(London, England)- The Royal Thames Yacht Club ran the Belvidere Cup on
Saturday 14th November at Queen Mary Sailing Club at Ashford Middlesex-
it is a match racing regatta sailed in J/80s provided by the RTYC.There were four teams participating- Old Abingdonians, Old Radleians, Old Wellingtonians and a Royal Thames Academy team consisting of three girls and a token fella. The regatta consisted of two round robins followed by a final and petit final.
At the end of the round robin stage the RTYC Academy had 6 wins, Abingdon 3, Radley 2 and Wellington 1. The final was fought out between Abingdon and the RTYC Academy. The Academy had so far been unbeaten and were odds on favorites to win. However, Abingdon won the first match by a whisker, the second match was won easily by the Academy.
Everything rested on the last match's result. The Academy was leading passed the last rounding of the windward mark, but Abingdon's crew had a more than 50% weight advantage over the girls who were disadvantaged by the strong gusts. In the end, Abingdon passed the Academy boat, winning by a few seconds and taking the match and the trophy.
The conditions were contrary to forecast, the wind was SSW varying between 6-10 knots during the round robin stage. The wind during the finals backed as the stronger breezes came in with gusts of 20 knots plus. Congratulations to Ben Clothier and his crew. Thanks for the report from Alexis Dogilewski. For more Belvidere Cup sailing information
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