Yachts and Yachting Write up, 707’s

Scarborough Yacht Club and 707 Association offer opportunity to Leeds University students

by Rudi Barman 23 Jan 13:08 GMT19 January 2020

 Scarborough YC and Hunter 707 SA collaboration provides new experiences for Leeds University students © SYC

Scarborough Yacht Club and the Hunter 707 Sailing Association have given students from Leeds University Sailing Club a fantastic opportunity to sail in the SYC winter series in an exciting 707 keelboat. The uni team will race sailing yacht Miss Moneypenny against local sailing crews in five races over the next three months in a one-design fleet where every boat is identical.

This is a new project made possible by the 707 Association through lending a boat to SYC to encourage youth participation and sailing progression in the club and the 707 fleet.

Local accommodation provider Boatshed Hostel on Quay Street just off the harbour have sponsored the boat, and have been fantastically supportive providing free accommodation for five uni sailors each weekend of the race. To get race-ready the University team practiced on Miss Moneypenny in South Bay on the previous day.

The 707 race itself ran at the same time as the more general SYC and IRC Class races, sharing the same waters, but with their own back-and-forth windward/leeward course, sailing 3 laps between the No3 and the Tetrahedron Buoy A, a traditional racing style for this very competitive class. Observation was crucial as the waters were crowded at times with yachts going in opposite directions; a collision would have had consequences.

Our Leeds University Sailing Club (LUSC) participants were: From top left – James Allison (mainsail), Samay Mellor (Pit), Nick Murphy (Bow), from bottom left – Katie Spencer (Jib) and Harry Tilling (Skipper).

Scarborough YC and Hunter 707 SA collaboration provides new experiences for Leeds University students – photo © SYC

LUSC’s James Allison commented: “The whole team really enjoyed joining up to race along side SYC for the first time this weekend! I’d be very surprised if you’d caught any of us without a smile. Glorious sunshine made for two very enjoyable days on the water with favourable winds. Two members of the team had never set foot on a 707 prior to the weekend so a few mistakes we’re almost inevitable! But with more practice I am confident we can move up the fleet in the coming months. We aim to offer this opportunity to newer members of the club and hope they all enjoy it as much as we did. Many thanks to SYC and the boat shed hostel for putting us up for the night.”

Scarborough is one of the few clubs in the U.K. to race throughout winter. Cold temperatures, strong winds and rough seas prove for challenging conditions. Nevertheless this series is the most popular with local crews as the excitement is high and the sailing is fun. Adding our 707 participants to the IRC and SYC Class participants meant we had 21 boats and 79 skippers and crew on the water on Sunday which is an excellent Winter turn out.

707 results:

1. Black Sheep, owned by Steve Parker and Tom Clark
2. A Grand Day Out, owned by Steve Braham and Richard Littlewood
3. Humdinger, owned by Ralph Pickard and Gary Walker
4. Miss Moneypenny, owned by 707 Association – sailed by LUSC