Torbay Royal Regatta 2025
by Tony Jaffa 9 Sep 03:07 NZST
23-25 August 2025
Ragdoll (in the foreground) and Lacerta during the Torbay Royal Regatta 2025 © Tania Hutchings /
www.50northphotography.co.uk
Teams from across the country converged on the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, hosts of the latest edition of Torbay Royal Regatta, for three days of intense racing and socialising over the August Bank Holiday weekend. And with glorious Tor Bay serving up champagne conditions, the venue lived up to its reputation of being one of the finest sailing locations in the country.
Based at the Royal Torbay YC's historic clubhouse overlooking Torquay harbour, Torbay Royal Regatta is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in the country, and competitors enjoyed a full programme of intense competition.
The IRC fleet saw the closest racing, with just one point separating the first three boats. Pete Wanstall's Men Behaving Badly (Royal Western YC) and John Allen's Antix (Whitby YC) were tied after eight races, with Men Behaving Badly taking home the silverware on countback. And with a last day push, home favourite Papillon (Lyn McGarey) took the third podium position.
Throughout the weekend, each day began windless and sunny, but as the land warmed up, so the predicted sea breeze developed, culminating in perfect 10-15 knots from the East/South East. But to ensure the race management team and the mark layers were kept on the toes, sometimes the breeze swung right as usual as the day developed - and sometimes, it didn't!
Over in the Cruiser class, local boat Lennie (Caroline Aisher) was the well deserved series winner, scoring six bullets and discarding two second places. That said, Jon Welch's Rag Doll (Brixham YC) was not far behind, having put together a very consistent series of results. John Thorne in Lacerta (Royal Torbay YC) was third, a very creditable performance as he gets to grips with his new boat.
In the SB20s, John Pollard and his Xcellent team (Royal Torbay YC), were dominant, romping home with nine wins out of nine. The reigning World and National champion had hurried back from Belgium, where he and Team Xcellent had just taken the European title as well. But with their customary commitment, John and his team were well ahead of Phil Rumbelow in Doris Reloaded and Ian Lievesley's Xcceptable.
The action was much tighter in the parallel Sportsboat fleet, however. It was nip and tuck between Pollard and Giles Chipperfield in his J70 Escape (Lymington Town SC) throughout the series, with Chipperfield emerging the winner by a single point. With both boats sailing to their full potential, they were separated in every race by just a few seconds on corrected time.
Off the water, competitors enjoyed the Royal Torbay's legendary hospitality, with a BBQ, live music, and a pie night being enjoyed by all in the sun drenched clubhouse, with its panoramic vista over Tor Bay. And as an added bonus, we all had a grandstand view of the powerboats who were participating in the historic Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race. Fortunately, they arrived, and then departed for the return leg back to Cowes, well away from the race areas, but they made for an interesting distraction!
The J24s used the Regatta as a final warm up before their Worlds in Plymouth. Current national champion James Torr in MaJic (Saltash SC) headed a competitive fleet, and after putting together a strong series, he and his team emerged victorious from fellow clubmate Shane Hewlett in Mr. Mann, and Tim Octon in NJO2 (Plym Yacht Club).
After the prize-giving, a number of people were kind enough to praise the Royal Torbay YC for both its organisation of the Regatta and the race management. The volunteers' hard work beyond the scenes is all worthwhile when competitors tell us "the racing was great", "many thanks to RTYC for a great regatta", and "excellent racing and glorious weather, see you next year".
Full results can be found here.
And in response to "Nice work, Torquay please book the weather for next year" - well, let's see what we can do!
And finally, many thanks to our wonderful sponsors, St. Austell Brewery, One Marine Yacht and Powerboat Brokers, and Stay CA Vacations, whose support was invaluable.
In 2026, Torbay Royal Regatta will take place on 22nd, 23rd and 24th August, and we look forward to welcoming all our friends, old and new, for another action-packed event!