The iconic Sunbeam class dayboat is celebrating 100 years of racing in Falmouth harbour this week.

A week of activities is planned for today (Monday, August 5) to this Saturday (August 10).

Local boats will be joined by ten visitors from the Solent fleet based at Itchenor Sailing Club on Chichester Harbour, and one absentee Falmouth boat currently based in Salcombe.

Two of the boats from the Solent, identifiable by their sail insignia “V6” and “V25”, are original Falmouth boats from 1924. Other original boats taking part are “V18” and “V38” (numbers are no indication of the age of a boat!).

From Monday to Wednesday there will be afternoon “fun” racing in the Carrick Roads, starting at 1pm and roaming the estuary. Each day the race will end at one of the clubs with a long association with the class – St Mawes, Royal Cornwall and Flushing respectively.

Flushing Sailing Club has the distinction of holding the first ever race on Saturday, May 31,1924 after racing at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club on the preceding Wednesday afternoon was cancelled because of bad weather.

On Tuesday the race will finish at Trefusis Point and boats will line up at approximately 3.30pm for a grand parade of sail taking them around a mark off Custom House Quay then up the fairway to the Royal Cornwall.

From Thursday to Saturday 28 boats will contest Falmouth’s annual open championships. This is the second largest fleet of Sunbeams ever assembled in Falmouth and will be an impressive sight in the bay, or within Carrick Roads in the weather is unsuitable for racing in the bay.

Three races per day are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and two on Saturday. The first race of the day is scheduled to start at 11am and is planned to last approximately one hour. Subsequent races will start as soon as possible after the end of the preceding race, and there should be something to see until mid-afternoon.

The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is currently displaying an exhibition about the history of the Falmouth Sunbeams.