Vice Admiral’s Cup runs out of breeze
On June 03, 2008
“Quarter Tonner, Catch - Vice Admiral’s Cup ‘08″
The ‘08 edition of the Vice Admiral’s Cup, hosted by the Royal Corinthian Sailboat Society, Cowes, was plagued by lack of breeze & as result racing was only feasible on one of the three scheduled days. Four regattas were the minimum required but unfortunately no one of the four fleets participating were capable to achieve this & so the series is incomplete.
The race opened on Saturday 30 April but there wasn’t breath of breeze to be establish on the Solent. After day spent checking reports from weather stations & scanning the horizon for any hint of breeze the Regatta Commission were ultimately artificial to abandon hope & call it day.
Sunday brought an initial postponement but by lunchtime light sea wind had materialised & racing got underway on both courses. On the big sailing boat course PRO Bob Milner took the flotilla to the Westerly Solent & was capable to run two regattas in 10-12 knt wind. Niklas Zennstrom’s Ran won both Category 0 regattas with Stuart Childerley at the helm. In the 1st regatta he won the start & Ied all the way, but he had to work small more for it in the 2nd regatta as the breeze died down to six kts & he came through to take the bullet. 2Nd place in regatta one went to Charles Dunstone’s Rio with Colm Barrington’s Flash Glove 3rd. In the 2nd regatta Colm Barrington took 2nd with Stuart Robinson’s Stay Calm of London 3rd. Whole Ran Ied the category with Flash Glove 2nd & Stay Calm 3rd.
In Category one it was Agne Nilsson’s Fortis Excel that shon with 2nd in regatta one & win in regatta two giving them the total lead. Dennis Otter’s Werewolf took the 1st regatta & fifth in the 2nd though Luis Langley’s Atomic took two 3rd places leaving them tied on points but with Werewolf 2nd total on count back.
On the little sailboat course Regatta Officer Lloyd Oakley took the flotilla up to the Hill Head beach where they managed to squeeze three short regattas in previously the sea wind died. The five strong X35 category had some very close racing despite the tricky conditions. The main fight was ‘tween Tim Harrington’s Vortex & Thorkild Junker’s Cool Runnings with Vortex just attractive regatta one from Cool Runnings whilst for regattas three & four the positions were reversed with Cool Runnings engaging both & attractive the total lead. The struggle for 3rd whole was equally fierce Colin Fry’s X-Dream ultimately got the upper hand with 3, 5, three scoreling.
The Quarter Tonners had common recall in their enthusiasm to get the 1st regatta away after waiting day & one-half but this was speedily followed by new start & Lonnie Marston’s Catch won two regattas & Chris Frost & Jason George’s Tom Bombadil the 3rd putting them in 1st & 2nd total respectively. Newcomer David Tydeman & his freshly fitted out Snoopy made great start to the race & finished 3rd total on the day. The sailboats returned to the dockage about 6.30 pm to delight in fish pie & sausage & mash supper at the Royal Corinthian Boat Society.
In an effort to achieve series, the X35s & Quarter Tonners went out on Monday morning to try & find the wind to squeeze one more regatta in to achieve series previously the 2.30 pm cut off but to no avail. The big sailing boats didn’t leave the dock with event instigator Harold Morton liaising closely with the PRO to make sensible calls on keeping the sailing boats in the marina. Sadly the Vice Admiral’s Cups won’t be presented this year, though glassware was presented to the total day champs on Sunday.
Results for Sunday’s racing are to hand at
The organisers would like to thank event sponsors Musto Ltd, North Sails & Yacht Sales National.
by Fiona Brown