Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship Final
by Steve Sleight 18 Sep 2006 10:22 BST
16 - 17 September 2006
Etchells at the Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship © Rupert Holmes / TKZ
Light to moderate winds and bright sun gave champagne sailing for the sixth and final weekend of racing in this series; a contrast to some of the wet and windy weekends earlier in the season, which saw a number of full days of racing abandoned in gale and near-gale conditions. Racing on Saturday got underway smoothly for all three classes - Etchells, Darings and Dragons - in a gentle NNW breeze, with the windward/leeward course set to the east of the Brambles.
A strong fleet of 12 Etchells was first away, with Stuart Childerley's Bedrock clear ahead of the pack at the pin end of the line. Childerley extended his lead throughout the race and was in an unassailable position throughout. At the end of the second run 1352 had a comfortable second position, well ahead of 1329 and 1333, who rounded the bottom mark half a length apart in third and fourth places respectively. At the finish, however, 1333 led 1329 by a small margin to take second.
The 12 Darings were sent away second, with Darling enjoying clean air, a good boat length in front of her rivals. By the top mark however, Decoy had pushed her into second place, followed by Defiant and Defender. At the finish, Decoy led Doublet by almost two minutes, followed by Ding Dong, with Defender a mere eight seconds behind.
In the seven-strong Dragon fleet, Fuzzy Duck and Supremacy were first away, with the former capitalising on a strong position and quickly building a commanding lead. At the top mark Fuzzy Duck was followed by Caramba, with Supremacy overlapping her quarter. Caramba was first to hoist a spinnaker on the short leg to the spreader mark, which served her well - others tried but failed to get it to draw. By the finish Fuzzy Duck had a lead of over three minutes on Njord, with Caramba crossing the line a further 47 seconds later to take third place.
In the second Etchells race Bedrock again showed excellent form to finish with an impressive lead over 1329 and Andrew Cooper's China White. In the Daring class this was perhaps Audax's finest hour she recovered from a mediocre start to a third place at the end of the first leg, before gaining the lead and extending it on every subsequent leg. Division Belle was second and Dynamite third. In the Dragon fleet, Fuzzy Duck, Caramba, and Njord jostled throughout for the top three places. By the finish Fuzzy Duck was well ahead of the other two, who finished just in front of a very tightly-packed group of four other boats 660, 627, 669 and 521.
Sunday provided perfect champagne sailing conditions; warm with bright sun and a SW breeze of 8-12 knots. For the Etchells, Childerley's absence gave others the opportunity to lead the fleet. They needed to get the start right - an ebb tide, albeit a gentle one, helped push most of the fleet over the line in the first start of the day, resulting in a general recall. The second start saw all but one boat get away cleanly. 1352 was off first at the pin end, but the bias on the line was such that, when she tacked onto port, Palaver, 1333 and China White were clear ahead. By the end of the first run the fleet was still tightly packed, with Palaver a useful four lengths in front of 1329 and China White, the leaders of a group of six tightly bunched boats. At the finish, however, Palaver had lost her lead to 1329, with China White third.
The tide also pushed a few Darings over the line early, with Dynamite committing to a full circuit of the committee boat even before the gun. Derring Do, Dreamer and Double Knot were also recalled. At the end of the first round, Doublet was a good five lengths clear ahead of a tight group of three boats Audax, Defiant and Decoy. A lap later saw Decoy leading by five lengths, with Doublet and Audax approaching the bottom mark together. A big luff four lengths before the mark by Doublet gave her a marginal advantage over Audax, allowing her to pull clear ahead on the short port tack fetch to the finish.
The start line was relaid before the Dragons' start, to reduce the bias at the committee boat end. They were the only class to get away with a clean start. In a closely fought race with much place changing, the first four boats Caramba, Fuzzy Duck, Njord and Supremacy finished with no more than a length between each boat.
In the second race, the Etchells were away cleanly, with 1333, 1329, Ray of Light and Wobbegong all looking well placed. The fleet split on the first downwind leg, with the right hand side clearly paying dividends. 1352 held a good lead on Wobbegong and 1329, although by the finish the order was 1329, followed by 1352 and Wobbegong.
The Darings' second start was complicated by two yachts racing downwind under spinnaker coming through the line as the gun fired. Defiant was away in clean air at the pin, while 22, starting mid-line, appeared to be in an almost perfect commanding position, but was a fraction over and had to be called back, costing her a good position in the race. The top three boats, Defender, Defiant, and Audax, established themselves in their finishing order early on in this race, but the middle of the fleet saw a closely fought battle with much place changing.
The second race for the Dragon class saw Caramba leading for much of the race, but near the windward mark on the second lap she had to duck Fuzzy Duck, and never recovered the lead. Njord was third, with Aimee finishing only moments behind.
The Darings were the most numerous class throughout the series, and also the keenest. With only one discard across the 14 races, consistency certainly paid dividends, with a big points gap between the boats that competed in every race and those who missed just a single day. Audax's good results in the final weekend lifted her to third overall, eight points ahead of Defiant. Although leading on points going into the final weekend, Dynamite's seventh and eighth places on Sunday saw her lose her narrow lead to Defender by just three points.
With Jerboa not competing in the Dragon class for the final weekend, the top position in the championship was left open for Owen and Josie Pay's Njord, with Caramba taking third place, 16 points adrift.
Scoring four firsts and four DNCs was enough to propel Stuart Childerley into third place in the Etchells class, although he was well behind Jason Owen's Ray of Light on points. First place went to 1333, 12 points clear of Owen.