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Victory Class Prizegiving 2025, the bigger picture(s)!

​A colourful and cheerful night at Portsmouth Sailing Club on Saturday as the Class presented the season’s trophies to helm and crew from a wide cross section of the Victory Fleet. Expertly coordinated by Class Racing Secretary Mark Briggs, with the feeding and watering that followed in the capable hands of Social Secretary Mike Ellison, there were a lot of happy sailors by the end of the evening.

​Amongst others, Richard Burns, winner of the first Crews Race in Z80 Shearwater, and Adrian Parnell, winner of the second Crews Race in Z74 Peregrine collected their prizes. Z75 Zilch, Z79 Zada and Z78 Ziva had their hands full as three of the most consistent winners, and Z74 Peregrine collected the Beazely Trophy for Cowes Week overall… as well as others too numerous to list as the standout boat of the season. Congratulations to them all!

The evening is also an occasion to recognise those who support the running of the class, and Class Captain John Scammell was delighted to present the Don Metcalf Memorial trophy to Phillip Jones from Portsmouth Sailing Club who unfailingly supports the class in so many ways.

The Captains Decanter is presented by the Class Captain to a member who has made a particular contribution to the class and been supportive above and beyond. As the final presentation of the evening it was an emotional moment for all concerned as Maxine Reeves received the decanter for exceptional support over the last 12 months and indeed for her support and participation over many years.

A full set of photos from the evening can be viewed at the following address ==> https://dixong1.smugmug.com/Victory-Class/Prizegiving-2025

Geoff Dixon’s avatar 24-Nov-2025 By Geoff Dixon in Social

Victory Class Prizegiving 2025

​Behind the blue door….. the Victory Class met to celebrate its 91st season in 2025 with a prizegiving at its spiritual home of Portsmouth Sailing Club. Spirits, beer and wine flowed on Saturday night as those with trophies to collect were recognised and cheered by their fellow sailors. None more so then the winner of the coveted Beazley Trophy for Cowes Week overall, Z74 Peregrine, winning for a second year after a gap in 2024… Duncan, Tom and Adrian had plenty of reasons to raise a glass.

​More photos to follow…......

Geoff Dixon’s avatar 21-Nov-2025 By Geoff Dixon in Social

Victory Class 90th Anniversary Prizegiving Dinner

On a dark and stormy night…..The Victory Class celebrated the highlights of its 90th year last night in the unique and historic surroundings of the Mary Rose Museum within the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

A fitting place to celebrate our 90 years of dayboat racing and class history, surrounded by 830 years of Naval presence, in the shadow of Nelsons ‘Victory’ and with the 500 year old hull of the ‘Mary Rose’ as a backdrop. The prizegiving for the 2024 season included the Beazley Trophy for overall Cowes Week presented to Russell Mead and “Shearwater”, the Don Metcalf Memorial Trophy presented to Mike Ellingson by the Directors for his support, and the Captains Decanter for services to the Class also to Russell Mead. We were joined by past class captains and Cowes Week winners for a memorable evening.

More Photographs to follow..

Geoff Dixon’s avatar 20-Nov-2024 By Geoff Dixon in Social