Sunsail F40s at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week Overall

by Terry Hunt 9 Aug 2013 22:44 BST 3-9 August 2013

Sunsail F40 racing at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week © Rick Tomlinson / www.rick-tomlinson.com

What a week! Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week 2013 has yet again provided an amazing week of racing.

The second half of the regatta started off with some gentle breezes, here's what happened...

Day 5 (30 starters / 28 finishers)

Never a dull moment within the Sunsail F40 Class and the fleet were a little eager having not raced the day before and started a little too early causing the first general recall in Black Group at this stage of Cowes week.

At the second attempt and with the introduction of the Black Flag, the F40's tried again, however just after the start gun a second gun was fired denoting an individual recall....who were going to be the victims of the Black Flag?

The course for today in an ENE breeze would take them across to Royal Southern, downwind to Sevenstar Yacht Transport, up to Royal Thames, back downwind to Craft Insure and an upwind finish, a total of 15.1nm.

Early pace setters were Panic (4002), Simply (4019), Red Funnel 2 (4033), leading the fleet around the windward mark. The tide was set to play a big part in this race, especially as the forecast was for the breeze to drop as the afternoon went on. By 14.45, the leaders were rounding the final leeward mark and a small breakaway group of 4 boats were now fighting out to the finish.

PANIK (4002) and First Sailing (4020) had now broken away from the others and were now involved in a drag race to the finish with First Sailing crossing the line first, PANIK 2 minutes behind and Page Group (4023) pulling through to third just 22 seconds behind.

Red Funnel who are celebrating racing with Sunsail at Cowes Week for 20 years put in a good effort to make the podium but in the end finished 4th

In the end Coast Graphics (4018) sailed across the line to no sound and Simply (4019) knew they were DSQ'd and retired to the bar early!

This win for First Sailing also put them into first place overall in Black Group.

Race 5 Results: (top three)

1st – 4020N First Sailing 02:32:27
2nd – 4002N PANIK 02:34:38
3rd – 4023N Page Group 02:35:00

Day 6 (30 Starters / 26 finishers)

Another postponed start as the fleet awoke to a very clam sea and no wind.

Eventually the wind swung to the SW and the sea breeze gradually filled into to around 11 – 14kts. Whilst the big boats went off on their Artemis Challenge around the Isle of Wight, the Sunsail F40's were sent westwards on a 19nm trip down to Solent Bank, across to Aquaspec, back to South Bramble, to a laid mark off of Lee on Solent and a finish off the Shrape.

The fleet were set off at 2pm with an estimated finish for the leaders of 17:45...it was going to be along afternoon!

3 boats were recalled and deemed OCS – Deloitte 1 (4407), Red Funnel 1 (4011) and Schroders Alpha (4014).

Sailing upwind with the tide it was all about who made the most of the 1st leg and just shy of an hours upwind sailing the fleet reached the windward mark. Tactical decisions now came into play with a short reach across to the mainland to get out of the tide and to the second mark, but with the tide against the fleet, decisions on which course to take had to be made.

Leading after the gybe mark was 4027 Opal Transfer, followed by 4002 PANIK and 4005 Aberdeen Edinburgh.

Hugging the mainland coast down to South Bramble and the fleet started to spread out and then c lose in. PANIK (4002) made the right decision and lead at the final leeward mark followed by Simply (4019) and Opal Transfer Ltd (4027).

It was a straight forward upwind drag race to the finish. One of the big questions was where was First Sailing (4020) leaders of Black Group?

After nearly 3 hours of racing, Simply pulled through to take the gun followed be Deloitte 2 (4008) less than a minute behind, with Aberdeen Edinburgh (4005) again less than a minute behind.

First Sailing eventually came home in 9th place, enough to give them the win with a day to spare, but in twist at the end of the day, the accepted to retire due to a pending protest after sailing through a restricted area on the way back to the marina.

This now means that PANIK have to beat First Sailing by 10 place or more for them to have a chance of overhauling First Sailing for overall honours

Day 6 Results: (top three)

1st – 4019 Simply 02:52:39
2nd – 4008 Deloitte 2 02:53:35
3rd – 4005 Aberdeen Edinburgh 02:54:31

Day 7 (30 Starters / 30 finishers)

Final Friday, provided another great days racing with Bramblemet showing 12 – 16kts from the WNW at the start.

A clean start against the tide took the fleet across the Solent to Sevenstar Yacht Transport, early leads were 4027, Ainsworth Civils Engineering. 4002 PANIK and 4020 First Sailing seemed to be keeping each other within touching distance, with First Sailing just having to finish near PANIK to take overall honours.

After successive upwind and downwind legs across and down the Solent to Zwerver and then across to the final leeward mark, Elephant Boat Yard, it was then a downwind leg back up to the finish line off the Squadron.

4019 Simply and 4020 First Sailing had broken away and had a fairly healthy lead over the rest of the fleet and a drag race ensued between them to the finish with First Sailing taking their fourth bullet of the week from Simply who were just 20 seconds behind. Third went to 4002 PANIK.

