We are sailing! (From Living Northeast)

We are sailing!

1:10pm Monday 19th July 2010 in

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The Tall Ships may be sailing into Hartlepool this summer, but at Whitby fish and ships are on the menu every year.

Ruth Addicott reports.

A SPECTACULAR yacht race and a jaw-dropping display by the Red Arrows are just two of the highlights at this year’s Whitby Regatta.

The Regatta will be celebrating its 170th anniversary in August with a three-day event featuring yacht and rowing races, a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, fancy dress parade and fun fair. Crowds will also be treated to an impressive firework display for the finale on the Monday night.

Up to 20 yachts are expected to take part with crew members ranging from their early teens to over 50. Vice president of the Whitby Regatta, Ivor Greer, says it will not only bring the community together, but give young people a chance to get involved in sport.

According to Ivor, the best vantage point for the racing is the West Cliff area. “A lot of people congregate at the finishing post around the Pier and harbour but I’d recommend anywhere on the quayside,” he says. “One of the best vantage points is by the Captain Cook statue.”

The event is the oldest sea regatta in England and, apart from Scarborough, is the only regatta held on the North-East coast. It has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 19th Century when fishermen competed against each other in fishing smacks and salmon cobbles. It wasn’t until later that yachts came into being and The Whitby Challenge Cup was introduced in 1847.

Competitive rowing came into force around 1872 with the launch of the Jet Works Amateur Rowing Club and two years later the Scarborough Amateur Rowing Club was formed. It was followed in 1912 by the Whitby Amateur Rowing Club which later became the present day Whitby Fisherman’s Rowing Club. By 1929, the event was attracting huge crowds and the first fancy dress parade and decorated carts appeared, inspiring the present day carnival. Although yacht racing formed the main part of the Regatta, after the 1930s, the yachts gradually began to disappear due to the high cost of building them (some weighed as much as 20 tons).

According to records, 11,000 people travelled to the Whitby Regatta in 1900 by special trains from the West Riding, York, Bridlington and Newcastle. This year, spurred on by the 170th year celebrations, crowds are expected to be in the region of 20,000.

■ The Whitby Regatta will take place in Whitby from August 21 to 23. Programmes with full listings are available from the Tourist Information Office in Whitby for £2. For further info, visit whitbyregatta.co.uk