Leisure Owners Association 1982-2026

The EDYC Leisure 17 Big Weekend 2026

EDYC Leisure 17 Big Weekend 2026

My First Regatta

Even weeks before the big event, I was terribly excited – my first regatta ever, and on a Leisure 17 that the East Down Yacht Club (EDYC) would thankfully lend me.

With a co-sailor from Hamburg whom I hardly knew (whom a dear colleague had introduced to me) – but who, unlike me, already has real regatta experience, albeit on dinghies.

And this in a demanding area that I only knew from a distance and from a dinghy – namely Strangford Lough – and a tidal area at that.

But it is a region of extraordinary beauty, as is explicitly noted on every map – something I would immediately endorse. Lush green meadows partly reach the shore, the water is amazingly clear, charming villages and avenues – the surroundings alone are a reason to travel to this region.

My goal for the regattas was clear: don't drown and don't damage the boat.

But then everything turned out much, much better than I had imagined in my fears. The boat is named "Minstrel," and I have since understood that it refers to a small round chocolate sweet – exactly the right name for a Leisure 17!

The EDYC had given us two days to practice before the "Big Leisure 17 Weekend" to get to know the area a bit – perfect.

A well-intentioned piece of advice before the races was: always orient yourselves by the L17 with the blue hull – that one will definitely be way ahead.

And that's exactly what happened – Matthew Patterson with "Little Boat" was actually always so far ahead that we could barely see his stern in the white spray.

I'm not revealing any secrets when I say that our results from four regattas were disastrous.

Actually we were always somehow the last of twelve boats, but that didn't diminish our joy in the bright sunshine, sometimes even with force five winds and full sails, zipping through the wonderful area.

A pity only for "Minstrel," which had to experience the regatta field from the opposite end this year – after all, the brave Leisure 17 with John Patterson at the helm had secured an impressive victory last year.

I learned a lot – for example, that you can of course hike out (trapeze)on the hull of an L17 to trim the boat properly.

Also that most L17s here have significantly smaller engines than in Germany – and yet cope excellently in tidal waters.

And that most boats in the club do not have winches and, according to the owners' unanimous statements, don't actually need any – amazing!

The tidal range of several meters at Strangford Lough is always impressive – at low tide, only a narrow channel remained on the way back to the buoy.

Furthermore, it was wonderful to meet another British friend from Facebook for the first time – I almost bought a Sunspot 15 from him once, which is famously the L17's little sister.

On Sunday evening, the Big Leisure 17 Weekend came to a warm conclusion with a joint dinner and awards ceremony in the cozy EDYC clubhouse – and a very important speech by Alan Jennings, in which he drew a wide arc from the joys of sailing with friends to the threatening loneliness in a world that seems to turn faster and faster – and how important friends are, especially in light of this development.

My explicit thanks also go once again to Stephen Perry, who organized it in the first place and made our participation in this lifelong dream possible.

The next Big Leisure 17 Weekend at Strangford Lough is planned for 2028, and I will do everything I can to be part of this great event again.

Ulrike Ufer (Stella Maris)

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