Major sailing trophy on display at Isle of Wight yacht club

Saturday, August 17, marked the official opening of the annual Folkboat Week.

Hosted and organised by the Royal Solent Yacht Club (RSYC), the event saw 39 three-man vessels from the south coast race in the western Solent across six days.

A welcoming party for competing crews on Saturday evening saw the Yarmouth club presented with the most coveted trophy in Folkboat racing.

Competitors have raced annually for the Gold Cup since 1963, bar one year during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Unusually for a yacht racing trophy, it is awarded to the triumphant boat’s yacht club, not the winning boat’s skipper and crew.

From left, RSYC Commodore Martyn Collinson, Bella Donald, Andy Baker and Madeleine Donald. (Image: RSYC)

At this year’s Gold Cup held in Halmstad on Sweden’s west coast, 52 teams from Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Sweden, and five boats from the UK, raced hard between July 6 and 12.

Historically, the event has been dominated by the Danes, with 38 Gold Cup victories.

British Folkboats came close to Gold Cup glory in 2017 but had never won – until this 2024.

Chairman of the UK Folkboat Association, Kim Morley, and RSYC Commodore Martyn Collinson. (Image: RSYC)

Going into the final day of racing, any of four boats could have clinched the prize, but Folkboat GBR808 Isobella, racing under the Royal Solent Yacht Club burgee, took first place.

The vessel’s crew comprised John Wulff at the helm, Ed Donald and Cameron Tweedle.

At the official presentation of the Gold Cup on Saturday evening, Ed Donald was represented by his daughters, Bella and Maddie, and by Lymington-based boatbuilder Andy Baker of Baker Marine who built Isobella.

GBR 808 Isobella at the Gold Cup 2024. (Image: Daniel Stenholm.)

The presentation was made to Martyn Collinson, commodore of the RSYC, by Ed’s daughters, alongside the president of the UK Folkboat Association, Graham Coulter, and chairman Kim Morley.