Staunton Harold Anniversary Cup, Sunday 30th August - A Blustery Day of Close Racing

Published 13:49 on 31 Aug 2026

Twenty-one sailors gathered at Staunton Harold Sailing Club for the annual Anniversary Cup, greeted by a blustery Sunday with a good, steady breeze and, fortunately, no rain. The wind was in a favourable direction for much of the day, allowing race officer Charles to set three excellent courses.

The first race got underway cleanly, with Steve and Charlotte Graham in their Scorpion quickly establishing an early lead. They sailed an excellent race, gradually extending their advantage to take a convincing win. Whilst Nigel & Di Pepperdine, came second on the water, handicap times saw them bumped to 5th in the corrected results. Pete Gray, sailing his Streaker, was always in the mix, finishing second, followed by Matt Lathoud and Mark Harris in Laser full rigs - Matt just edging ahead of Mark by 0.01 of a second.

Next was a break for lunch, thanks to Reita and Liz for keeping everyone suitably fuelled.
Post lunch the wind had shifted slightly, so Charles set a straightforward windward/leeward course using almost the full length of the lake.

Race two produced a fascinating battle on the water between the Scorpion (Steve/ Charlotte) and Sam Jones in his RS400. Sam crossed the line first on the water, but the handicap results pushed him back to 10th. Meanwhile Pete Gray sailed a great race to finish first on handicap with Matt Lathoud and Mark Harris (Laser full rigs) taking 2nd and 3rd respectively and pushing Steve and Charlotte back to fourth.

Following a well-earned tea break — or whatever beverage was preferred — the fleet headed back out for the final race. With the wind had swinging back towards its original direction,a new course was set, which included a couple of tricky, tight reaches - very challenging for the spinnaker boats. Could they fly their kites? The answer was mostly yes, although discretion occasionally proved the better part of valour, with some crews dropping their spinnakers part-way along the reach or waiting until they had headed up slightly after the gybe.

Pete Gray was again on top form, taking another handicap victory, with Matt Lathoud second and Nigel and Diana Pepperdine third in their RS200 — their best result of the day. Steve and Charlotte also finished strongly, following Nigel and Diana across the line by a mere two seconds in the final battle.
With two race wins and a second, Pete Gray was the clear overall winner of the Anniversary Cup, finishing with an impressive scoreline of 2, 1, 1. Matt Lathoud took second overall in his Laser, while Steve and Charlotte Graham secured third. Mark Harris had an excellent fourth overall, counting only the first two races.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day's racing, with a good breeze, varied courses and plenty of close competition throughout the fleet. A huge thank you goes to Charles for setting three superb courses, as well as to the race team, rescue crews and everyone in the galley for making the day such a success.

At the prize giving, Pete thanked everyone for a great day's sailing and reminded the fleet that the Autumn Series starts next weekend — so there will be little time for those tired sailing limbs to recover!

For the full race results please go to:-

https://results.shsc.org.uk/shscresults/2026/anniversary.htm

Last updated 13:49 on 31 August 2026