International 14 Prince of Wales Week - Day 3
by Dick Johnson 23 Aug 2005 22:08 BST
20-26 August 2005
The Prince of Wales Cup race decides the International 14 national champion for 2005 © Lee Whitehead /
www.photolounge.co.uk
The record will show that the winner of the International 14 National Championship race, the Prince of Wales' Cup, sailed at Mount's Bay Sailing Club on 23 August 2005 was Mike Lennon and John McKenna from Alister Richardson and Dan Johnson, but bare facts don't bring to life the tight battle that raged on every leg between these two, and for the other places.
Unlike many National Championships, the International 14s have just one race to decide the Champion, the Prince of Wales' Cup taking precedence over the week's points winner. The winner takes home the beautiful silver trophy presented in 1927 and the next five are presented with
silver replica trophies. The top six crews have their own contest for places in the fabled Crew's Union, any top six virgin having to undergo a gruelling initiation ceremony on prize giving night.
Principal Race Officer Malcolm Woolcock set a course to comply with the PoW Cup requirements, 21 miles and six hours time limit, with the traditional finish from a reach. The six lap course of shuttles and triangles made the best of a building North Westerly wind that began at about 13 knots and lifted at times to 18. Classic 14s, sailing to the 1984 rules with single trapeze and conventional spinnaker, were set the same course, but were to sail just four laps.
The fleet started cleanly - something of a surprise for the Fourteens - and the initial option seemed to be for a tack out to the left side of the course, before coming back to the right at the top of the first beat, then to take a line of increased pressure to the windward mark and spacer.
Neck and neck at the first mark were Mike Lennon and John McKenna in a RMW hull with Hyde sails, and the RMW works team of Alister Richardson and Dan Johnson sailing an identical hull, but with RMW sails. Richardson and Johnson completed their tack to the mark more cleanly than the other pair and set their yellow spinnaker first to set off on the run. Following Lennon and McKenna were Martin Jones and Andy Rice, then James Fawcett and Dave Dobrijevic and on their heels a surprised
Rollo Pyper and Jon Blackburn.
At the bottom of the run Lennon and McKenna sailed into pressure and drew alongside Richardson and Johnson, rounding inside and leading on the second beat. Richardson and Johnson lived with the leaders, though to leeward and behind, but finally had to tack off. It was at this point that a frailty was exposed in the leaders' boat handling, their tacks were far less certain than those of Richardson and Johnson. Mike Lennon was seen to be taking a rest during the tack - sitting down as he went across the boat, and was slower out to the wire. Richardson and Johnson's attempts at initiating a tacking duel weren't successful, however.
At the second windward mark Lennon and McKenna were still leading. The reaches were set for perhaps slightly less wind than was available at the time and it was not possible to three sail them. Lennon and McKenna set their blue spinnaker and headed off low for the mark, Richardson and
Johnson opting to go high, two sailing, initially. As the gybe approached, a lift brought the leader close to the mark, but they still had to drop and two sail in to the gybe, while Richardson and Johnson had hoisted and were heading to the mark, they were unable to get inside and had to opt for second. The next reach was tight and both boats dropped and two sailed to the leeward mark.
Up the next beat Richardson and Johnson tacked earlier in the hope of starting a tacking duel, but Lennon and McKenna were having none of it, standing on on port towards the castle on St Michael's Mount. At this point Richardson and Johnson sailed into a hole in the wind, having to endure 30 seconds off the wires, sitting on the racks. Lennon and McKenna led into the run.
Back in the fleet the battle for the remaining places was intense, with Martin Jones and Andy Rice making the most of the newly acquired Rice avoirdupois to power upwind. James Fawcett and Dave Dobrijevic overtook Jones and Rice with some good reading of the difficult shifts, but Jones
snuck past them at the final leeward mark, forcing Fawcett into an early tack. Jones tacked 200 yards later into a good shift with pressure and third place was secured for the Gill Marine boat. Fawcett and Dobrijevic took a safe fourth place, while another two hundred yards back, Jarrod
Simpson and Tim Paull were fighting it out with Andy Partington, crewed by his 17 year old son Tom. Having spent a considerable sum on new Fourteen goodies, Simpson was hoping for a better finish than last year's sixth and a solid fifth made it look money well spent.
In the Classics, the top two, Mike Holmes and Tim Smith, and Dick and Hannah Johnson, were swapping places on every leg, the Johnsons suffering upwind but taking advantage of their lighter all-up weight to sluice past on the runs and reaches. With the course offering a downwind
finish after two reaches, they managed to round the last windward mark just inside Holmes and Smith and their superior offwind speed took them to the line in front.
Back at the front of the fleet Richardson and Johnson gybed into a line of pressure that never reached Lennon and McKenna and the stronger breeze took them past the blue kite. Up the final beat the RMW team led initially and a change of rig rake wasn't helping Lennon and McKenna who
had to tack early. More pressure and the final adjustments to the newly raked rig took Lennon and McKenna back in contention and as they tacked on the port layline, the RMW team tacked below them and were rolled on the approach. Round the mark a screaming two sail reach to the gybe saw both boats at light speed, pushing hard. Lennon and McKenna two sailed the last reach to the finish, Richardson and Johnson hoisted but were unable to close the leader.
At the line it was Lennon and McKenna by perhaps 100m after one of the most enthralling PoW races in history. In recent years certainly there hasn't been a race where the lead had changed so much and where the result was in doubt until the last lap.
Back in the fleet the final battle for the last PoW replica was taken by Andy and Tom Partington, making Tom probably the youngest ever member of the Crew's Union.
Overall Results:
1st Mike Lennon & John McKenna
2nd Alister Richardson & Dan Johnson
3rd Martin Jones & Andy Rice
4th James Fawcett & Dave Dobrijevic
5th Jarrod Simpson & Tim Paull
6th Andy Partington & Tom Partington