Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship - Weekend 3

Sunshine and breeze make it a perfect Red Funnel Championship weekend

The third weekend in the Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship was run by the Royal Thames Yacht Club and marked the midpoint in this series. Eleven Darings and 6 Dragons came to the line on Saturday and had to contend with a strong easterly that diminished just a little for the second race.

The two fleets were set a windward-leeward course in Osborne Bay to minimise the effect of the strong ebb, although it was still important to tack up the shore to keep out of the stream.

In the first race, the Darings were sent away first and most favoured the committee boat end before tacking right to get inshore out of the tide. At the first mark it was Devius from Defiant and Derring Do but the order was to change dramatically over the next two legs. While Defiant kept second place throughout the race Devius slipped back to ninth while Derring Do crashed to eleventh, but managed to climb back to seventh at the finish. Dynamite climbed from seventh to first on the second lap and held on to win from Defiant, with Destroyer, competing for the first time in this series, in third. Another great recovery was performed by Audax, which climbed from dead last at the first mark to fourth by the finish.

The Dragons had a good race but without the place changes of the Darings. El Gringo led around the course ahead of David Palmer's Princess Jalina while Chris Britain's Caramba climbed from last on the first two laps to take third at the finish. Caramba also confused onlookers by sailing with the sail number 705 of Edinburgh Cup champion Danish Blue!

In the second race, the Dragons were away first on a line that was biased to the pin end but with the right side of the course still favoured because of tide. The best place to be proved to be at the outer end but heading inshore on port.

El Gringo again led around the course, with Princess Jalina moving up from fourth to score another second, but this time Gavia Wilkinson-Cox's Jerboa took third after passing Caramba.

The Darings were spread along the line for their second start and several boats chose to stay out on starboard tack rather than join those which again headed for the shore. Dynamite rounded out a good day by leading around the course for another win. Defender came through from eighth at the first mark to take second at the finish and Derring Do collected third place after holding second for most of the race.

Sunday brought a change in conditions. The wind had swung south overnight then continued to the west and eased slightly, although the first race got away in Force 4 which slowly decreased during the day.

Royal Thames' PRO, Gillian Smith, took the fleet to the Brambles Bank where a strong, weather going tide dictated the race strategy of heading left on the beat for the strongest favourable tide.

Ten Darings came out to play on Sunday and Dynamite led them to the windward mark in the first race, but a lap later had slipped to fourth, recovering one place by the finish. In second was Defiant, which had swapped places with winner Defender on the final lap.

The wind eased for the second race of the day but the tide was still strong and with the pin end biased it needed perfect timing to get the best start. Dynamite had the timing spot on and got the perfect start, leading the fleet out to the left and eventually tacking clear ahead. Once again Dynamite led the fleet around the first mark but then slipped to third on the next lap. And by the finish she'd dropped to fourth, leaving Defiant to take the gun ahead of Defender with Audax in third having her best result of the weekend.

In the six-boat Dragon fleet the day's first race gave a boat other than El Gringo the chance to take the winner's gun. Princess Jalina led around the top mark but fell back to third by the finish while Caramba moved from second to first with El Gringo second.

The final race, in a softening breeze, saw no place changing at the front with El Gringo leading from the first mark ahead of Caramba and Princess Jalina.

The next weekend of the Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship will be held on 8-9 July and will be run by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.

Top Three Results:

Darings

Race 1 Saturday
1 Dynamite
2 Defiant
3 Destroyer

Race 2 Saturday
1 Dynamite
2 Defender
3 Derring Do

Race 3 Sunday
1 Defender
2 Defiant
3 Dynamite

Race 4 Sunday
1 Defiant
2 Defender
3 Audax

Dragons

Race 1 Saturday
1 El Gringo
2 Princess Jalina
3 Caramba

Race 2 Saturday
1 El Gringo
2 Princess Jalina
3 Jerboa

Race 3 Sunday
1 Caramba
2 El Gringo
3 Princess Jalina

Race 4 Sunday
1 El Gringo
2 Caramba
3 Princess Jalina

For full results at visit www.cowes.co.uk