SCSC Scorpions at Lymington Dinghy Regatta 19-20 July 25
Published 10:25 on 30 Jul 2025
Two Scorpions from South Cerney SC competed in the Lymington Dinghy Regatta 2025: 2019 'Popping Polly' (Al Sim/ Fran Neale) and 2001 'Zephyr' (Malcolm James/ Monty Hampton).
The 110-boat entry was split across two separate race courses on the Solent, with the 14-strong Scorpion fleet having their own class start and racing around an extended trapezoidal course through the West Solent chop. A strong tidal flow and moderate weather conditions on the Saturday gave way to a strong SSW breeze on Sunday morning, the fleet being held on shore for almost 2 hours whilst the Race Officer waited for the wind to abate as forecasted. It didn't and so many competitors started to de-rig and prepare for the drive home, leaving a greatly diminished fleet to enjoy exhilarating sailing in a good Force 5 with frequent gusts into the 25-28 mph range.
The South Cerney SC Scorpions finished in 6th and 7th places, demonstrating solid consistency on the back of their recent form at the Inland Championships (Chew Valley Lake SC 14-15 June 2025). Key highlights were a well-deserved 2nd place for 2019 in Race 4 on Sunday morning and a win for 2001 in the survival conditions of the (shortened) Race 6. Luckily Zephyr's rig held up for the duration thanks to an improvised kicker repair on the way out to the starting area: only to fail spectacularly on dry land a few days later!
Full results and Yachts & Yachting reports can be found at:
https://rlymyc.org.uk/getmedia/1f4319f8-2d9c-40cd-8a5c-aaccb90304c5/RLymYC_WestCourse-SCORPION.aspx
https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/288404/Lymington-CraftInsure-Silver-Scorpion-Open-Overall
https://www.sail-world.com/news/288291/Lymington-Dinghy-Regatta-2025
Next event: Scorpion Nationals at Penzance SC, 02-08 August 2025. We're expecting a fleet of 55-60 boats.
Malcolm James
Last updated 10:26 on 30 July 2025