On this day in Yorkshire 1930

The Easter Regatta of the Bradford Model Yacht and Power Boat Club commenced on Saturday on the Yeadon Moor Dam under the most adverse weather conditions imaginable.

The first contest was for the Bradford Cup and boats had been entered from all parts of tho United Kingdom.

Six “ runs” were completed, and the remaining five will be sailed to-day.

Yeadon Dam, well known as a skating centre, is situated at an altitude of nearly 700 ft. above sea level, and on Saturday morning the competitors arrived to find a full gale lashing the water into foam.

So fierce was the wind that large waves were driven right over the new ornamental promenade that has been erected by Yeadon Urban Council at one end of the reservoir.

Conditions were extraordinarily bleak, and the wind was accompanied a continuous downpour of rain. As a spectacular attraction the competition was utterly spoiled, and apart from the model yachtsmen themselves, very few people were present.

The conditions were so bad in the early morning that Mr. E. H. Thompson (officer for the day) delayed the start of the contest until 11 o’clock.

An attempt was then made to launch the boats, but after single “run” up and down the dam, racing was again cancelled until after lunch.

When the contest was resumed at two o’clock in the afternoon there was an appreciable improvement the conditions, although the wind still reached half a gale, and the rain still persisted.

Mr. Thompson paid tribute the sportsmanship of the yachtsmen, and said they were all heroes to “ stick to it.”

The conditions provided a severe test of craft worthiness, and the boats stood up to the angry buffeting of wind and water remarkably well, although in tho first “ run” the day one of the Bradford boats, Desiree, owned and sailed by Mr. R.B. Roche, got into difficulties.

Mr. Roche was unable to effect the necessary repairs in time to take the water again, and consequently his boat was automatically disqualified, and the points for and against were deleted.

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