#rorcbdcc – The nine teams contesting the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup are currently racing round the Isle of Wight on the penultimate day of the seven day event in Cowes, Isle of Wight. 

Ireland's team competing for the Commodores' Cup in Cowes stand on the brink of success this weekend as the 31 sailors have built an impressive 100-point overall lead.

The winner of the Commodores' Cup will be announced at the prizegiving for teams from Ireland, Britain, Scotland and France tomorrow after the final race. Ireland has a 100–point lead but anything can happen in these last crucial stages.

#icra - What should have been a long inshore race along The Solent in the Commodores Cup today turned into a waiting-game with no reward at the end in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup at Cowes as racing was abandoned for the day. 

Ireland remains the event leader after three races including the high-scoring offshore event that finished in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

After starting this morning one hour earlier than planned, all three Team Ireland boats had a good start to the race that enjoyed a light north-westerly breeze off the Peel Bank. But the ebb tide was building and when the wind died, only seven boats had managed to break out of the notorious tidal stream.

Marc Glimcher's Catapult was second on the water followed by Anthony O'Leary's Antix in fifth and Michael Boyd and Niall Dowlings' Quokka 8 in seventh.

As the leaders reached Hayling Bay and started the windward-leeward section of the course, the bulk of the fleet were still trapped in The Solent. The Race Committee then abandoned the race on fairness grounds and opted to set a straight-forward windward-leeward course.

Once underway, barely had this race completed it's first of two laps than the wind shifted 100 degrees and then died leading to a second abadonment. After waiting to see if the breeze returned, the fleet began motoring back to Cowes some 12 miles distant in the hope of picking up more breeze in The Solent but to no avail.

The crews are expected back in West Cowes by 1800hrs and the Royal Ocean Racing Club is expected to announce changes to the remainder of the week which just has to complete one more race to qualify as a series.

Weather forecasts between now and Saturday do not offer much prospect of change and the normally reliable sea breeze has been hampered by the stationery high pressure system over the region.

Additional reporting by RORC

Day four of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup was one Principal Race Officer Stuart Childerley and his team would prefer to forget.

With the best wind forecast for early morning, the 27 boats in nine teams started an hour early from a line off Peel Bank. The plan was for them to sail north to the North Ryde Middle mark and then east out of the Solent and into Hayling Bay onto a windward-leeward course.

Childerley recounted: "The boats started reaching out towards the Forts and there were a few big holes there and then six of the boats got to St Helens [mark in Hayling Bay]. Meanwhile the rest of the fleet was being affected badly by big holes in the wind, so we had a situation where probably over half of the fleet wouldn't have finished within the time limit. So we had to abandon that one."

There followed a long wait for the boats in the Solent to reach the new start area in Hayling Bay before a second attempt at race four of the series could be made - this time a windward-leeward in an offshore northeasterly breeze of 6-7 knots. Unfortunately as the boats were approaching the leeward mark the wind shifted hard right, by more than 90°, into the south. The race committee spotted this quickly enough to lay a new weather mark, but after the top six boats had rounded it the breeze dropped away to nothing and the fleet came to a standstill. This race was abandoned too.

"It was just pretty unsatisfactory," said Childerley. "We have had one race in this series when there was a bit of a shut down. I am trying at all costs to avoid that again."

Unfortunately conditions for the next two days are not looking much better.

Mike Broughton, meteorologist for the Irish team, current leader in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, explains that there is currently an area of high pressure centred over Norway, bringing Mediterranean conditions to the UK, but making conditions difficult for yachting. "The northeasterly wind has to come all the way across 150 miles of land to get to us and so it is very patchy and shifty. Then you have a sea breeze that is trying to make it in and is fighting it. Today we had a full on fight with no one winning. It is difficult, but it is what it is."

Broughton says that tomorrow it could be even worse with a trough passing over, bringing rain showers.

RORC Vice Commodore Michael Boyd, who is the co-charterer with Niall Dowling of the Irish team's Grand Soleil 43 Quokka 8, commented: "It was an impossibly challenging day for the PRO and I don't envy his job. In retrospect maybe he could have shortened the courses, but that is all 20-20 hindsight."

Boyd added that he was happy with the position the Irish boats were in when the two attempts at race four were abandoned today. "We would have advanced a few more points, but the races weren't fair. In the first there were four separate fleets.

"The forecasts we have seen for the next three days is for a declining wind. So I think we just have to sail in what God gives us and be patient. This is a sport and you just have to stay focussed and alert."

Jean Philippe Cau, sailing on Hervé Borgoltz' Grand Soleil 44R, Eleuthera, in the France Red team, said that in the first attempt at race four they had been very pleased with their performance, matching Anthony O'Leary's Ker 39, Antix. He observed that when that race was abandoned there had been a gap of more than a mile between the front runners and those astern.

