Sailing Week Round-Up: Dartmouth Regatta 2025

Mark Jardine

Dartmouth Regatta Sailing Week is a firm favourite of many yachties calendars, and for good reason. The picturesque Devon town offers the perfect blend of stunning scenery and conditions for the sailing, and a buoyant social scene, making for competitive racing combined with a holiday atmosphere.

Conditions on the first day, sponsored by Henri-Lloyd, were spectacular. After an initial delay due to the high winds, a single race was held in big seas and led to a couple of dismastings and led to many a story once ashore.

Conditions thankfully moderated for the second day onwards, providing ideal conditions for great racing.

Across the IRC fleets there were overall wins for Michael O'Donnell’s J/121 ‘Darkwood’, the Key Yachting team on the J112E ‘Thinking Space’, Claire & Ed Mockridge’s JPK1010 ‘Elaine Again’, Brian Denney & Hannah LePrevost’s J/99 ‘Jalapeno 3’, Garth Weaver’s Corby 25 Chiot Noir and Mike Mackie & Roger Nuttall’s J/24 ‘Jiggy’.

In the J/111 National Championship, which was held during the event, the JourneyMaker II team of Chris Jones triumphed, and the ever-popular Squib class was won by John Ellwood’s Hendrika.

The event caters for all, and there was a super entry of 21 yachts in the White Sails Series, for those who race less often. The class was won by Nick Seddon’s Beneteau Oceanis 37 ‘Joy’.

Henri-Lloyd is a proud supporter of the event, and the store in The Quay attracted many visitors, especially those wanting to try the Dynamic range having seen and heard so much about it. Dri-Fast Polos once again proved their worth in the boisterous conditions, allowing sailors to go from active sailing to shoreside fun in an instant and keeping kitbags for the event to a minimum.

The overriding sentiment from competitors at Dartmouth Regatta Sailing Week is that they can’t wait to return in 2026, which is always a great sign that an event is doing things right.