Open Meeting at Woolverstone for Firefly Dinghies and Banger Trophy for National Twelve Foot Dinghies, 29 and 30 June 2002The Royal Harwich Yacht Club at Woolverstone will host a joint meeting for Fireflys and National 12 dinghies this weekend.

Open Meeting at Woolverstone for Firefly Dinghies and Banger Trophy for National Twelve Foot Dinghies

29 and 30 June 2002

The Royal Harwich Yacht Club at Woolverstone will host a joint meeting for Fireflys and National 12 dinghies this weekend.

A quality entry is expected for the Fireflys including the class chairman Barney Smith for West Mersea. Other notable helms expected to take part include Belinda Kerridge from Ipswich who is aspiring to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004 in the Ladies 470 class. Jane Stamp from Southampton is also in the event and she is currently a top Team Racer with the British squad and is a current British Team Racing champion.

The British team is expected to sail in the Czech Republic and possibly in the USA later this year and hope to receive funding to compete in New Zealand for the World Championship at Christmas.

The National 12 fleet will include Christopher Mayhew of the home club and it is hoped other top national helms will also participate.

The event will be somewhat of an alumni gathering. Many competitors are former members of Royal Harwich from a decade or more ago when optimist dinghy racing and training was hugely popular at Woolverstone.

In the eighties, both Belinda Kerridge and Christopher Mayhew were national champions in the Optimist Class and represented Great Britain in many international junior events.

The event takes place over two days under the guidance of Ewen Stamp, rear commodore who is a qualified national race officer. The club hopes this will be a real spectacle on the river this weekend.