Sprite 2023 Season

Sprite Week took place in the middle of June with ten boats competing for the Heron Cup.  The week at times saw boats drifting backwards and at others caused our masts to bend it like Beckham!  The weather gods truly tested everyone’s skill as well as their nerve.  Chris Briggs and Dave Banfield won in Ceres; with Matt Ogburn winning the Crews Race in Djinn.   It’s always lovely to see so many colourful boats and sailors enjoying the close racing out on the river and comradery over tea and cake onshore.  Next year sees the fleet’s 90^th year so we will be again hosting the World Championships during Sprite Week (first week of June).

Club Week saw nine boats out with some really close racing during another week that offered up assorted winds.  Hilary Gallo borrowed Troll and won the Terry Cup using a different member of his family each day. The Regatta race was rather blowy so we were down to eight and Marcus Gallo and Matt Ogburn won the Marks Cup in Djinn.

Across the rest of the season we raced a further four class series that saw a mixed bag of entrants and results.  The end of season Barbrook Trophy was the most competitive with five boats across seven races.  With a win in the last race of the season Martin Scarth and Trisha Parker took the series in Jack O’Lantern.  For the Gray Cup, Copland Cup, and Calamity Cup we had some great racing in what has been a year of challenging conditions.  A special mention must also be made to Chris Briggs and Dave Banfield winning the ‘all in’ Diamond Jubilee Series in Ceres.

For anyone interested in sailing a Sprite there are a few options on offer – crews are often needed and there are a couple of Sprites for sale currently.  Since being back a few seasons I find Sprite racing great fun, I’m learning from some of the best sailors on the river, and it’s some of the closest racing I’ve ever experienced. 

This year marks the end of David Nichols’s tenure as class captain but we hope to see Troll out racing next year and thank David for helping the Sprite fleet to flourish and thrive as we turn our attention to celebrating 125 years of the BSC and 90 years of Blackwater Sprites.