British Classic Week is very British
British Classic Week. Image -Chris Brown
If you are reading this on the morning that the SWS weekly news goes out, then 5 of the 6 races in the 2023 edition of the British Classic Yacht Club’s Classic week should have been completed.
I’ve been following the reports on their website and they are comprehensive, factual and accompanied by some great photography.
Here at SWS we are firm believers in selling the romance of wooden boat sailing rather than just the practise. Our philosophy is summed up the famous quotation by Antoine de Saint Exupéry
“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
Non of that Gallic rubbish for the Brits! Keep the emotion out of it, tell it as it happened, and for God sake don’t let on that you’re enjoying yourself!
British Classic Week. Image -Chris Brown
When I see events like this, I can’t help comparing the Classic Keel Boat Racing in various parts of the world to our antipodean sailing.
Obviously the newly formed Vintage Classic Yacht Club Series in the Mediterranean, which fills the gap left by the Panerai circuit, leads the way in terms of quality and quantity of entrants. The Voile D’Antibes had over 100 high quality Classics racing in September last year, The East Coast North Americans, are doing well with almost 50 boats entered in the recently concluded Vineyard Cup Regatta
The British Classic Week only had 24 Entrants but the event seems well funded and professionally run and certainly a test of endurance, running for a full week.
The Classic Yacht Association of New Zealand events have fallen off a little from their heyday in the 2000’s with only 14 boats entered in last years summer series on the Waitemata.
Here in Australia after being involved with Classic racing for 25 years I can honestly say for the first time that things are looking up!
The recent Great Veterans Race on Sydney Harbour had 27 entrants which is impressive seeing as pool of potential boats is limited by having to have sailed in a Sydney Hobart Race. And in Melbourne the expectation is that up to 40 boats will be racing in this years Cup Regatta in November.
OK, they may not all be the varnished super models of the St Tropez waterfront, but they are sailing well, competing hard and above all, having fun!