Day 7 Results: (top three)

1st – 4020 First Sailing 03:02:50
2nd – 4019 Simply 03:03:10
3rd – 4002 PANIK 03:04:53

So after another fantastic week of extremely close racing we have our third different winner in as many years for the Sunsail F40 class.

Congratulations go to First Sailing, who at their first attempt in a Sunsail F40 took the overall honours with 6 points from PANIK on 16pts and Simply 3rd overall on 22pts.

Sunsail F40 class winners at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week - photo © Sunsail

If you are interested in learning more about Sunsail Racing, please contact Terry Hunt at .

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Sat	Sun	Mon	Wed	Thu	Fri	Pts
1	FIRST SAILING	2	1	1	1	77	1	6
2	PANIK	5	5	2	2	4	3	16
3	SIMPLY	12	2	5	77	1	2	22
4	CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH	1	4	8	9	6	6	25
5	ABERDEEN EDINBURGH	7	7	3	12	3	9	29
6	SCHRODERS ALPHA	4	3	10	11	77	8	36
7	CAZENOVE DIVERSITY	8	6	7	13	8	10	39
8	HOWDEN	13	12	6	15	7	7	45
9	DELOITTE 3	11	8	13	6	11	12	48
10	DELOITTE 2	9	9	14	19	2	20	53
11	THE COLLINSON GROUP	10	19	9	16	17	17	69
12	ABERDEEN SINGAPORE	14	13	25	14	16	26	82
13	PETROL HEADS	17	22	24	22	26	15	100
14	AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS	23	77	11	26	22	19	101
15	SUNSAIL GREEN/BLUE	28	21	19	23	25	25	113
16	RED FUNNEL 1	25	27	20	24	77	18	114
17	COAST GRAPHICS	21	10	4	77	9	77	121
18	SCHRODERS MAXIMISER	26	77	26	20	23	29	124
19	DELOITTE 1	24	24	18	29	77	30	125
20	EMG 1	77	77	15	8	19	11	130
21	ABERDEEN FRANKFURT	77	77	16	18	21	22	154
22	ABERDEEN PHILADELPHIA	77	77	17	27	10	24	155
23	SUNSAIL RED	22	23	23	77	77	77	222
24	POWELL SYSTEMS	3	11	77	77	77	77	245
25	SUNSAIL YELLOW	6	15	77	77	77	77	252
26	BLUE PLAMYA	15	14	77	77	77	77	260
27	LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL	16	18	77	77	77	77	265
28	LITTLE FLAME	19	17	77	77	77	77	267
29	THE BOAT WITH NO NAME	77	16	21	77	77	77	268
30	SUNSAIL WHITE	18	20	77	77	77	77	269
31	THE SEA WORD	20	26	77	77	77	77	277
32	PAGEGROUP	77	77	77	3	77	77	311
33	AINSWORTH CIVILS	77	77	77	77	77	4	312
34	RED FUNNEL 20	77	77	77	4	77	77	312
35	STONE INTERIORS LIMITED	77	77	77	77	77	5	313
36	OPAL TRANSFER LTD	77	77	77	77	5	77	313
37	ALKEN ASSET MANAGEMENT	77	77	77	5	77	77	313
38	SUNSAIL RED	77	77	77	7	77	77	315
39	LIPMAN KARAS LLP	77	77	77	10	77	77	318
40	TRAVIS PERKINS/EGGER	77	77	77	77	12	77	320
41	GROUND CONTROL LTD	77	77	12	77	77	77	320
42	AGILESPHERE	77	77	77	77	77	13	321
43	KPMG CONSULTING	77	77	77	77	13	77	321
44	SUNSAL 33	77	77	77	77	77	14	322
45	TRAVIS PERKINS/WAVIN	77	77	77	77	14	77	322
46	SUNSAIL RED	77	77	77	77	15	77	323
47	PETE'S PIRATES	77	77	77	77	77	16	324
48	A J WALTER AVIATION LTD	77	77	77	17	77	77	325
49	TRAVIS PERKINS/CELOTEX	77	77	77	77	18	77	326
50	TRAVIS PERKINS/CARLISLE BR	77	77	77	77	20	77	328
51	SHIRE RACING	77	77	77	77	77	21	329
52	CLARKE CONSTRUCTION	77	77	77	21	77	77	329
53	SUNSAIL WHITE	77	77	22	77	77	77	330
54	AQUADESIAC	77	77	77	77	77	23	331
55	EXPLORATION RESERVOIR	77	77	77	77	24	77	332
56	M&G	77	77	77	25	77	77	333
57	SUNSAIL PURPLE	77	25	77	77	77	77	333
58	AQUALICIOUS	77	77	77	77	77	27	335
59	BUMP	27	77	77	77	77	77	335
60	AQUAHOLIC	77	77	77	77	77	28	336
61	INTERNATIONAL PAINTS	77	77	77	28	77	77	336
62	SUNSAIL 03	77	77	77	77	77	77	385