Rolex Commodores Cup 2000 Overall
by Susannah Bourne 19 Aug 2000 20:54 BST
Channel Islands' consistency crushes wayward opposition
Tony Buckingham's Channel Islands Team have won the Rolex Commodores' Cup
2000 today by a crushing margin over second-placed England Blue.
The last heat of the nine-race series was a tactically challenging 12-mile
windward/leeward course in the Solent. Kevin Sproul took the Scottish Farr
40 McWolf up the right-hand side of the course over the Ryde Middle bank to
escape the worst of an adverse tide. The strategy paid massive dividends,
as Sproul and his team rounded the windward mark a minute clear of the Farr
50 Chernikeeff and over two minutes clear of the next Farr 40 2XL.
But the most intriguing battle was between the two Channel Islands Farr
40s, Dignity and A Bit of a Coup, who did their best to camp on England
Blue's Farr 40 Victric 5. Really it was an academic exercise as England
Blue needed an exceptional day to haul past the series leaders, and
Victric's team mates Yeoman of Hamble and Quokka V were showing anything
but exceptional performances today.
Miraculously for Tony de Mulder and Victric 5, a last poor tack by Dignity
before the finish line let their rivals slip through first by seconds and
the England Blue had at least scored a minor victory in beating both
Channel Islands Farr 40s. De Mulder had won a pre-race bet with Dignity's
owner, Rene McArthur, who was forced to hand over a case of champagne for
letting Victric 5 slip through his grasp.
But if Dignity cared, the crew didn't show it. "They might have won the
race today," said mainsheet trimmer Peter Morton, "but we won the Rolex
Commodores' Cup and that's what we came here to do."
Steve Hayles, a veteran of many Admiral's Cups and Whitbread Round the
World Races, had predicted earlier in the week that the team that stayed
out of trouble would win the event, and so it proved. The Rolex Commodores'
Cup 2000 had everything, with dismastings, protests and a range of exacting
conditions. The Channel Islands Team never sailed spectacularly but they
were happy to sit back and watch the wheels fall off the teams around them.
The Commonwealth Team led the event at the beginning of the week, and came
on strong towards the end, but as Warlord's helmsman Ian Williams admitted,
it had all gone wrong for them in the high scoring Offshore Race. Warlord
ran aground and never made up the lost time on the other Farr 40s. From
that point on, the Rolex Commodores' Cup was plain sailing for the
accident-free Channel Islands.
Final Team Positions:
Team Pts Pos
----------------------------
Channel Islands 49.5 1
England - Blue 61.25 2
Commonwealth 64.5 3
England - Red 71.5 4
Scotland 79.165 5
France 108.75 6
European 121 7
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