"And in the second race we did well also," Cau continued. "We were in the match with the first group of boats including Quokka, and at the weather buoy when the wind disappeared it was very difficult to pass the boats. We were not happy with Quokka [overlapped on the outside of them at the second weather mark] so we had a little fight with them! There were red flags going up!"

In addition to sailing, Cau has also been responsible for putting together the giant French four team entry in this year's event. He says he is pleased with his country's performance, particularly France Green, which includes Eric De Turkheim's radical new A13 Teasing Machine and Eric Basset's modified Farr 30, Motivé. "If the Farr 30 is able to do reasonably well in the next races, which is especially possible in light winds, I think there is really the possibility to do well. My prognostic is that we will have two teams on the podium."

Tomorrow the race management team will once again aim to get racing underway at 10:00 BST. Childerley concludes: "If we can get at least one in tomorrow, Saturday is looking more promising and, with a couple of jiggles around, we'll get the series in. But most important is that I want to give people really good racing. That is the key."

Team Name Team Points Team Place
Ireland 126 1
France Green 152 2
France Blue 172 3
GBR Red 172.5 4
France Red 197.5 5
Scotland 201.5 6
GBR White 210.5 7
France White 216.5 8
GBR Blue 252.5 9

#rorcbdcc – The Commodores' Cup offshore race is over and Ireland still tops the leaderboard writes Barry Rose in Cowes. Results attached for download below. 

It turned out to be a fetch out of Solent with code zeros being hoisted up and down as wind shifted. The Irish boats were all well positioned heading out of Solent

Fleet compressed a little on run to leeward gate 50 miles towards Cherbourg Long upwind leg on return turned to a beat at end of Island in falling breeze and turning tide so tricky finish as expected.

Catapult took line honours and finished third which was a great result. Conditions favoured the big boats and she took full advantage sailing a sound tactical race to the finish.

Antix also sailed very well to achieve her position finishing 20 th as she was in the complex slot between the first and second groups when the compression occurred. She again sailed tactically smart approaching the finish which was the only opportunity to make gains.

Quokka sailed a strong race from start to finish and again took maximum advantage when only tactical opportunity arose towards the end.

All in all a really good team performance from the Irish boats to keep the team top of the leader board.

The French teams Green and Blue as expected were very strong in offshore with radical looking boat Teasing Machine providing a flyer in the conditions to record a win.

No racing today and a single inshore tomorrow. All to play for!

Additional report from James Boyd/RORC:

Stronger winds and reaching conditions resulted in a shorter than anticipated offshore race that allowed crews to sleep in their own beds rather than spending a night at sea in the highest scoring race of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup.

The course took the boats west out of the Solent, southeast down to a virtual gate 26 miles northeast of the Cherbourg peninsula, returning north to the New Grounds Buoy off the Nab Tower, then west to Bembridge Ledge buoy before a final beat to the finish line, just south of Gosport's Gilkicker Point.

The wind being further west and stronger than forecast resulted in a fast reach down to the virtual gate and it was the powerful reaching machines such as the Ker 40s and the brand new French Archambault A 13, Teasing Machine, that relished the conditions.

"We had 20 knots - a good five knots more than forecast," recounted Nick Cherry, one of the two 'pros' on Robert Lutener's Ker 40, Cutting Edge, sailing in GBR Red. "We even had a mini broach out on the changeovers between helms. We were on the hottest angle we could hold the A2."

As forecast, the wind did drop and veer into the north as the boats sailed back towards the Nab Tower, but it never disappeared altogether and pre-race fears of a midnight park-up off Bembridge proved unfounded.

Among the Ker 40s, the first boat home was the 'turbo-ed' Catapult of the Irish team, finishing at 22:26:32 BST. "It was a very nice race, a Ker 40 race, which is always fun," said American owner Marc Glimcher. "We messed with each other a little bit on the upwind which was enjoyable." In the final legs to the east of the Isle of Wight, before the finish, the wind dropped off to five knots momentarily but, as Glimcher put it: "It was a lot easier than we thought. We did not get stung."

Marc Glimcher has brought Catapult over to Europe to join the Irish team from her usual base in Newport, Rhode Island. "It is fantastic. I have been hearing about this event for many years. This seemed like serious racing to us and it is very exciting. And the team racing side - you can screw it up and someone else can come to the rescue!" said Glimcher.

While the three Ker 40s claimed most of the top spots, the outright winner of the offshore race was Eric de Turkheim's mini VO70-like Teasing Machine, which finished 2 minutes 6 seconds ahead of Cutting Edge on corrected time. The delighted owner, Eric de Turkheim, commented: "We got the boat on 20th June and we've done very little testing in terms of speed and set-up, so today was very good because we had no idea of what our speed would be versus the Ker 40. Fortunately it was good enough..."

He praised his navigator, leading French Figaro sailor Gerard Veniard. "Gerard did an excellent job on the way down and on the way back, when we sailed fairly high knowing that it could be a bit tricky at the end."

According to Veniard, en route to the Nab Tower mark they saw the wind drop from 17 knots to 7 and veering from 275 to 345°, as their shore based routing expert Christian Dumard had predicted, but the wind had been more consistent than forecast.

