Royal Yacht Squadron, where GBR Red was awarded the cup.
There were celebrations in Cowes, when there was a home win in the Rolex Commodores’ Cup. A and S Whitewood review the action:
Slightly stronger breezes and more reaching than was anticipated meant last Wednesday/Thursday’s Rolex Commodores’ Cup offshore race provided the 45 competitors with a complete test of skills. For the small boats in Class 3, the bigger conditions also made for a shorter race. The leaders arrived home unexpectedly early, at breakfast time on Thursday, with the Hong Kong boat Yeoman of Wight (skippered by Jamie McWilliam) winning by a substantial margin. It was 17 minutes ahead of Radboud Crul’s Netherlands Red yacht Rosetta from the Rocks and 25 minutes ahead of France White’s Felix, skippered by Samuel Prietz. In Class 2, once again the winner was Kees Kaan’s ROARK/Claus en Kaan Architecten in Netherlands Red. Sailing with a young crew, including former Whitbread round the world race skipper Arend Van Bergeijk, the Dutch boat remained the lowest scoring boat in the entire fleet. In Class One, defending champion Géry Trentesaux on his Lady Courrier in France Blue came out on top, with a 15 minute lead on corrected time over Anthony O’Leary’s Antix Eile and more than an hour in front of Tim Costello’s third placed Tiamat/Alfa Romeo. With the offshore race scoring a X2.5 co-efficient, the results between the top teams dramatically closed up, with GBR Red on 77.5, only 2 points ahead of Gery Trentesaux’s France Blue on 79.5. Third placed Ireland Green was on 91.
Friday saw another short race around the Solent and the points were: GBR Red - 87.5, France Blue - 97.5, Ireland Green – 105, Ireland White-120,Hong Kong -122,Netherlands Red-141.5.
Saturday’s race around the Island had to be curtailed because of strong winds. It was scheduled to be a clockwise lap of the Isle of Wight. However, with near gale force winds blowing on the south side of the Island and the potential for severe wave conditions off the Island’s southernmost tip, St Catherine’s Point, the race committee chose instead to send the 45 boat fleet eastward, down the Solent and in the lee of the Island. There was some excellent sailing there and around Hayling Bay. With GBR Red still in the lead, points are now: GBR Red- 92, France Blue-124.5, Ireland Green- 129.
Sunday morning’s race, in very windy and wet conditions, saw some dramatic changes in the positions of the teams. Although GRB-Red was able to hold onto the lead, France Blue (the cup holders) were overtaken by Ireland White and Ireland Green and finished in fourth position. Final positions were GRB-Red- 122, (Quokka7, Fair Do’s V11, Erivale111) Ireland White-144 (Antix Eile, Jump Juice,Teng Tools) and Ireland Green-161 (Blondie1V, Tiamat, No Naked Flames).
After the racing, prize giving was held at the Royal Yacht Squadron. The winning GBR Red team was presented with the Rolex Commodores’ Cup trophy and three steel and gold chronometers.