Adecco Maxi OD - Cowes Week Event Day 4

Real magic from the rainbow nation

COWES-Geoff Meek and the crew of the South African yacht Rainbow Magic scored a magnificent victory over a 25 mile double windward leeward course set in the Western Solent with a start and finish at the Royal Yacht Squadron line. It was the fourth of five races in Cowes Week, the penultimate event of the Adecco World Championship for the Maxi-One-Design class.

Meek is now tied on points in this event with the series leader, Ludde Ingvall in Skandia (EUR); both have two wins and a second place to their credit, so that all will be settled in the final race tomorrow. The day after that, the eight boat fleet of Maxi-One-Designs will set off on the 605 mile Fastnet Race, the final event of the Adecco World Championship.

Meek's victory was a consummate one. He and his crew displayed a complete domination of the opposition - their winning margin was two minutes, a huge amount in the 15-20 knot south-westerly breeze - and they appeared to have speed to spare. Certainly, they came from behind Skandia on the first beat and were never again headed.

It was a day for the Maxi-One-Designs to show their paces and they lost no time in doing so, even when they had to thread their way through the other classes racing in Cowes Week. They presented a magnificent spectacle and were giving their crews a great deal of enjoyment. Jan Carendi, the Chairman of the Skandia Group, who was aboard the yacht he has sponsored, said, 'It was super - all the way.'

He had the opportunity to experience some of the downside of sailing when Skandia grounded. Carendi hit his head on some rigging and he said, 'I did try the ultimate sacrifice of spilling my blood, but we couldn't catch the South Africans.'

Ingvall had found one of the small rock plateaus on the mainland shore off Beaulieu, where the chart does not give too much detail. 'What annoyed me,' Ingvall said, 'was that the South Africans and the Kiwis carried on inshore of where I had gone aground and were in enough water.' It was pointed out to him that it happens all the time, even to those who race here regularly.

It was halfway through the first beat that Rainbow Magic went into the lead and carried on to stretch away from the rest. She was 20 seconds ahead of Skandia at the first mark with Hans Bouscholte's Synphony another five seconds back. Then came Gunnar Krantz' Team Henri-Lloyd (SWE), Le Defi Bouygues Telecom -Transiciel (FRA) skippered by Jimmy Pahun, Ross Field's RF Yachting (NZL), Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghimax (SUI) and Seac Banche (ITA) skippered by Guido Maisto.

After the long run to the East Lepe buoy, the order was still the same and all went to the mainland shore to cheat the foul tidal current, except for the Swiss, who crossed to the Island shore, and lost out as a result. They were last to round the buoy off Yarmouth the second time. Rainbow Magic had increased her lead to 1:30 as she rounded that mark while Skandia was keeping a watching brief on Synphony, Le Defi Bouygues Telecom - Transiciel and RF Yachting.

On the long run back to the finish, RF Yachting overtook the French and Rainbow Magic extended her lead to two minutes. 'It has got to be the grinders,' said Meek when asked to what he attributed his success. 'They never give up and neither do the guys on the runner winches - they have a really hard job each time we tack.' He also pointed to the local talent on board, saying, 'Julian Salter and Neal McDonald are doing a great job with the navigation and tactics, and that helped us greatly.'

Finishing order:
Race four:

1. RSA  Rainbow Magic  Geoff Meek
2. EUR  Skandia  Ludde Ingvall
3. BEL  Synphony  Hans Bouscholte
4. NZL  RF Yachting  Ross Field
5. FRA  Le Defi Bouygues Telecom - Transiciel  Jimmy Pahun
6. ITA  Seac Banche  Guido Maisto
7. SWE  Team Henri-Lloyd  Gunnar Krantz
8. SUI  Alinghimax  Ernesto Bertarelli

Overall points with one discard:

1. EUR  28
2. RSA  28
3. BEL  19.5
4. NZL  17.3
5. FRA  17
6. SUI  13
7. SWE  8
8. ITA  7