on Thursday night, the day’s prize giving will be next door to the Southern at the RAF Yacht Club. They will provide a buffet supper afterwards.
On Friday, the Royal Yacht Squadron will provide a buffet lunch in their Pavilion, and the best view of the Solent to go with it, but don’t stay too long as it’s the Prize Giving Party and Dinner back at the Royal Southern in the evening from 1900.
You can also get breakfast at the Southern every day, but do please book in when you register.
Royal Southern Oyster Week will be similar to Oyster’s own events, but to keep costs down, it is a bit less ‘organised’ ashore. It will, though, be ‘champagne sailing’ and we are sure that the winners will do their bit with the champagne ashore as well!
