Falmouth Town Regatta

Falmouth Town Regatta Committee continues a great tradition of racing at Falmouth. Unlike the other full members they do not have their own website and it would be wrong not to record a short note of their history on this site.

Falmouth Town Regatta is unique – it is not hosted by a club, but by a committee, which exists solely to stage the Champagne Day in Falmouth Week, August 12th 2009. The Committee is made up of local sailors most of whom are connected with the clubs, with the Mayor of Falmouth as the President.

Back in 1951, the late Lord Shawcross was competing against his friend Jack Silley.  The spirit of the competition was so keen that one day both friends broke away from the main race in which they were taking part, in order to informally settle the result between themselves.  The loser in good grace presented a case of champagne to the winner and so the Champagne Race was born.

In 1955 Philip Fox of GC Fox & Co, the then chairman, started the first official Champagne Race to be sailed under the Falmouth Town Flag, by donating a case of champagne as first prize.  Today the main race for the case of Champagne is on a coastal course of between 25 and 30 miles in length, and is the province of the larger keel boats, with first, second and third champagne prizes.  It provides the finale to Falmouth Week. 

We are very grateful to Marks & Spencer plc, who have sponsored the event for the last two years and enabled the Champagne prizes to be extended to all the other Falmouth Week classes.  Racing for the smaller keel boats and dinghies takes place in Falmouth Bay and Carrick Roads, with a bottle for the winner of each class.