Skandia Cowes Week 2006 - Day 5
by Magnus Wheatley 2 Aug 2006 20:25 BST
29 July - 5 August 2006
With one of the most famous trophies, the Britannia Cup, up for grabs in the glamorous Class Zero on day five at Skandia Cowes Week, the Royal Yacht Squadron officials decided to make the professional crews really earn their money. The forecasted West North-Westerly winds, that gusted to a force five at times in places, seemed perfect for an attempt on the record set by Mike Slade’s Leopard in 2001 of 4 hours 8 minutes 55 seconds with the 98ft super-maxi ICAP Maximus lining up against the turbo-charged Volvo Ocean Race winner ABN Amro One. From the start the race looked set to be a titanic tussle around the 54 nautical mile course that was slightly lengthened by just over 4 nautical miles to take the fleet clear of the Laser SB3 fleet that had started some 25 minutes earlier. However the expected fast-jaunt around the Isle of Wight failed to materialise as the Super Zero’s got stuck in patchy zones around the back of the Island where the wind dropped to around 10 knots on a long beat against the tide and at the finish it was ICAP Maximus that thundered down the Green with a flotilla of spectator and photographer boats some 50 minutes outside the course record.
The Britannia Cup however, was collected by second place finisher ABN Amro One skippered by Mike ‘Moose’ Sanderson and crewed by an all star Volvo Race crew who crossed the Squadron line just eight and a half minutes behind ICAP Maximus and handed a massive 39 minute corrected time hammer-blow to their on-the-water rival. The rest of the fleet came home after a long day on the water with Benny Kelly’s Panthera holding off the other TP52 Red of Charles Dunstone by some 7 minutes to leap into second place on the podium ahead of ICAP Maximus. The glamour fleet of Skandia Cowes Week 2006 are certainly putting on an aspirational show of super-charged sailing, showing the Corinthians just how far design and technology has progressed not to mention the awesome crewing abilities of the professional sailors.
Meanwhile the Laser SB3’s got away, once again, to a flying downwind start on the first attempt of their lengthened starting sequence to complete a fast course in the sheltered eastern Solent. Surprisingly, with a fast running west to east flood tide, the majority of the fleet exercised good speed on distance judgement as a large gaggle of SB3’s congregated on the outer distance Alpha buoy as the gun fired, but it was Glenn Bourke aboard Musto who calmly started on a fast port gybe in mid-line who headed the fleet down to the Hill Head shoreline. Giving chase were Russell Peters in Selden Seen and Price Waterhouse Coopers of Jono Shelley who overhauled Bourke by the first mark and then extended their lead over the next three legs to the finish enjoying a fantastic tussle that was just edged by Peters after two hours and forty minutes by a desperately close 33 seconds. These two were some three and a half minutes clear of the rest of the fleet that were brought home by David Cheyne’s Bucca with Bourke having to settle for another fourth place. Undoubtedly the SB3’s are one of the most eagerly watched classes in Skandia Cowes Week and with everything to play for in the final standings as we reach the climax to the regatta, it will be fascinating to see who emerges on top. Currently (and before discard) it’s Price Waterhouse Coopers who look good for the regatta win but if Selden Seen can keep it all together going into the final stretch or Glenn Bourke’s Musto can find some much needed bullets, it will be a thrilling conclusion to this, the most talked about inshore fleet.
One of the other overnight talking points was the dominance of Graham Bailey in the ever-competitive Etchells fleet who, after yet another race win today, sits clear at the top of the overall White Group standings. Bailey revelled in the conditions today, sailing away from the fleet after a perfect pin end start into a final finishing delta of 2 minutes 13 seconds with the rest of the fleet scratching their heads as to how to stop this winning streak. Graham came ashore to once again learn that his wife Julia had won in the intense International Dragon fleet sailing Aimee to another very close 22 second race win with quite a few shoreside wags wondering just how good the Bailey’s must be when they sail together?