"We call the boat 'fat booty'," said Veniard, nodding towards Teasing Machine's powerful transom. "From the beginning we thought that the race was ours because there was a lot of reaching. It was tactical - on the two long legs, it looked like straight line, but it was not. We sailed 7-8° higher and there was more wind on the west side coming back."

While there were fears for the smaller boats, with the wind forecast to drop and the tide turning foul, in fact the last boat to finish, Iain Kirkpatrick's X-37, Fatjax, did so at 01:54:18.

Generally the boats suffering most were those better at windward-leewards, such as Anthony O'Leary's Ker 39, Antix; the winner of both Sunday's inshore races finished in an uncharacteristic 20th position. Despite this and the offshore race carrying a 2.5x co-efficient, thanks to the performance of her team mates, Catapult, and Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling's Grand Soleil 43, Quokka 8, Ireland has retained her overall team lead.

A similar type boat to Antix was James Neville's Corby 36, INO, racing in GBR White, which also struggled on the reach down to the virtual gate. As navigator Nat Ives described it: "We were looking forward to the run, but there was very little running, it was quite reachy from the start. So that leg was really difficult for us with our lack of form stability on a relatively tight spinnaker leg. We were sailing at 100% of our polars, but the J/109s were going quicker."

Thankfully, according to Ives, they pulled a bad result out of what would have otherwise been a terrible one between the virtual gate and the finish, initially setting up to the east where there was better wind for the smaller boats. "We were sailing the boat well there and we started to claw back into boats, people like Yeoman of Wight, which we overtook there and the Farr 30 [Eric Basset's Motivé in France Green] which had flown down from the Needles."

Later INO won out by not going into the shore at Bembridge, where the foul tide was stronger. "We sailed solidly then and a lot of the boats around us were slow, so we picked off six or seven boats in the last piece from New Ground up to the finish," concluded Ives.

Racing at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup continues tomorrow (Wednesday) with one inshore race.

#rorcbdcc – Variety has always been the spice of the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup with the 27 boats from France, Scotland, Ireland and England this week getting to sail a mix of inshores, offshores and a race around the Isle of Wight writes James Boyd. At 09:30 BST today the fleet of three boat teams set sail from the Royal Yacht Squadron line of Cowes on the 'offshore race', longest and most high scoring of the series.

The latest (1900hrs) on the Irish team from the race course via the yellowbrock tracker HERE is Catapult up there (6th), Antix (22) and Quokka (14), a mid to deep scenario but very much a fluid one.

In Cowes, with the Irish team, ICRA's Barry Rose told Afloat.ie (at 20.45): 'Four bigger boats including Catapult have eased ahead of the main fleet which is in turn led by another group that includes Ireland's Antix and team-mate Quokka 8. Predictions for the first finishers range from 2230 this evening to 0700 tomorrow morning'.

With a moderate wind forecast and the wind due to shut down tomorrow, the Race Committee, led by former Etchells World Champion Stuart Childerley, worked hard to set a fair but challenging course. They opted to send the boats west out of the Solent, passing the Needles Fairway buoy then down to a 'virtual mark' mid-Channel, before returning north to the New Grounds Buoy off the Nab Tower, then on to the Bembridge Ledge buoy and leaving No Man's Land Fort to port before the finish line south of Gosport's Gilkicker Point.

After a long starboard gybe in 10-15 knot WNWerly wind, at 1600 BST the first boats were rounding the virtual gate. At the front of the fleet the beamy Ker 40s were loving the conditions. GBR Red's Cutting Edge and GBR White's Hooligan VII had done a good job of fending off the 'turboed' and higher rating Catapult, leading the Irish boat around the gate.

They were followed 10 minutes later by Eric De Turkheim's radical A13 Teasing Machine, sailing for France Green followed at around 16:30 by GBR Scotland big boat, James McGarry's Swan 45 Eala of Rhu. A gaggle of smaller boats, with yesterday's double winner, Anthony O'Leary's Ker 39 Antix, in front rounded the mark some 20 minutes later.

While so far the race has not been overly tactical, this evening it will become so. The boats will head north on port tack in a westerly breeze but around seven miles short of the New Grounds Buoy, the wind is forecast to start veering into the NNW and dropping substantially. This new breeze is expected to edge south through the evening meaning that the smaller boats will end up spending more time directly on the wind than the bigger boats. The wind is then likely to peter out completely on the race course around midnight, further favouring the big boats who's crews will be gunning to have finished and be on their way back to Cowes before this happens.

Figaro sailor and multiple Match Racing National Champion Nick Cherry, who is racing as one of the Group 3 'pros' on board Robert Lutener's Ker 40 Cutting Edge in GBR Red, leading the race at 17:45 BST, predicted of the latter stage of the race: "It will be a two sail fetch back up to the Island and that is where it will get interesting. Our best routing has us finishing at 10.30 tonight, before the pubs shut! But that relies on it not dropping to 5-6 knots off Bembridge. The likelihood is that we will sail into a park-up and end up sitting for a few hours at the buoy near Nab Tower. I think that is where the race will get decided.

