RORC Cowes Dinard-St Malo Race
by Louay Habib 12 Jul 2015 13:58 BST
10-12 July 2015
François Lognoné's French MC 34, Nutmeg Solidaire En Peloton in the Cowes Dinard-St Malo Race © Paul Wyeth / RORC
Record breaking run to St Malo
With two new race records and the largest RORC fleet for nearly two years, the Cowes Dinard-St Malo Race was nothing short of sensational. Tony Lawson's British MOD 70, Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, completed the 151 mile course in an elapsed time of 9 hours 12 minutes and 35 seconds, setting a new multihull race record. Mike Slade's 100ft Maxi, Leopard celebrated an emphatic destruction of the monohull record, bettering the time set by Leopard in 2008 by over two hours. François Lognoné's MC 34, Nutmeg Solidaire En Peloton was the overall winner, scoring the best corrected time under IRC in a magnificent fleet.
RORC Chief Executive, Eddie Warden Owen, congratulated Team Concise after the race. Concise 10 skipper Ned Collier Wakefield commented. "We blasted up the Solent reaching at 28 knots and the speed continued across the Channel with the boat sitting at 26 knots, the wind speed didn't go over 15 knots but the key to the record run was flat water, where the MOD 70 is at its best. Just north of Guernsey, there was a bit of a light patch and we put a couple of gybes in. However the breeze was more than forecast from Guernsey to the finish and the boat speed was back up to the high twenties, so it was an exciting finish. Team Concise was set up about nine years ago and we have been racing in the Class 40 fleet, so this is a step up from that. We will be training for the Fastnet over the coming weeks including the Yacht Squadron Bicentenary Round the Island Race, then after the Fastnet; the RORC Transat and the '600 – the Caribbean is going to be a lot of fun in this boat!"
Mike Slade's British Farr 100 Maxi, Leopard took monohull line honours in an elapsed time of 11 hours 57 minutes and 53 seconds, smashing their own previous race record by over two hours.
"I just love this race and to break our record by such a substantial margin was both very satisfying and a bit of a surprise" commented Mike Slade. "The wind held out better than expected and the Leopard crew worked hard to keep up the pace. A lot of this team has been together for over 20 years and you need that teamwork to get you through the difficult moments and to capitalise on the highs. Why do I love this race? Well I have done more than a dozen; it is a just the right length and St Malo is a wonderful place to finish, simple as that really."
The overall winner, racing in an IRC fleet of 156 yachts was François Lognoné's French MC 34, Nutmeg Solidaire En Peloton. Géry Trentesaux's French JPK 10.80, Courrier Du Leon was second with sister ship, Dream Pearls, owned by Arnaud Delamare and Eric Mordret, and sailed by Christian Maby, placing third by just 37 seconds after time correction.
François Lognoné lifted the prestigious King Edward VII Trophy and it was a sweet victory for François. Last year racing his J/122, the Frenchman from St Malo, was second in class and overall.
"This year we have a new boat, which is fantastic." commented François. "I have won the race overall once before, in 1998, and at that time my son was just 11 years old. Now Corentin is the navigator on board and in charge of the boat, I am so proud to win with my son in our home town. We will have a great celebration at the the SNB de St Malo tonight, I have waited 17 years to win the trophy for the second time."
There were notable performances right through the fleet, none more so than Griff Rhys Jones' British S&S 57 classic yawl, Argyll, which was the winner of IRC Four and 4th overall. In IRC Two-Handed, three British teams, all racing J/105s, filled the podium. Alex Adams and Chris Holliman on Voador won the class from Jester, sailed by Kelvin Rawlings and Stuart Childerley. Nick Martin's Diablo-J was third. In IRC Zero, Windward Sailing's British CM60, Venomous, sailed by Derek Saunders, scored a notably victory over Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 51, Tonnerre 4. Richard Loftus' Swan 65, Desperado of Cowes, made a winning return to RORC racing taking IRC One by under two minutes on corrected time from Stewart Whitehead and Jeff Blue's Carkeek 40, Rebellion. Past RORC Commodore Mike Greville, racing Ker 39 Erivale III was third. In the Class40 Division there was more joy for Team Concise. The nine-strong Class40 Division was won by Concise8, skippered by Jack Trigger and crewed by an all-British team under 25.
Racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club continues inshore with the IRC National Championship from 17- 19 July, held in the Solent. The RORC Season's Points Championship continues on August 1st with the Channel Race, the penultimate race before the Rolex Fastnet Race.
For full results of the Cowes Dinard-St Malo Race visit www.rorc.org