Cowes and Back 2026 at Lymington Town Sailing Club

Google-Eye in the Cowes and Back race from Lymington Town SC © Tony Hockley

The most popular race of the series turned out to be a two horse race with most of the fleet having other commitments that day or understandably did not fancy the return leg from Cowes with a forecast of up to 27 knots from the South West against a strong ebb tide in the afternoon.

Google-Eye (Trapper 300), acting as Duty Race Officer, welcomed her only competition, newcomer Sardonyx from Keyhaven Yacht Club, to the start line, who was using the race as a shakedown for the Round the Island Race on Saturday 11 July. She had just launched after recently being immaculately restored by Berthon in Lymington.

Sardonyx is a beautiful 40 foot 1957 Fred Parker classic design, built originally of mahogany by AH Moody & Son with a long keel. She is the sister ship of Brynhilde (a 1958 32 foot Fred Parker design), who also has been recently restored by Berthon and is now back in the shed again having her coachroof worked upon. Both boats are under the same ownership.

The race became a contest between a Classic wooden cruiser versus a "Late Classic" (the Trapper 300 design is 50 years old this year and may even be considered a "Classic" too next year under some definitions!) fibreglass cruiser racer and a long keel versus a fin keel. In those conditions Google-Eye thought both races had already been lost but the two boats actually had a good race trading places on both legs.

The two boats were late over the start line but Google-Eye raised her spinnaker quickly as Sardonyx sorted out exactly what to do. However, once her kite was up she slowly but surely caught up Google-Eye and had passed her by Needs Ore Point. Google-Eye gybed first for 3S (SCRA.org.uk) but Sardonyx had problems with the loads so much higher and pole so much larger and heavier than her crew had been used to on Brynhilde, and continued up on starboard gybe some distance beyond West Bramble before finally gybing to find the spinnaker needed to come down to get back to the mark.

Google-Eye thought that Cowes and lunch was too much of a draw for her as she had gone so far. Both boats did end up with a problem with a small freighter coming up the Thorn Channel, with Google-Eye having to continue past the mark under spinnaker and then take it down before the gybe to cross behind it and then white sail reach, rather than spinnaker, to 4M (Hill Head).

Not only did Sardonyx have a problem with the same freighter but also was caught with a bright orange gas tanker making her way down the channel from Fawley. She too white sailed to 4M (Hill Head).

After the mark it was hard on the wind to fetch the finish at 4K (Royal London), with Sardonyx again slowly catching up Google-Eye by pointing higher and sailing faster. However, Google-Eye still claimed line honours. The 2 crews then met up for a convivial lunch in the Anchor Inn in Cowes.

The return leg, as the wind had increased significantly by then, was a start off Gurnard and direct to the finish at Baverstock passing 3A (West Lepe) to port. Both boats were very shy of the start with the strong ebb at Gurnard but Sardonyx made the best start, Google-Eye having to tack back at the inshore end of the line.

Having started with one reef Google-Eye put in another soon after her first tack and was a little more comfortable, but the short Solent chop was about the worst it gets and she bounced over, dived through and fell off the waves all the way to the finish. The highest wind speed she saw was 29.4 knots apparent.

One of Google-Eye's crew was grateful that he had purchased a set of new oilskins and another regretted wearing his old salopettes, which he knew leaked!

Although Sardonyx's crew seemed to be sailing in shorts and T-Shirts, one of their crews' automatic lifejackets self-inflated so they must have got very wet.

In the meantime Sardonyx, although she had two reefs in at the start, seemed to be suffering with either too much foresail or lack of halyard tension, but was powering through the waves. Google-Eye was soon well ahead of her and although she did not sail as far as Hamstead Ledge, unlike Sardonyx, and put in an extra 2 tacks, she still finished 5 minutes ahead. By the finish Sardonyx had sorted herself out and had been slowly catching up Google-Eye again.

However, both races proved to be a very useful shake-down for Sardonyx having found the mainsail had no battens when it went up before the start (rectified in Cowes), sailing without for the first leg, discovering the gybing problems, and then sorting out upwind sailing in high winds and heavy seas.

YTC Results:

1. Google-Eye (Pat Stables)
2. Sardonyx (Tony Hockley)

LAH Results:

1. Google-Eye (Pat Stables)
2. Sardonyx (Tony Hockley)