"I think it will favour big boats, because if you weren't going to finish until later in the morning, there won't be a sea breeze until later on tomorrow. The small boats could really get their pants pulled down."

Past President of the Union Nationale pour la Course au Large, Marc de San Denis, racing on the Prietz family's A-40 Goa in France Blue, predicted a finish time of 0700 tomorrow. He commented: "It is an interesting quite clever course, with a long reach and then going upwind. We hope that the wind shift is late enough, otherwise the big boats could have an advantage steering directly back to Bembridge. Ideally it will go north when we are at Bembridge - that's what we've ordered!"

After the whipping the French gave the rest of the fleet in last year's Rolex Fastnet Race, the 12-strong French line-up is hoping to repeat their success in this year's Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup.

The crew on the Guoy family's Ker 39, Inis Mor, had been hoping for a longer offshore race. "We are very pleased to be here, but not pleased with our result yesterday!" said son Laurent. "Obviously we have been focussed on the offshores for the last two or three years and we always have some difficulties in the Solent."

Of tonight's grande finale Gouy predicted: "The wind will decrease quite a lot and with the tide arriving, the guys ahead will be more lucky than the guys behind. It will be about playing with the tide and the dying wind." The pre-race routing had Inis Mor reaching the mark off Bembridge at 22:30-23:00 BST tonight. "The 10 miles will be in very little wind and with the tide against us," warned Gouy.

Facing a long night was David Aisher, who is working the pit on board his J/109 Yeoman of Wight in GBR Blue, at 17:45 BST lying second overall. Prior to leaving Cowes Yacht Haven this morning the past Commodore of the RORC was keeping his fingers crossed that the wind would shut off later tonight rather than earlier. "If it shuts off when it says, then everyone should be home. But if it shuts off early I think the big boats will get in and the little boat will be stuck out and struggling to get in late morning. We'll just have to sail faster!"

#rorcbdcc – Anticipation has been building going into this morning's start of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial week-long Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup.

This year's event features nine teams, comprising four from France, one from Ireland and four from Britain (including one from Scotland), two more than 2012. Over the last few days crews from the three boat teams have been putting the finish touches to their campaigns. The thundery conditions of the last 48 hours have provided some lively moments for boats being delivered to Cowes, with one French boat experiencing 55 knot winds as she crossed the Channel.

As ever the RORC's flagship event for national teams with amateur crews comprises a challenging mix of inshore and offshore racing.

The event kicks off tomorrow (Sunday 20th July) with two inshore races, the first warning signal at 1055 BST. Over Monday-Tuesday the boats head off on an overnight offshore race, the longest of the regatta (set to last 24-36 hours) and carrying the highest points co-efficient of 2.5. Inshore racing resumes on Wednesday and Thursday followed by a race around the Isle of Wight on Friday, with a 1.5 co-efficient, the event concluding on Saturday with an inshore race carrying a co-efficient of 2. In past years the event has gone to the wire, with the final outcome only decided on the last race.

Competing yachts are rated using IRC, with boats having a Time Correction Co-efficient of 1.020-1.230. Among each three boat team, only one boat may have a TCC of 1.150-1.230.

Going into the event it is very hard to judge which team is favourite. "Who is going to win? No idea!" says RORC CEO Eddie Warden Owen. "The Irish are looking very strong with Antix having won the IRC Nationals. Marc Glimcher's Catapult has proven to be the strongest Ker 40 and Quokka won Cork Week last week with her Irish crew. I have to believe that they feel confident competitively. And the French are here with a purpose. They had one team two years ago and they said 'we want to win this event' and they have come back with four teams. We know some of their sailors but we don't know the quality of the boats - we'll find out tomorrow. We know they will be good, particularly offshore."

While the regatta is principally for amateur crew, each boat is allowed one ISAF Group 3 'professional' or two on the higher rated boats. Among the 'pros' are world class sailors including Laurent Pages, winner of the last Volvo Ocean Race board Franck Cammas' Groupama, Olympic sailors such as Peter O'Leary, leading sailmakers/sailors Kevin Sproul, Sam Richmond, Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell and Laurent Mahy, Olympic 49er/Volvo Ocean Race sailor Ian Budgen, and Figaro sailors Gerard Veniard and Nick Cherry.

"I think the most important thing when you talk to the competitors is how seriously they are taking this event," says Warden Owen. "The Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup is an important regatta to win, something that all the teams have put a huge amount of effort into."

Having good weather information is vital and all the teams are employing top meteorologists to help them - Chris Tibbs for Team GBR, Mike Broughton for the Irish, Christian Dumard for the French.
This week the tide isn't strong and the Azores high is edging across the UK, causing the winds to be light with little gradient pressure. So the RORC's new race management team led by former Etchells World Champion Stuart Childerley will be hoping for a sea breeze each day.

