Skandia Cowes Week - Friday 3rd Report
by Kate Laven / CCC 4 Aug 2007 07:39 BST
3-11 August 2007
The rain clouds rolled away to leave the Solent with perfect sailing conditions for the start of the 181st Skandia Cowes Week.
With the main racing programme due to get underway tomorrow, the blue skies and sunny conditions were reserved for the big boats, a special Laser SB3 regatta and the Ishares Cup for the Extreme 40s.
Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard was runaway winner in the IRC Class Zero Big Boat Series race today after a stately performance over the 28nm course around the cans.
“It was a lovely course,” said Slade who with a 30-strong crew completed it in three hours and 14 minutes, corrected to 6:07:01 on elapsed time.
“It was sensibly set because it is not easy for a super fast yacht like ours to turn corners and we are deep so can’t just go anywhere but they did a good job. We were a little overcautious but we just wanted to enjoy ourselves.”
The other contender in the class, the Open 60 Mirabaud, winner of the BOC in 1991, retired from racing after the eight out of 12-strong crew, decided to return home when the tide turned and they ran out of time.
Designed for single-handed long distance racing Mirabaud, which draws 4.5m, was not best suited to racing round the cans in the Solent but according to ICAP Leopard owner Slade, the conditions suited his brand new canted keel Farr 30m nicely.
“We started in light airs of around ten knots and by the end had around 18 knots of breeze which was ideal.
“It was disappointing there were not more boats in the race but we understand that Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo crew are still with the TP52s in Palma and that the Open 60s are mainly interested in the Class Zero around the Isle of Wight race on Wednesday, which of course we will be aiming to win as well.”
Richardson crowned King of Cowes
Alister Richardson and his Laser SB3 crew on Speed pocketed the keys of a brand new Volkswagen Touareg, valued at up to £57,000 after being crowned ‘King of Cowes’ in the one-off three race Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes at Skandia Cowes Week Regatta today.
The Extreme 40 skipper, sailing with crew Toby Litton, Dan Johnson and Rachel Williamson, edged ahead of David Apthorp, SB3 National and European Champion Geoff Carveth and Matt Adams in Earls Court Boat Show on the second beat of the third race to go into the overall lead after Apthorp had dominated from the outset.
The fleet, comprising 27 class winners from 2006 Skandia Cowes Week racing identical one-design Laser SB3s off Cowes, enjoyed some superb sailing conditions as a south westerly force 3 increased to force 4 off Hill Head and posed a series of stern challenges, resulting in some dramatic action and a constantly changing leaderboard.
In third place was Russell Peters, Laser SB3 champion of Cowes 2006 who finished one point behind Apthorp and Carveth after a nightmare second race where he was forced to make a penalty turn just three boat lengths from the finish after a port starboard incident with Andy Budgen in Argo II and lost two places.
He made up for it by winning the third race, 13 seconds ahead of Peters in Powder Monkey but it was not enough to overcome Richardson, who posted a third and two seconds. Racing with David Wilkinson and Zeb Elliott, his third overall earned him a Laser GXD while Carveth.
BBC Presenter Gabby Logan, racing with Graham Bailey in Team Touareg, finished in fifth place while Mike ‘Moose’ Sanderson, the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race winner racing with VOR CEO Glenn Bourke on Darling Associates, struggled in the conditions to post a 12th place.
iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week
All the news and results from the first day of the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week are available on the iShares Cup website at www.isharescup.com