MORE than 50 boats sailed in the Penarth Yacht Club Regatta recently. There were many visitors, including a reigning world champion and an Olympic medallist!

The event was sponsored by Force 4 Chandlery. It proved to be one of the most successful for many a year and gave the competitors great value for money.

The sailors were divided into an offshore and inshore fleet, according to their experience levels, and both fleets saw very good racing.

Most competitive was the traditional Penyot Pin Race, in which the sailors compete for a barrel of beer. This was won by ex-Sailing Secretary Tom Atkin and Minnie Lucey in their RS200.

Equally competitive was the annual pursuit race, won by ex-Commodore Martyn Bromley and his crew Heike Cieslak in an Enterprise, to the obvious delight of the Flag Officers officiating on the Committee boat.

Overall winners of the Enterprise racing on the Saturday were Richard Leach and Jane Pickford from the home club. On Sunday, Jon and Will Allen from Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club surprised everyone, including themselves, by recovering from bad positions to win convincingly.

Ian Wakeling and Alice Allen from Bristol, and Adrian and Suzy Davies from Penarth were in the mix for the podium places all weekend.

Steve and Sandra Arthur deservedly won the silver fleet prize, having given the gold fleeters a good run for their money.

In the handicap fleet, Tom Atkin and Minnie Lucey reigned supreme and proved that their Penyot Pin win was no fluke. Steve Lucey and Claudia Haynes, and Jeff Dyer and Jane Humpage were the main threats to the winners. Twenty three boats competed on the Inshore Course. They are all involved in the club’s Sail Training and ranged in age from seven to over 70.

The best element of the regatta was the improving sailing, resulting in some quite strong tussles at times with many changes of place.

Despite all the efforts of the adults sailing in Mirrors, Alex Whitfield and Andrew te Water Naude won both days’ Mirror events.

On Saturday, Lance Carver and daughter Maddy were second with Jonathan Ford and daughters Isabelle and Amelia third.

On Sunday, Ben and Sue Sibert were second with Mohammed and son Nial Loutfi, and Mike Maclarg and grandson Peter Bateman in joint third.

In the Toppers on Saturday, Paddy O'Neil was first followed by Keith Edwards (dad) and son Daniel. On the Sunday, dad Keith was first, son Daniel was second and Ella Gattis was third.

In the Fevas a combination of Megan and Martha Steeley, and Rebecca te Water Naude and Imogen Sibert were first and second on both days. On Sunday in the Laser, Henry Ward was first, Amelia Newton second and Youssef Loufti third.

A big thank you to all the race management team members, safety boat crews and Yacht Club staff who gave the sailors excellent value for money; to Roy Beckett, Colin Lyons, Laurie Pavelin and Cardiff University Sailing Club for the generous loan of their boats; and to Force 4 Chandlery for their sponsorship.