Interestingly it was another deja-vu result in the J/80 fleet as Chris Savage helmed Liz Savage’s Savage Sailing to another race win as they squeezed out a 34 second victory from Peter Henney’s Nemo whilst in the IRC classes it was a day that also favoured the best prepared crews with some familiar names taking the day’s trophies. Professor John Shepherd’s Fair Do’s VII streaked away to a very convincing corrected time win whilst in Class 7 IRC Jamie McWilliam banished the blues of going to the wrong mark yesterday in Espada Wanchai Belle to take the winners gun by a convincing margin of 11 minutes 9 seconds on corrected time from Louise Morton’s Super Q. Class 8 ISC saw Tony Wyeth’s Ocean Venture score their fourth win of the regatta just 23 seconds ahead of the Cowes Combined Clubs Chairman Peter Ralls’ Wight Rabbit whilst in Class 6 IRC it was Mike Tattersall’s Electra that squeaked ahead of their big rival Ian Braham’s Dean & Dyball Electra by just 7 seconds on corrected time.
Starting from a committee boat line near the Elephant marker buoy the Contessa 32 fleet had a tough three and a half hour race in the western Solent. Once again it was Ray Rouse sailing Blanco who really made the best of the conditions with superb crew work bringing the fleet home with a commanding 3 minute 28 second lead. The Sigma 33’s who also started on the committee boat line saw a very close run race with Richard Griffith’s Cerefe and P Wright’s Ephesian dicing for the lead all around a three and a half hour course. Cerefe just pipped Ephesian by a slender 5 seconds on the final beat to take the winners gun whilst Michael Birmingham’s Oxygen crossed for third some 38 seconds adrift. The Sunsail 37 fleet had an eventful race with a few downwind death rolls and some heavy bunching at the marks but at the finish it was Mike Steel on Malcolm Hollis that took the winner’s gun convincingly ahead of Jonathan Perry’s Spring Law. The Sunsail’s are having a terrific week with tremendous hospitality tents in the Cowes Yacht Haven and a great carnival atmosphere throughout the fleet and it looks like being a tough battle for the overall crown as both Jonathan Perry on Spring Law and Nick Willis’s Pall Europe (who finished third today) vie it out for the top spot.
The International Flying Fifteens saw a return to form for the evergreen Mander brothers on Men Behaving Badly who are challenging hard for the top overall spot in the White Group but must rely on slip-ups from the boats ahead of them. Today the Manders were just a click faster than the fleet as they cruised across the finishing barge line with a comfortable 2 minute 4 second victory displaying awesome downwind boatspeed and hard hiking upwind. The 38 Sonars meanwhile had a very packed start as they headed downwind and downtide to the eastern Solent. A great battle ensued for the top spot with Barry Byham’s Whatever beating their fellow Cowes-based Asbo of Duncan Bates by some 52 seconds. Asbo enjoyed a great final beat battle to just hold off third placed Richard Bailey’s We’re Here with a delta of just 2 seconds separating the pair! The Bruce Kirby designed Sonars are having a terrific series and the closeness of these superb one-design dayboats was amplified by today’s winners who were within a hairs breadth of each other after two and a half hours of racing.
Another fleet that’s seeing a tough tussle at the top end are the Hunter 707’s with Cowes-based Peter Dickson sailing Star Born 3 and Russell Mead’s the Ant Hill Mob having a really close battle for supremacy. Dickson got the nod today to deny Mead a hat-trick of wins and cements his overall position at the top of the 707 standings. Meanwhile one of the most popular inshore fleets this year at Skandia Cowes Week, the National Squibs have seen some fantastic racing in the 38-strong fleet and are quite the most distinctive boats on the water with their mace coloured sails. Today it was the turn of David White and Peter Ballam sailing Easy to a very popular race win, overturning the early leader Ghost Rider of Mike and Penny Fenwick to record a 56 second victory. Chris Creak’s Blue Phantom, returned to winning form after yesterday’s cancelled racing in the Swallow class with a comfortable 1 minute 46 second victory whilst in the Redwing fleet it was James Wilson’s Quail who streaked away to record a massive 5 minutes 28 second win after leading from start to finish. Quail’s middle man, Mark Jardine was ecstatic with the day’s racing saying, “It was one of those great Solent days when everything comes together. Luckily we kept the boat together today as we’ve had a few breakages this week but hats off to the regatta organisers and course setters who have given us brilliant courses down in the eastern Solent where the tactical options are really interesting. The most wind we saw today was just above 20 knots on the final beat back to the barge finish line to the west of Osborne Bay but to be honest it was perfectly manageable and a great day on the water.”
