Classic Channel Regatta chairman wins French Class Yacht Owner of the Year award.

The founder and chairman, local classic sailor Bruce Thorogood, has been awarded the 2018 Classic Yacht Owner of the Year award for France’s Channel and Atlantic sea areas.

He received the award due to his contribution to classic sailing through the continued success of the Classic Channel Regatta which he founded in 2005.

The award is one of three Neptune Awards, made annually by the Comité des Organisateurs de Régates Classiques in France. This also includes the classic yacht owner in the Mediterranean and the young crew of the year.

Bruce was awarded the ‘Neptune de l’Armateur pour Manche-Atlantique’ after a joint decision by the Yacht Club Classique based in La Rochelle and the Atlantic Yacht Club in Douarnenez. This is the first time a Neptune award has been given to a foreigner.

Upon granting the award, the organisation said: “We have decided, with enthusiasm, that the Neptune of the Manche-Atlantique Owner should be presented to Bruce Thorogood, thanking him for his efforts for the repeated success of the Channel Classic Regatta, an emblematic event of the Channel.”

Bruce received the award at a dinner at the Yacht Club de France in Paris on Saturday, December 15.

Upon accepting the award, he said he felt “honoured and humbled” to receive the award, especially as the first foreigner to receive one.

He thanked all the volunteers in both Britain and France who have worked tirelessly with him to make the Classic Channel Regatta the great success it is today.

Bruce is a local yachtsman who used to live and run a business in Dartmouth before moving to Staverton a few years ago. He owns and sails the 42ft wooden classic yacht, Mabel, built in 1966 which is currently wintering at Baltic Wharf Boatyard in Totnes.

The Comité des Organisateurs de Régates Classiques includes the Yacht Club de France, the Yacht Club Classique, the Atlantic Yacht Club, Association Française des Yachts de Tradition and Yacht Club de l’Île-de-France.  

The 2019 Classic Channel Regatta will be starting in Dartmouth with two days of racing on the weekend of June 29 to 30, before the Classic Channel Race will depart from St Helier on July 1.

There are around 100 classic yachts expected from around Britain, France, Belgium and other countries in Dartmouth.

This will include the French Navy’s training yachts called Mutin and La Grande Hermine.

The regatta is the second largest sailing event in the town, apart from the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta.