 EAORA 2008
The 2008 East Anglian Offshore Racing Association season had a somewhat eventful start due to a sunken vessel some 500 metres from the published start line. Following plenty of warnings from the organising authorities and the race office however, all yachts passed the danger unscathed.
With 12-14kts of breeze the longer (55 mile) course was set and all three classes started cleanly with kites aloft for the Pattinson Cup from Burnham to Mersea. Sadly Ian Hart's Ace of Hearts had to retire shortly after the start with broken spinnaker gear.
The remainder of the fleet made rapid progress around the course with Paul Wood, Michael Wood and Ian Magee's Ker 11.3 Skipjack first home at 1440 and all but two yachts finished by 1520. On corrected time, Bob Fawkes' Carter 37 Tigo IV had won class 3 and overall, with Heartbeat III and Titian winning classes 1 and 2 respectively.
A beautifully sunny but chilly morning awaited the fleet for the Ralph Herring return to Burnham. On the back of a lighter forecast the race committee opted for the shorter course. With 8-10 knots of breeze for the spinnaker leg up the Wallet however, all boats managed to beat the tidal gate.
The sunny weather was not to last as the sky turned black to precede a squall of hail stones. Behind the squall there was very little wind but after 30 minutes or so 10-12knots returned to help boats up the Crouch.
Skipjack led Judy & Jason Payne-James' Dufour 44 Heartbeat III and Stan Fenton's J122 Jedi Knight on the beat up the river. Skipjack went aground however and the time take to sail off allowed Heartbeat III to finish first at 15.11 followed by Jedi Knight and Skipjack 6 minutes later. Once the results were calculated, Tigo IV capped off a superb weekend by winning her class and overall once again. Consistency was also the name of the game in the other classes with Heartbeat III and Titian winners again.
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Jane’s Cup Burnham-on-Crouch to Medway
Saturday 7th June 2008
Harvest Moon
Overall Winner 2007
2007 Class Winners
Class 1 Ding Dong
Class 2 Habanero
Class 3 Harvest Moon
|  The Jane’s Cup is named after the daughter of Brigadier Basil Chichester-Cooke of the Royal Engineers YC. He was a great supporter of the Association and the Jane’s Cup was given in memory of his daughter ‘who loved boats’. Jane was the finder of the cannonball of the eponymous ‘Cannonball Trophy’. The Jane’s Cup has always been regarded with great affection by the Association. The starts are from Burnham with courses of 43 or 50 miles finishing up the Medway. There is then a bit of hike up to the Medway Yacht Club in preparation for the evening entertainment.
Organising Authority
Medway Yacht Club |
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Want To Get Started?
 It is not difficult to race offshore. Yachts competing have to hold an approved category 3 Safety Regulations (see resources section to the left) and an endorsed IRC Certificate 2008 which is obtainable from the RORC rating office. If you would like to know more please contact any EAORA committee member featured on the Contact list page.
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