In the RS Elite and RS-K6 fleets that start as a combined fleet on the inner Squadron line, both enjoyed some tough beats especially for the K6’s but it was Glyn Locke sailing Artigiano who managed to get away cleanly at the start to bring the fleet home with a convincing winning delta of 2 minutes 14 seconds and record his third straight bullet of the week. Meanwhile the Elites saw a tough battle for second place as Mike Tong’s Ciao Bella streaked into an unassailable lead leaving Buzz Keck’s Eloise and Steve Powell’s E’Tu slugging out the final beat with just 4 seconds separating the two in the favour of Keck.
The 1720’s had a very close fought race with James Clay’s Finn M’Coul scoring a 20 second victory over the Mark Greenaway owned La Licorne. Interestingly Clay is pushing hard in the overall standings for the Skandia Young Skipper’s Trophy entering today’s race in second place. A win will certainly help his cause as his main rival David Miller in Class 8 ISC could only manage a third place today so it will be all eyes on the concluding races to decide this prestigious title. Another boat in with a shout of doing well in the overall standings in the Black Group is Ben Goodland’s Team Eberspacher who had another great day on the Solent in his Tony Grainger designed multihull winning the race by a convincing 2 minutes 56 seconds from Brian Haynes on Carbon Tiger 2. The race for the overall Black Group winner is much wider than in previous years with any number of boats having a great chance if they can string the final races together. However in Class 5 IRC it was the usual sight of Harry Heijst’s Winsome that took the chocolates with a result just shy of 3 minutes from John Howell’s Spellbinder and Winsome is now the boat to catch for the overall title.
In Class 4 IRC it was the familiar name of Alvine Jacobite, the Harry Evans chartered Swan 48 that proved totally unstoppable in the fleet as they powered away from the start line and led the fleet home on the water to record a 5 minute 24 second corrected time victory. Jacobite really is the class act in this fleet with an enviable sail inventory, superb crew and long waterline length that just loves a bit of breeze – she’ll be tough to beat this week.
For a while this morning it was looking unlikely that the XOD fleet would race but as the wind settled down to a mean in the 11-15 knot region it was decided that the 73-strong fleet would be sent down to the eastern Solent for a committee vessel start just south of Mother Bank. Some of the lighter crews have been struggling in the testing conditions this week but some new names adorned the podium today with class stalwart Dave Tabb in Zoe showing some great boatspeed in the choppy conditions to hold off the hard-charging Rory Paton in Diana by a winning margin of 58 seconds. The Victory’s saw a big return to form of Jeremy Lear’s Zinnia who demonstrated excellent boat handling right from the starting gun and sailed on to a comfortable 1 minute 27 second victory over the Bancroft and Taylor owned Zest. The Solent Sunbeams and Seaview Mermaids got away together under glorious sunny skies for an excellent afternoon of racing that saw Alan Stannah’s Jenny convincingly head the Sunbeam fleet whilst J Sandiford-Haigh brought the evergreen Jade home in the Mermaid fleet by just 22 seconds ahead of a very bunched fleet.
The cream certainly seems to be rising to the top here at Skandia Cowes Week and the battles around the fleets are heating up as we reach the business end of the regatta. Tomorrow, Skandia Cowes Week hosts its very first Ladies Day with all manner of activities being organised by Cowes Combined Clubs and the sponsors. Timberland will be running a Fancy Feet competition, the UK Sailing Academy will be hosting ladies from eight years up on their Try Sailing Initiative and Champagne G.H. Mumm is offering discounted Rose champagne at the waterfront bar in the Cowes Yacht Haven. A fashion show will also be held by Cowes Yachting Magazine in the Haven and The Ellen MacArthur Trust are running a ‘Best Ladies’ time competition as part of its Virtual Skipper game down on Cowes Parade. On the water it will be another great day of sailing with winds expected in the 15-18 knot bracket and clear, sunny skies so for both the sailors and the spectators there’s going to be something for everyone!