Regatta Objection at Swansea

Bristol Channel Yacht Club, Mumble

The South Wales Daily Post of July 1926 recorded that the Sailing Committee of the Swansea Regatta assembled at the Bristol Channel Yacht Club, Mumbles, to deliberate upon a formal protest submitted by Mr Davis’s yacht Westward, which had finished third in the race for first‑class yachts. The objection was lodged against the King’s yacht, Britannia, placed second in the same contest.

South Wales Daily Post

Evidence was presented on behalf of Britannia, yet none was offered from Westward, leaving the committee unable to reach a conclusive judgement. Accordingly, the matter was postponed until Saturday evening, when further testimony was expected to be heard and the protest finally resolved.

Beyond Swansea, the Clyde yachting fortnight opened in bright, settled weather, though with scarcely a breath of wind to stir the sails. The leading race was halted at the end of the first round due to the calm, but not before Shamrock secured a commanding victory, finishing nearly six minutes ahead of White Heather. The official times were recorded as:

• Shamrock — 3 hours, 24 minutes, 49 seconds

• White Heather — 3 hours, 30 minutes, 28 seconds

• Lulworth — 3 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds

• Britannia — 3 hours, 57 minutes, 40 seconds

• Westward — 4 hours, 10 minutes, 5 seconds

Though curtailed by the stillness of the Clyde, the race nonetheless offered a vivid early measure of the season’s form and the fortunes of its most celebrated yachts.