British Classic Week Day 2
by Helen Porter 8 Jul 2025 20:08 BST
6-11 July 2025
British Classic Week Day 2 © Chris Brown
It was an early start for the British Classic Week fleet on day two, as Classes 1-3 prepared to race around the Isle of Wight.
Sponsored by Global Forecaster, racing began with class starts on the Royal Yacht Squadron line to the east. Sailing with the tide, and with 12-15 knots of wind from the North, it was a challenging tight reach down the eastern Solent for the first 10nm.
As soon as the wind angle allowed, spinnakers were hoisted on the bear away as the fleet was met with lighter conditions along the Seaview coastline.
Giovanni Belgrano, winner of Class 3 on Whooper, commented, "By Seaview we were in a tricky, choppy sea. It was difficult to steer and keep the boat going well."
Giovanni added, "We gybed at Bembridge and pushed hard as we didn't know what we would face at Ventnor and St Catherine's. We debated whether to go high and hope for breeze under the cliffs or to take the rum line. In the end, we stayed inshore and it paid off. There was less breeze, but we wriggled through before the big wind hole came in."
The yachts behind weren't so fortunate, with one crew member from Spirit C72 Gwenhyfar II commenting, "The race was reset at St Catherine's as we all bunched up when the wind died."
Once they got clear of St Catherine's, the breeze filled in and the fleet had a glorious upwind leg with the tide and strong currents pushing them to the Needles in 10-14 knots and bright sunshine.
Rounding the Needles and hoisting spinnakers as they went, most of the fleet were faced with the oncoming tide on the homeward leg back to Cowes. Tucking close inshore as the wind steadily built, the front-runners tucked into the island shore to dodge the tide before it turned.
Giovanni added, "We stuck to the island shore and benefitted from the gusts coming off the island due to the hot weather, this helped us along. Normally it makes sense to go North and come across to Cowes but this time it worked to stay island-side."
The final run into Cowes was champagne sailing with Code Zeros and spinnakers decorating the Solent horizon as the yachts crossed the RYS line.
In the meantime, Classes 4 and 5 took on a long inshore course in the Solent, starting to the west and tight reaching against the slackening tide all the way up to Hurst. Conditions were challenging as the wind died for the long leg back into the central Solent and across to South East Ryde Middle, before they sailed a circular course around Royal Yacht Squadron, Hamble Yacht Services, and Team O before heading back down to the RYS line to finish alongside the mid-fleet around the island yachts.
A well-deserved cold beer on the dock was enjoyed by all courtesy of Bainbridge Sail Cloth after a long but memorable day on the water.
Race 2 was won by Spirit 52 Happy Forever in Class 1, 10M Bojar in Class 2, and Whooper in Class 3. In the long inshore, West Solent One Design Enchanted took Class 4, and Stella Timoa won Class 5 - both yachts taking two class wins from two races.
For results go to www.britishclassicweek.co.uk