Torbay Royal Regatta 2025

The club are once again looks forward to the welcoming sailors from around the country to this popular regatta, one of the oldest such events in the country. Regatta time has been a highlight of the summer season in Torquay for over 200 years and was the first yachting regatta in the country to be granted royal patronage. Since the Napoleonic Wars, leisure sailors have been competing in yacht races held in Torbay. However, the annual regatta had been running for 50 years, before a formal body was organised that would eventually take over the running of local maritime affairs. On 19th August 1863, twenty-three gentlemen, under the chairmanship of Sir Lawrence Palk, (Lord of the Manor) founded the Torbay and South Devon Club, initially for social rather than sailing purposes, then purchased premises on Beacon Hill (now the home of RTYC). The Torquay Yacht Club, with Sir Lawrence Palk as Commodore, was formed in 1875 and immediately obtained a warrant from Queen Victoria to become the Royal Torquay Yacht Club. This name was amended to the present-day Royal Torbay Yacht Club following a merger of the yacht club with the Torbay and South Devon Club in 1885.