"The question is whether we will get northwesterly or northeasterly wind," says Dumard, a meteorologist and sailor of some 30 years standing, who was part of Corum's Admiral's Cup campaigns here during the 1980s and 1990s and prior to their winning campaign in 1991 spent one month surveying the Solent's winds and tides. Essentially the northwesterly is good for a sea breeze to develop, northeasterly less so, he says. "Tomorrow we should have a northwesterly wind in the morning filling in with the sea breeze from the southwest. I think tomorrow will be the best day for racing in the Solent."

According to Dumard the forecast shows adequate breeze for Monday's offshore race before the wind drops during Tuesday as an occluded front crosses the race course. Wednesday could prove the lightest day of the week, while on Thursday it will still be light, but a sea breeze is more likely to develop. "The race around the Isle of Wight on Friday is too far away to predict," he advises.

Stephen Ford, Executive Director of Brewin Dolphin commented: "Brewin Dolphin is thrilled to be back in Cowes this year, for our second regatta with RORC and the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup. We are looking forward to an excellent week's racing with feisty competition from the French. We wish all the teams the very best of luck (especially the four GBR teams) and we have high hopes for a sunny and more importantly, breezy week.

"We and our clients are looking forward to an exciting weeks racing. With so many of our clients enjoying sailing, this is one of the highlights in our annual calendar and a week throughout which we will enjoy some highly competitive racing."

#commodorescup – Ireland's team of 31 sailors are making final checks prior to the start of racing in the biennial Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup in Cowes, Isle Wight on Sunday morning.

Anthony O'Leary of the Royal Cork Yacht Club will again captain the Irish Cruiser Racing Association team of three boats on his own 'Antix' with the aim of winning the coveted trophy for the second time.

Marc Glimcher of the United States has provided 'Catapult' as the team second boat while Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling of the Royal Irish Yacht Club have chartered 'Quokka' for the week-long series.

All three boats were in action recently at Volvo Cork Week where crews had their final competitive practice before returning to Cowes.

The Commodores' Cup series will comprise six inshore races and a long offshore concluding on Saturday 26th July.

Crewlist for IRL 3939 Antix

Fred Cudmore - Ireland; Rosscoe Deasy - Ireland; Jamie Donegan - Ireland; David Lenz - United Kingdom; Ross McDonald - Ireland; Derek Moynan - Ireland; Darragh O' Connor - Ireland; Clive O Shea - Ireland; Robert O'Leary - Ireland; Anthony O'Leary - Ireland;

Crewlist for USA 1253 Catapult

David Bolton - Ireland; Grady Byus - United States; Alan Curran - Ireland; Garth Dennis - United States; Geoffrey Ewenson - United States; Marc Glimcher - United States; Tom Murphy - Ireland; Dan O'Grady - Ireland; Peter O'Leary - Ireland;

Crewlist for GBR 2215L Quokka 8

James Allan - United Kingdom; James Bendon - Ireland; Michael Boyd - Ireland; Laura Collister - United Kingdom; Ben Daly - United Kingdom; Niall Dowling - Ireland; Jarrod Hulett - United Kingdom; Tom Whitburn - United Kingdom; Nelson Moore - Ireland; Maurice O'Connell - Ireland; Nicholas O'Leary - Ireland;

#classicboats – Cowes produced near perfect conditions for day three of Panerai British Classic boat Week where Squadron Racing Ltd ran two more excellent races in the Central Solent for the 52-strong fleet. With hot sun, a balmy sea breeze that built from sub 10 to almost 20 knots and more gleaming varnish and brass than you can shake a stick at, it was a spectacular day's sailing and great fun was had by all. With four of the seven race series now completed, the overall standings are shaping up and we can expect the next three days to be full of excitement.

In Class 3 Christine and Giovanni Belgrano's Whooper continues to dominate, winning both of today's races to make it four straight wins overall. Andy King's Gluckauf took second in both races and Rob Gray and Sam Laidlaw's Clarionet was third in both. In the overall standings Whooper unsurprisingly leads Class 3 with just four points. Although Gluckauf was the better performer today she is counting a Did Not Compete from yesterday's Around The Island Race and so Clarionet is lying in second overall on eleven points with Gluckauf two points behind them in third.

Mikado, owned by Michael Briggs, also claimed two first places today in Class 4 and so jumps into the lead overall with a seven point margin. After a lacklustre start to the regatta, Bob Gatehouse's Erida found her form this morning to finish second in race three, just ahead of David Foster and Ben Gillett's Leopard who also favoured this morning's lighter conditions. This afternoon Jonathan and Scilla Dyke's Cereste took second from David Messum's Nausicaa. In the overall standings Mikado is leading with seven points, Nausicaa is second on fourteen points and Cereste is third on twenty-two points.

