2003 Industry Sailing Challenge Overall

The winning Williams Formula 1 boat at the Industry Sailing Challenge 2003 © Hamo Thornycroft

WILLIAMS FORMULA ONE TEAM WIN INDUSTRY SAILING CHALLENGE 2003

In their first ever attempt to win the prestigious Industry Sailing Challenge, the Williams Formula 1 team triumphed over 13 other competitors to take the chequered flag in this highly competitive annual event held over the weekend of 19th and 20th July.

Sailed in identical Sunsail 37 yachts, each of the 14 teams had to get through a tough series of four challenge rounds to reach the final, which included a number of previous winners from recent years.

All crewed up and ready to go the crews left Port Solent at 0915 hours in near perfect sailing conditions, with a steady southerly force 3.

The first of the inshore races commenced at 1115 hours with Clive Vaughan, Principal Race Officer laying a good starting line, ably assisted by Bob Milner, International Judge & Race Officer from the Royal London Yacht Club. Chris Satchwell, Race Director, was on hand to ensure smooth progress through the day.

First Inshore Race

As the one-minute gun sounded much activity surrounded the committee boat with the yachts jostling for position at the start before tacking on to port to lee bow the tide and head towards the first mark at Peel Bank. Ricardo, skippered by Gary Farrow, enjoyed a near perfect start and almost immediately tacked to port. They were closely followed by the second Ricardo team skippered by Paul Mcnamara, RCP Consultants skippered by Vanessa Richards and Dupont skippered by Mark Williams. These four boats were the first to tack and immediately broke away from the rest of the fleet.

The leg from Peel Bank to Marsh saw a change of position with the Ricardo now trailing and UBS Warburg taking first place, but there was still a long way to go…At the finish, Deloitte Consulting skippered by Tom Davidson was first across the line followed by Ricardo and UBS Warburg a close third.

A challenging race which saw the first boats home with only six minutes to spare inside the 2 hour time limit and some anxious faces from the committee.

Second Inshore Race

A slightly different course for the second race with the first leg to Peel Bank and then back to the line, then once again to Peel Bank then to Browndown before heading for the finishing line.

First away was Foster Wheeler Energy skippered by Justin Alexander, with a flying start but Williams F1 came back hard and took an early lead and held on to it, closely followed by Dupont, skippered by Mark Williams.

This was to set the pattern for rest of the race, with some keen competition but the Williams F1 crew were finally victorious. Second home was Dupont and third, Foster Wheeler Energy.

Final race around The Isle of Wight

The final race commenced at 1630 hrs from the Royal London YC line with a strong westerly tide. It was a good, clean start with no-one over the line.

RCP Consultants skippered by Vanessa Richards were first away. They were closely followed by Innogy, skippered by Alan Moore. UBS Warburg chose to start from inside Cowes Harbour away from the tide. A thrilling battle commenced only to be brought to a halt when the wind died at Gurnard Point and the boats were all struggling for steerage. About 10 minutes later the wind picked up from the south west and the Sony Vaio team were just in the right place and took off – not far behind were Innogy, Williams F1 and Ricardo .

Once around the Needles, Team Innogy made a wrong decision and took the inside passage to keep out of the tide - and the wind!

Later on that night the Race Committee reluctantly decided, with little to no wind or progress, to shorten the course at Bembridge Ledge Buoy and finish the race there.

However, as the leaders approached the Bembridge Ledge Buoy the wind increased from the south east and the finishing line was changed again for Peel Bank. The first yacht to cross the line was Williams F1 at 02.38.44 on Sunday morning.

Once again Industry Sailing Challenge 2003 has been a huge success and Sunsail is delighted to see that not only do teams return time and time again to pit their sailing skills against one another but that new teams also succeed.

The Williams Formula 1 crew each win a one week Sunsail Caribbean holiday after their superb effort to get to the final and then defeat all the opposition.

Overall Results:

1st Williams F1 - Tim Newton
2nd Ricardo 1- Paul Mcnamara
3rd Deloitte Consulting - Tom Davidson
4th Dupont – Mark Williams
5th UBS Warburg – Tom Hill
6th Innogy – Alan Moore
7th RCP Consultants – Vanessa Richards
8th Balfour Beatty – Bill Stean
9th = Linpac Automotive – Frank Durkoop
9th = Smith & Nephew – Jim Dick
9th = Sony Vaio – Colin Boyd
12th Brocklehurst Architects 13th Foster Wheeler Energy
14th Ricardo 2 – Gary Farrow

More Information:

• Industry Sailing Challenge website