Day 4 Round up Report at Lendy Cowes Week
By Rupert Holmes
A ridge of high pressure over the English Channel brought more bright and sunny weather, with a classic south-westerly breeze, to day four of Lendy Cowes Week. Todays first start was for the big yachts in the Sevenstar Triple Crown fleet that are competing for some of the events biggest trophies, including the historic gold Queens Cup.
The towering rig of Ludde Ingvall and Sir Michael Hintzes 100ft maxi CQS, starting on the outer section of the Royal Yacht Squadron line, dwarfed those of the surrounding yachts. She tacked for the line 40 seconds before HRH The Princess Royal fired the starting cannon and quickly blasted away to a big lead on the water in the western Solent.
Today was also ELEMIS Ladies Day, which recognises outstanding contribution, commitment, and achievement of women in sailing, with the Ladies Day Trophy. Amanda Marino, racing her Half Tonner Chimp in IRC Class 6, won the Royal Southern Yacht Clubs Ariel Trophy, which is awarded for the best result obtained by a female helm.
Im absolutely delighted, Marino said. We really didnt expect to win because there are some really competent and successful ladies on the racecourse, so we are quite taken aback. We sailed well as a team and it was good conditions for the boat, she likes a breeze, so as the wind picked up the boat took off.
RC Class 3 also had a clean start, with Igor Rytovs Russian JPK 1080 Bogatyr making a perfectly timed approach at the pin, with Johann Bouics Archambault 35R Altikhan on her windward quarter. Adam Goslings JPK10.80 Yes! started mid-line in a clear lane of slightly lifted wind, looking very well placed, as was Brenda McMahons First 40.7 MCM Fandango, in clear air further north nearer the committee boat. However the pin end of the line was favoured in terms of tide, as boats starting there would emerge more quickly into the strongest favourable tide.
Yes! took line honours at the end of the race and was far enough ahead to save her time on Chris Ivills new J/112E Davanti Tyres by a margin of just four seconds. Bogatyr was third, almost one and a half minutes behind Davanti Tyres.
White Group
In the RS Elite class Andy Partingtons Lazy Daisy started at the outer end of the line, in clean air and with a tidal advantage. Ossie Stewarts More T Vicar and Freddie Peters Riff Raff, the overall leader after the first three races, were also well placed, more towards the middle of the line.
On their first downwind leg, as they passed Cowes on the way towards the eastern Solent, Riff Raff held a useful five boat length lead ahead of More T Vicar and Brian Corrys Tuppence. Riff Raff was also ahead at the finish, crossing the line more than two minutes ahead of Colin Smiths Shaken Not Stirred, while More T Vicar took third place ahead of Tuppence.
We had another great race today, said Peters, who is one of the youngest skippers at Lendy Cowes Week, at the age of 14. We were lying second on the second downwind leg of the windward/leeward section of the race, when we spotted a handy shift on the right-hand side of the course and, with spot on crew work, we pulled off a good gybe set. This was the turning point in the race and from there on we were able to pull away and retain our lead to the finish.
The Sonar fleet bunched together in the stronger favourable tide at the outer end of the start line, with the Island Sailing Clubs Hibiscus leading in to the start half a length ahead of Barry Byhams Dolphin. Meanwhile, Pisces was hanging back a couple of lengths astern, worried about the risk of starting prematurely a wise precaution, given Hibiscus was OCS at the gun.
Alastair Barters Bertie avoided the scrum at the end of the line, starting in clean air a little further inshore and tacking quickly onto port. Five minutes in Barter had extended his lead on the fleet, ahead of Dolphin and David Peerless Wisconsin. Having been slow to return to start correctly, Hibiscus was trailing the back markers by more than 200 metres at this stage. Barter crossed the finish line first, 34 seconds ahead of Dolphin, with Andy Cassells Jenny taking third place.
The Flying 15 class took a fairly conservative approach at the start, with Mike Bol and Gil McCutcheons Ffuraha closest to the line at the outer end, a length to windward and ahead of Will Heritages Freddie Flintoff. Sam Chans Freefire was also well placed on the line, a few lengths closer to the shore.
At the end of the first beat Heritage held a 10 length lead on Bol and McCutcheon, with the newest boat in the fleet, Charles Apthorps Foof, a similar distance back in third place. By the finish Apthorp had gained a 52 second advantage on Heritage, while Tony Beddingfields Durban Flyer had worked up into third place.
In the 26-strong Squib class, Amy Gaskin and George Downers distinctive White Tiger started at the outer end of the line, while David Lloyds Seven led a group of boats around five lengths closer inshore. Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramseys Lady Penelope was also well placed ahead of another tightly packed bunch in the middle of the line.
Lady Penelope led around the first mark, five lengths ahead of Steve Warren-Smith and Stu Rixs Aquabat, with David Wines and Keith Davies White Magic following in third place a further 10 lengths back. These three boats took the leaders guns at the finish, with Aquabat enjoying a two minute advantage on White Magic, and Lady Penelope finishing a minute later.
The separation of the leaders belied the closeness of the competition within this fleet. Emma Baker and Sam Primes Buccaneer finished ninth, leading a tightly packed group of five boats that all crossed the line within 100 seconds after more than two and a half hours of racing. Similarly, 15th placed Joe and Marc Moncrieffs Crazy Diamond led home a gaggle of four boats that finished just 46 seconds apart.
SB20 and J/70 mini series
Today marked the end of the eight race mini series the SB20 and J/70 classes have enjoyed over the first four days of the regatta. John Pollards Xcellent won the SB20 Grand Slam, counting only podium results, with Elliot Noyes Porco Rosso second and Michael Coopers Export Roo third.
Subject to protest, Paul Childs Fin Magic 2 is winner of the J/70 series, on 16 points. Ali Halls Sceptre was second on 24 points, just ahead of Jack Davies Yeti, on 24.5 points. Both classes will continue to compete, with one race per day, for the rest of the regatta.
The Volvo Ocean Race comes to Cowes
Tomorrows race for the big yachts in the Sevenstar Triple Crown fleet will include all seven of the entries in the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race. Dubbed as Leg Zero of the round the world race, this will be the first time they will have raced against each other. They will also be joined by the 100ft supermaxi CQS and by the Volvo 60 Team Jolokia.
Tomorrow a 50-mile race around the Isle of Wight is scheduled, with the course most likely to be clockwise. The start, at 0950, followed five minutes later by the IRC Class 0 yachts.
An exclusion zone around the start line will apply from 0930 to 1010, with other craft prohibited from an area immediately north of Cowes bounded by South Bramble, Prince Consort, Gurnard, North East Gurnard and Williams Shipping buoys.
Video Highlights of this weeks racing: http://www.lendycw.co/videos
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