Sean McMillan's Spirit 52 Flight of Ufford was once again the most consistent performer in Class 1, adding a first and second to their score card. Stephen O"Flaherty's Soufriere won race four and having claimed third in race three she now lies in second place overall, just three points behind Flight of Ufford. Michael Hough's Chloe had another good day with a second and third so lies just two points back in third overall.

In Class 2 race three proved to be somewhat controversial. There was a start line port starboard incident between David Murrin's Cetewayo and Ebsen Poulsson and Ed Dubois' Firebrand that later resulted in the Protest Committee awarding a 4% penalty against Firebrand. Then Cetewayo misjudged their approach to Gurnard Ledge and made contact with the buoy requiring them to take a 2% penalty. Jamie Matheson's Opposition was the clear winner of the race and after all the penalties were applied Firebrand was scored second and Cetewayo third. Race four was decided entirely on the water with victory going to Cetewayo with Opposition second and Firebrand third. In the overall standings Class 2 is now led by Firebrand on eight points, Cetewayo is second on nineteen points and Opposition is just one point further back in third.

In the 8 Metres the opening race of the day went to Christopher Courage's Helen who was also looking very good in race four until they became aware that the boat, which they only took possession of last week, was taking water fast. Unable to immediately trace the source of the water they pulled up on the final beat allowing their fellow competitors to sail on by. Back ashore they discovered the offending problem was a faulty bilge pump which was back filling. Christopher, who currently counts two wins and two retirements, joked that, "If we could just finish the races we'd be winning the regatta!" Whilst Helen had her dramas Murdoch McKillop's Saskia was proving to be the most consistent boat of the day with a pair of second places, while Athena finished third in race three and went on to win race four. In the overall standings Saskia now leads the 8 Metres by a single point from Athena with Helen two points behind in third.

This evening the participants are making the most of the wonderful weather with an Open Boats Dock Party sponsored by Classic Boat and Wight Vodka. This event is a perennial favourite as not only does it give you a chance to take a look at your competitors boats, but its also the perfect opportunity to compare battle stories and swop tips on the restoration and maintenance of these wonderful yachts.

Tomorrow will feature race five in the main points series followed by the Ladies Race, where the boats must helmed by lady. The first start will be at 10.00 from the Royal Yacht Squadron line with the second race following on. After sailing the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club will host the traditional crews party.

Racing continues until Friday 18 July and the event will conclude with a Parade of Sail past the Royal Yacht Squadron and Cowes Green at 11.00 on Saturday 19 July.

#classicboats – Panerai British Classic Week 2014 got off to a spectacular start off Cowes today with an opening race in dappled sunlight under scudding clouds and a variable west to northwesterly wind ranging from sub ten to almost twenty knots. For the fifty-one participating teams there was plenty of action as they enjoyed a round the cans romp that started and finished on the Royal Yacht Squadron line and took them down into the Western Solent. It was a challenging day for the navigators with an exceptionally strong ebb tide running making judging laylines extremely difficult.

First away from the line were the Modern Classics of Class 1, which includes the Spirit class yachts and yachts that the Committee of the British Classic Yacht Club consider to be built with the appearance of "a classic". From the off it was a three way battle between the Spirit 52s Flight of Ufford, owned by Sean McMillan, and Chloe, owned by Michael Hough, and Spirit 54 Soufriere, which is owned by Ireland's Stephen O'Flaherty, but is perhaps better known to the general public as the yacht James Bond sailed up Venice's Grand Canal in Casino Royale. Having traded tacks and gybes all the way round the course it was Soufriere who claimed first blood, beating Flight of Ufford by 12 seconds with Chloe only half a minute behind in third.

In Class 2 David Murrin's 1955 Laurent Giles designed Cetewayo got the upper hand early on and extended her lead on each leg to win the race by over eight minutes on corrected time. Behind her there was a splendid battle for second between Jamie Mattheson's Opposition, the former Morning Cloud II, and Ebsen Poulsson and Ed Dubois' Firebrand, a 1953 Sparkman and Stephens design. Firebrand finished well ahead on the water but her crew had an anxious wait for the lower rated Opposition to come in. Quick action with the calculator confirmed that Firebrand had taken second place by eight seconds with Opposition third.

"A fabulous day's sailing. Just perfect." enthused David Orton of St David's Light, the 40' Illingworth and Primrose designed one off masthead sloop built in 1963 by Souters of Cowes who finished fourth in Class 3. First place in Class 3 went to Christine & Giovanni Belgrano's 1939 one off sloop Whooper, with Andy King's 1929 International 30 Square Metre Gluckauf, fondly known in the fleet as the flying toothpick thanks to her exceptionally long and low profile, second and Rob Gray's Clarionet, the legendary Lallows' built, Sparkman and Stephen's designed 1966 fin and skeg One Tonner, third.
In Class 4, just 30 seconds separated first placed Cereste, a 1938 Shoreham Ten Tonner designed by Robert Clark and owned by Jonathan and Scilla Dyke, and second placed Mikado, Sir Michael Briggs' 1904 Fife designed 30 Rater, one of the oldest boats in the regatta. The sloop Danegeld, owned by Robert Veale, designed by David Cheverton in 1958 took third place. One owner very happy with his boat's performance today was Jason Fry of the 1946 Philip Rhodes designed sloop Shantih. Jason only took ownership of the boat last week and has been rushing around desperately to get ready for the regatta. He wasn't able to get a spinnaker sorted in time for the week, but despite this they finished a very creditable fifth in Class 4 today.

