Historic Queen's Cup awarded at Cowes
by Michael Ford 8 Aug 2016 13:49 BST
8 August 2016
The Royal Southampton Yacht Club Commodore, second left, shows off the Queen's Cup trophy to winner Tonnerre © Michael Ford
One of the most significant trophies in sailing, Royal Southampton Yacht Club's Queen's Cup was awarded to veteran Dutch sailor Piet Vroon and his sailing team on Tonnere on the opening day of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.
The historic cup was first presented to the Club by Queen Victoria in 1897 to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee with the express wish that it would be raced for at opening day the of the world famous Cowes Regatta.
Since then it has been traditionally competed for on the first Saturday of the Cowes Week Regatta and this year was presented to Piet Vroon and Team Tonnerre at a special ceremony at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes by Royal Southampton Commodore, Brian Hinde.
Tonnerre 4 emerged as the winner of Class Zero for the big yachts in the day's racing.
But it is the first time in many years that this magnificent gold cup was awarded to the winner at Cowes Week rather than at the Royal Southampton Yacht Club annual prizegiving later in the year.
As a priceless trophy, RSYC keep the Cup closely guarded so it was a delight for Cowes organisers to have it presented in Cowes.
With such a glittering prize up for grabs, competition in Class 0 on the opening day of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week was intense. Last year Michael Bartholomew and his team on the GP42 Tokoloshe II took the honours. Although Bartholomew is now racing in the Fast40+ fleet and therefore unable to defend his Queen's Cup title, there were 11 boats in with a chance of taking the honours including Piet Vroon's Kerr 51 Tonnerre.
Team Tonnerre is led by the veteran skipper and owner and his sailing squad is made up from around 35 international sailors who race on board Tonnerre.
Piet himself, a veteran of 25 Fastnet races and over 50 years of offshore yacht racing leads the team of international sailors at various events around the world. Team Tonnerre is made up of a mix of talented amateur and professional sailors with experience ranging from the Figaro, Volvo Ocean Yacht Race, Match Racing and Grand Prix yacht racing circuits. Tonnerre 4 (Ker 51) is a replacement for Tonnerre de Breskens 3 (Ker 46) which enjoyed success in major offshore and inshore events.