Welcome to the Jersey Regatta ... et soyez bienvenus à nos amis français!

Firstly, well done to you all, sailors and race management teams alike. It was a super Regatta and one truly worthy of its predecessors. Congratulations to the trophy winners and to those who rose to the top as ‘Best-in-Class’, especially Jamie Hamilton and his Madcap crew who clinched the International Melges 24 UK National Championship for the second year. Thanks to the Melges 24 Association for choosing to support the Regatta again.
As ever, we were delighted to welcome our Guernsey ‘cousins’, and boats from both the UK and France and we thank them for coming. It is worth noting that the Tartan Sailing Association of St Quay-Portrieux fielded four boats this year.
Overall the weather was kind to us although some skippers might disagree following Sunday’s somewhat boisterous conditions. We started out with light south-westerlies on Friday and finished with strong winds on Sunday. Happily, the torrential rain that greeted us on Sunday did not persist. Nevertheless, racing ran to schedule, thanks to the efforts of the race officers and their teams and our beloved mark-layers and guard boats. A total of seventy-four races were run over the weekend across nine classes and it is an enormous credit to the results team, both afloat and ashore, that the results were produced so quickly and efficiently.
In that connection, it is worth noting that some fifty or so volunteers were involved in some aspect of running the Regatta, clearly far too many to mention here but I would like to acknowledge the special contributions of Principal Race Officer Chris Simon and Race Officers Rodney Waller, Tony Eggleston and Andrew Le Quesne, their teams and the RIB drivers and crews whose enthusiasm and professionalism ensured a successful outcome. Thanks also go to the skipper and crews of the Duke of Normandy and Le Fret and Mick Watton and Ian Macdonald for providing the committee boats. Ashore, Ken Le Marquand was protest committee chairman whilst wife Helen performed her usual miracles in most matters relating to Regatta administration. Gary Le Feuvre spent two days afloat and Sunday evening with his candid camera; you will find his gallery posted on www.gppictures.com. Angie Vallois’ photos have been posted on www.jerseyweekly.com. My personal thanks also go to my committee for all their work over the past year and, especially, Helen Barker who has led on the social front.
Once again, we have received tremendous support from Jersey Harbours and I take great pleasure in thanking Captain Howard Le Cornu and Myra Shacklady and their colleagues for their truly unstinting help. It makes a great difference and is sincerely appreciated. Jersey Tourism has, as ever, been very supportive on the PR front and we thank them very much for their help.
Sunday’s prize-giving provided a fitting end to another great event when we were delighted to welcome Jamie Matheson, Chief Executive of Brewin Dolphin, with Stuart Sangan, Head of the Jersey Office who, between them, presented the many trophies and prizes. Whilst no announcement was made on the night, it is with great pleasure that I can say that Brewin Dolphin will sponsor the 14th Jersey Regatta being held from 7th–9th September 2012. Brewin Dolphin has been with us for a glorious four years and it is a delight that they will be with us in their 250th Anniversary year that just happens to coincide with the 150th of the RCIYC. Many thanks to them for such great support and sponsorship.
Thankyou, once again, for your support. We now look forward to the Brewin Dolphin 14thJersey Regatta and hope to see you there.
Good sailing
 

Bill Harris
Chairman
(Tel 07797 779040, billharris@jerseymail.co.uk)