In the 8 Metres Christopher Courage's 1936 built Helen was the victor from the 1949 Erica, owned by David Myatt, with Murdoch McKillop's 1931 Fife Saskia third. After racing David Myatt confirmed they had enjoyed their day, but were mildly frustrated having misjudged their final mark rounding in the strong tide and allowed Helen to slip through and get away from them.

Tomorrow the boats will be taking part in the Around The Island Race sponsored by EFG International, which starts to the East from the Royal Yacht Squadron line at 08.00. The 8 Metres will not race around the Island, but instead will have a Solent race starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron at 10.00. The forecast is for lots of sunshine and a north northwesterly wind of circa 10 knots in the morning, backing southwesterly and increasing into the high teens through the day.
This evening the competitors will enjoy a Welcome Reception at the Royal Yacht Squadron and tomorrow morning the Panerai Lounge will open from 06.30 to serve coffee and croissant to the competitors before they leave the dock.

Racing continues until Friday 18 July and the event will conclude with a Parade of Sail past the Royal Yacht Squadron and Cowes Green at 11.00 on Saturday 19 July.
Full results and further information about Panerai British Classic Week can be found at the regatta website www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta. Those wishing to receive further information about the regatta should contact Mary Scott-Jackson on [email protected].

#classicboat – Charles Stanley has announce it has agreed headline terms of sponsorship for the 2014 Cowes Classics Week sailing event. The regatta, organised by the Royal London Yacht Club, is one of the highlights of the Classic sailing circuit and this year will hopefully see over 150 yachts with some 700 crew competing in the Solent.
The event will run from the 21st- 25th July 2014 and this year will draw entries from a wide-range of yachts and dayboats from ex-America's Cup 12-Metres to the smallest boats, the two-man Flying Fifteen Class. The ever popular day boats including the XODs, Darings, Sunbeams and Classic Day boat class traditionally draw the largest fleets whilst the Classic Cruiser/Racer division will be boosted by the inclusion of the SCODS, Twisters and Stellas, and the glass Nicholson 32's and 36's and Rustler 31's – now 50 years old. Furthermore, both the XOD and Sunbeam fleets will be using the event as a significant championship in 2014.
The 8 Metre Class Association is also confident of significant attendees and 6 Metres will continue to support the event, making the 2014 Charles Stanley Cowes Classic Week a 'must-do' event on the South Coast yachting calendar. Family entries are encouraged and the event looks forward to welcoming previous competitors in this, its seventh year of establishment. On the Solent there will be five daily courses run by the Royal London Yacht Club supported by the Royal Corinthian YC, Royal Victoria YC, Island Sailing Club and Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club.

#cowesweek – Royal Cork's Nicholas O'Leary, and a number of crew from the Irish IRC champion yacht Antix, enjoyed glorious sunshine on board Adam Gosling's Yes (Corby 36) today in the second day of Cowes week, Britian's biggest regatta. O'Leary helped the British entry into the lead in the 34-boat IRC 4 strong class.

Temperatures already reaching 20 Celsius by mid morning, and a wind that's slowly building in strength are giving another day of excellent racing in the Solent. By late morning the breeze had built to 8-12 knots inshore close to the Island, but up to 15 knots with occasional stronger gusts in the central Solent, although it was still very shifty, with the mean direction varying through 30 degrees.

A good dose of sun and wind that slowly built in strength from 8-12 knots for the early starts to gusts of more than 20 knots during the early afternoon gave more great racing for Family Day at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. The breeze was very shifty, with the mean direction varying through more than 30 degrees and big lulls that saw the wind speed drop by more than 50 per cent between the gusts.

This both challenged competitors, who had to constantly change gear to keep their boats moving at optimum pace, and gave the course setting teams a challenging morning to provide fleets with the best chance of decent upwind legs, despite the changing conditions. By the time the early Black Group yachts were finishing, the wind had built to give large gusts off the shore, treating competitors to quick spurts of downwind speed and spectators to a number of classic broaches and near misses as boats lost control.

Among the mishaps today were son and father team Rupert and John Mander, who have consistently won the two-person Flying 15 class in Men Behaving Badly for many more years than most can remember. During today's race John fell out of the front of the boat – Rupert turned round and rescued his Dad without losing too much time, but the duo had to settle for an uncharacteristic second place, 28 seconds behind Nick Clarke's Black.

