This in from Suzanne and Alan Whitewood, in their own words. Ed
This week sees Cowes Yacht Haven hosting the Panerai British Classic Week (PBCW) now in its 11th year. Since 2010 it is the only UK regatta forming part of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge series, the leading international circuit for classic and vintage yachts.
Local interest
Local interest can be found with ‘Infanta’ (sail number 44) a Bermudan Yawl built in 1947 and entered by Tim Blackman and John Hall.
Also on the entry list for this year’s regatta and in the same class (class 2) as ‘Infanta’ is ‘Cetewayo’, a 35′ Waterline Sloop built in 1955 which has competed successfully at the PBCW in the past three years. ‘Gluckhauf’, the 1929 international 30 square metre class sloop built by Abeking and Rasmussen is in class 3 along with five other boats.
Swedish Galatea makes first appearance
Featuring a few newcomers, the entry list includes Galatea, a 20m Custom built boat built in Plym´s Yard, Stockholm, in 1899. Galatea (class 2) has a long and successful history of racing as she is unusually slender and is only 12 feet at the beam, which makes her extremely fast.
However, she fell into a state of despair and it wasn’t until 2002 that her current owner started restoring her to her former glory so she could race again. Organisers and competing crews are looking forward to welcoming Galatea at the Panerai British Classic Week for the first time.
Class 1 boats
Five boats are entered in Class 1: ‘Flight of Ufford’, ‘Chloe’, ’Meteor’, ’Phantom’ and ‘Strega’.
After a week’s racing the famous Parade of Sail will pass the Royal Yacht Squadron on the last day, 13th July. This is scheduled to start at 11am.
