RS Elites at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week Day 7
by Martin Wadhams 12 Aug 2011 22:52 BST
6-13 August 2011
Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week 2011 came to its conclusion today for the RS Elite fleet. Today saw 10-12 knots of wind and the fleet were sent out to the West Solent. After a closely fought beat to the windward mark the fleet reached along the Beaulieu shore, where they played 'cat and mouse' weaving in and out of the shallows. Ciao Bella, sailed by Mike Tong, Peter Wareham and Richard Curties crept ahead with Mike's uncanny knowledge of the shoreline edging them ahead of the pursuing fleet.
A five-mile beat followed with Ciao Bella consolidating their lead, leaving the pursuing boats to fight it out for the next few places on the spinnaker leg that followed. Ciao Bella's winning gun was a well-deserved prize, especially after Mike's unscheduled swim during the race yesterday. Paul Fisk in RSsailing.com finished the week with another strong result in second place. Closely following behind were Steve Powell's E'Tu who, with Aeolus, were playing dodgems with the rest of the White Group finishers making their way along the shore back to the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line.
The final points today saw RSsailing.com, who had the helm shared between Martin Wadhams and Paul Fisk, confirm their status as Cowes Week Champions with an outstanding set of results. Second overall were the Brown family in Aeolus, with only 2 points separating them from third placed E'Tu, helmed by Alistair 'Buzz' Keck.
The Brown family’s success in Cowes following their recent Nationals win confirms that they are the RS Elite Grand Slam Champions 2011.
The RS Elites have enjoyed a week of amazing racing in fantastic, albeit challenging, conditions at times. Not only that but the social events this week have seen the Elite crews partying almost as hard as they sailed.
Cowes Week 2012 will be a great pre-cursor to the RS Elite National Championships, being held at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes two weeks after. Let's hope our experiences this week will encourage more visiting Elites to attend this prestigious and unique sailing regatta.