This year is the 180th Dartmouth Royal Regatta and it will be a great event both on and off the water. This year we are also hosting the IRC SouthWest Championships and J111 Nationals within the regatta. The sailing includes dinghy racing on the River Dart and yacht racing out in Start Bay. We will be filming from drones and photography boats so that you will be able to see both video and stills action from out on the water at the club or when in town. We will be using the MarkSetBot remote control marks again on both the outer and middle courses. The “Bots” help improve the accuracy of the racing while lowering our environmental impact by reducing fuel usage and not damaging the seabed.

The Regatta is one of the oldest in the UK being first held in 1822. Royal Assent from H.M. Queen Victoria was received in 1856 and it has been a premier event in the yachting calendar ever since. Set in some of the most picturesque coastline in the British Isles, the natural harbour of the River Dart and the wide expanse of Start Bay bring competitors from all over the UK to take part in these outstanding yacht and dinghy racing events. Our charter stipulates that the Regatta must include the last Friday in August and in 2025 the Sailing Week will run from Saturday 23^rd through to Saturday 30^th August. Due to the tides the Dittisham dinghies will race a little earlier from Sunday 17th to Wednesday 20^th August

Racing starts on Sunday 17th with the Moore Kingston Smith Dinghy Regatta at Dittisham Sailing Club up river from Dartmouth with prizegiving on Wednesday 20^th. The Junior Rockfish Regatta held at the Royal Dart Yacht Club in Kingswear runs from Saturday 23^rd to Monday 25^th with prize giving after racing on the Monday afternoon. Both venues are ideal for watching the racing so please come along and support the competitors. Yacht racing gets underway on Tuesday the 26^th with the traditional Savills Passage Race from Torbay to bring competitors around to Dartmouth. Yacht racing in Start Bay takes place from Wednesday 27^th to Saturday 30^th including the IRC SW Championships and J111 Nationals with the ever popular Salcombe Gin and Tonic deliveries to the racers as they return to harbour.

We are very aware that there are sailing families who like to take part in a competition but don’t want the hurly burly of racing starts so we have our “White Sail Event” on the Friday 29^th and Saturday 30^th of August. This is complemented by the Gaffers Regatta held at the same time.

All of this ambitious programme of racing and sailing would not be possible without the generous support of the many local and national businesses which sponsor the events. We appreciate the commitment these companies make which enable us to offer our competitors professionally run racing and great prizes. Please check our sponsors page and mention us if you use their services.

Our Regatta is run by volunteers from the three clubs who jointly manage the whole series of events and all of the considerable logistics of setting up and administering the programme. We thank them all – look out for them in Regatta week wearing polo shirts with the Dartmouth Royal Regatta Sailing Week logo and please show your appreciation when you see them.

Finally on behalf of all of us on the Joint Regatta Sailing Committee, we look forward to welcoming back all of our competitors and wish them the best of luck and close racing.

Peter Boote

Chairman, JRSC Dartmouth Royal Regatta Sailing Week