It was a truly historic summer in Cowes this year as spectacular classic yachts and superyachts converged on the UK with event highlights including the Royal Yacht Squadron’s celebrations of its bicentenary year, the Panerai British Classic Week and Charles Stanley Cowes Classic Week.
Anakena at Shepards Wharf Marina on 4th June 2015, the day before the RYS Bicentenary Fleet Review
At Shepards Wharf we were delighted to host the classic yawls Dorade and Stormy Weather for much of the summer. There’s a super blog on Dorade’s website and pictures of Dorade at Shepards during preparations for the Rolex Fastnet Race. After finishing the Fastnet Race with a very honourable placing, where she took second in IRC Class 4 and seventh overall out of 356 boats, Dorade returned to Shepards prior to shipping to Malta and the next chapter in her life.
Meanwhile, we are very pleased to learn that Stormy Weather of Cowes, who took part in the 2015 RORC season’s points championship, has recently been announced as the winner of the Freddie Morgan Trophy for top Classic Yacht in IRC for boats built before 1974.
Earlier in the year, congratulations were also due to Isle of Wight boat and Shepards Wharf berth holder Whooper, Giovanni Belgrano’s 38ft classic yacht, who won the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race for 1st Overall in IRC.
Shepards Wharf begins to fill up again as competitors return to the marina after the RTI 2015
Our dry sailing fleets have also been extremely active this year. The Royal Thames and Royal Yacht Squadron J/70s have completed their first season of racing from Shepards Wharf Marina and we are very grateful for the positive feedback received. The Cowes Etchells fleet hosted a second Invitational Regatta in August, which was equally as successful as the inaugural event in 2014, and also held their Europeans in September – alongside plenty of other highly competitive racing throughout the season.
Shepards Wharf is proud of its dry sailing centre for day class yachts and RIBs and looks forward to continuing to provide tailor-made facilities with a personal service in 2016 and beyond. Cowes Harbour Commission’s vision for Shepards Wharf, as the day racing yachtsman’s marina of choice, will see us continuing to build on our current dry sailing offer to improve and enhance the dry sailing experience at Shepards.
We also welcomed two new marine businesses to the Shepards Wharf site this year, Solent Sails as our resident sail maker and repairer, and Girls for Sail who are the UK’s only sailing school for ladies; you can find out more about them on the Cowes Harbour Commission website.
Now, we are well into November and the festive season is fast approaching. With some forecasts indicating we could be heading for one of the coldest and harshest winters in over 50 years, it’s definitely time to look at winterising your boat and ensuring your ‘pride and joy’ is safely berthed until next spring! We still have some room available at Shepards Wharf so do contact us soon to secure a warm winter berth for your boat.
The Sugar Store Events Centre at Shepards Wharf
Finally, we would like to wish you a very ‘Merry Christmas’ 2015, with sincere thanks from all the team at Shepards Wharf for your goodwill and loyalty throughout the past year, and looking forward to seeing you at the Marina or in our new Sugar Store Events Centre next year!
Jock Rafferty
Manager
Shepards Wharf Marina and Cowes Harbour Moorings
• Read more in the November 2015 newsletter from Shepards Wharf Marina
