Mini Ton Cup at Island Sailing Club, Cowes - Preview
by Mathew Breese 18 Aug 2011 14:36 BST
20 August 2011
Sixteen Mini Tonners will gather on the start line this Saturday for the 2011 Mini Ton Cup hosted by the Island Sailing Club in Cowes.
This revised IOR class, now competing under IRC for the Mini Ton Cup or the Island Sailing Club Rating System for the Solent Trophy, contains several boats who have had success this year in other events but the Mini Ton Cup will be only the second time that they have raced each other in numbers (the previous occasion being the wind lashed Round the Island Race in June).
In IRC, Shallot, Eric Reynold’s Evolution 22 currently holds the title and also won the Kemp Sails Mini Tonner Trophy in the RTIR, however they will expect strong competition from Olly Bewes’ Sonata High Note which secured the Sonata Salver in the RTIR for the second successive year and last won her class at Cowes Week.
David Cowell’s Eskymo is enjoying a successful year and will challenge at the front of the fleet, as will the evergreen Evo 22 Glass Onion.
Ten different designs make up the fleet. Jeremy Everett, who is expected to crew on Shallot, will have the novelty of racing against four other boats that he designed as Glass Onion is joined by three E-boats although a glance at the handicaps reveals that they have radically different sail plans, with George Beevor and Will Roper’s Roughian rating 0.821 whilst Robert Weguelin’s Egor is as low as 0.807. Tim Reynold’s Mr Muddle has the E-boat Offshore One Design sail plan and rates 0.817.
The Rob Humphreys one off Shamm, skippered by John Codner, will hope to be among the contenders for line honours but the winner could come from anywhere.
The Limbo 6.6s have a boat in each class, with Matt Atkins’ Fuzzy’s Rush competing under IRC and Andrew Bell’s Eau de Vie in IRSC where a second Sonata, Tiger Rag (Mark Kenworth) is joined by Rowan Horner’s locally build Harrier Meg.
The racing will start in the central Solent with one race around a set course and a number of windward/lewards, ensuring there is something for everyone. The prize giving will take place at the Island Sailing Club on Saturday evening.