Offshore Regatta 2021

Posted: Wednesday, 23rd June 2021

The extension of the Covid restrictions, due to be lifted on June 19, to July 19, has unfortunately made it impossible to run the EAORA Offshore Regatta, due to be held from Thursday July 8 to Sunday July 11, in its planned format.

The EAORA committee consulted both RORC and RYA, and Ian Walker, director of racing for the RYA, kindly attended a Zoom meeting of the EAORA committee to clarify the latest position.

It was agreed that while the current regulations allow racing with no crew limit, they effectively rule out staying overnight on boats (limited to six people or two households) and restrict clubs’ ability to host social events ashore.

The committee therefore unanimously agreed that cancelling the regatta was the sadly the only option as it was impossible to run it without being in breach of the regulations. However, it was recognised that many boats were relying on the regatta to achieve Fastnet qualifying mileage, and it was also agreed that at least one long race, starting and finishing at Harwich, should be organised over the regatta weekend to provide this – allowing competitors to remain within the rules re accommodation, socialising etc.

Competitors who have already entered the regatta have suggested that as crew members have already booked time off work, they would prefer a series of four races, all starting and finishing in Harwich.

A possible format would be 50 miles on Thursday, 50 miles on Friday, 40 miles on Saturday, and 30 miles on Sunday.

Endorsed IRC certificates would not be required for these races – just a current IRC.

Plans for the weekend will be finalised within the next few days. Watch the EAORA website and Facebook page for the latest details.

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