Close competition in Black Group

Yesterday the 25 entries in the J/109 class proved that competition between these boats remains very close, with an average of just 43 seconds separating each of the first 17 boats. Today the class was all clear at the start, despite an ebb tide sweeping them over the line. Starting towards the northern end of the line William Edwards' Sardonyx lX initially appeared to be best placed and benefited from clean air. However, it was the boats that started at the Island end of the line that gained the overall advantage.

By the finish it was Jonathan Calascione and Jonnie Goodwin's Harlequin, last year's class and Black Group overall winner that took the win, after another closely-contested race. Tor Mclaren's Inspara finished second, just 16 seconds later, with Ross Walker's Juno taking third another 42 seconds after that. There was also tight competition further down the fleet – at the end of the three and a half hour race little more than two minutes separated the eight boats in places 8 to 15.

This year the Contessa 32 class has a slightly larger fleet than for some time, with a number of boats returning to the race course for the first time in several years. Today, yesterday's winner Ray Rouse's Blanco, led them away from the start. However he was overtaken by Eldred Himsworth's Drumbeat, which finished a shade over two and a half minutes ahead of Rouse.

The next start on the Bramble line was for IRC Class 6, which saw two boats over the line at the gun. One of these was the largest boat in the fleet, David Glasgow and The Earl of Cork and Orrery's classic varnished International 8 Metre Athena, which swiftly tacked onto port in a gap between boats after the gun to return to restart from the correct side of the line. One of the lowest-rated boats in the class, Rory Fitzwilliams' 37 year old Three-Quarter Tonner Simplicity had another good start, but was unable to save her time on line honours winner, Bob and Jon Baker's X332 Brightwork, or Justin Leese and Mark Brown's Figaro 1 Black Diamond, who respectively took first and second overall on corrected time.

White Group

The J/80 fleet was much more cautious at the start than the Darings had been 10 minutes earlier. At the gun Chris Body's Swallow and Mark Greenaway's Peloton looked best placed at the outer end of the line. However, long-standing Cowes Week competitor Colin Simonds' Doolalli, who sails with different family members every day, started further inshore, tacking on the line just before the gun. He was soon passing the leaders to windward, pointing higher and appearing to sail faster than the competition through the gusts, holes and shifts off the Green, as the fleet made its way upwind to the first mark. Simonds' early lead helped him secure his second second place in two days, but yesterday's winner, Chris Taylor's J.A.T., finished almost four minutes ahead to take another win.

The Dragon class started closer to the line than the J/80 fleet, with most boats approaching on starboard, before tacking immediately onto port. Graham Bailey's Aimee was best placed towards the inshore end of the line and in clean air, getting away quickly from Chris Brittain's The Old Bailey on her leeward quarter. Simon Barter's Bertie, a newcomer to the Cowes fleet this year, having previously raced a very successful Sonar of the same name, was sailing higher and faster than Brittain and pulled into second place just three minutes after the start.

When a lull combined with a 25 degree unfavourable windshift slowed Aimee, it looked as though she would lose her early advantage, however, her crew changed gear with perfect coordination in the next lifting gust and pulled comfortably ahead again. At the finish of the two-and-a-half hour race Aimee crossed the line 52 seconds ahead of Gavia Wilkinson-Cox's Jerboa, to take a second consecutive win.

In the RS Elite class Martin Wadham's Kiss looked best placed of the boats at the offshore end of the line. However, it was Jono Brown's Aeolus, tacking onto port in the middle of the line at the gun that initially appeared to hold the advantage over the fleet as they negotiated the many puffs, lulls and windshifts off the Green. Yesterday's winner, Crauford McKeon's Kandoo lll, just to leeward of Aeolus, managed to keep pace and only fractionally lost height despite her relatively disadvantaged position. Kandoo lll continued to push hard around the 15.8 mile course, finishing more than a minute ahead of Wadhams, who took second place and Jonathon Proctor's Wombat in third.

Sport for all in the Sonar class

The 13 boats in the Sonar class this year has a wide mix of competitors, including the Paralympic Girls Team of Hannah Stodel, Megan Pascoe, Carol Dugdale, Bella Walsh and Megan Harris and Spare Part, a boat crewed by former soldiers undergoing rehabilitation, including a triple amputee and two double above the knee amputees who have been training with the support of RYA Sailability and the Andrew Cassell Foundation.

In today's race Alistair Barter (son of Simon, who is racing his new Dragon this week) and Ed Suckling's Bertie was best placed of the boats that started towards the outer end of the line. David Peerless' Miscreant, one of the nine Sonars available for charter from the Island Sailing Club, started mid line. For the first couple of minutes she trailed the pack a little, but was then first to hook into a favourable windshift, gaining a useful advantage over the rest of the fleet.

However, by the finish it was Andy Cassell's (who won the gold medal in the class at the 1996 Paralympic sailing demonstration event) Jenny that crossed the line first, 80 seconds ahead of Barter and Suckling, who are themselves starting a Paralympic campaign, and took second place today. The Paralympic Girls Team took third, pushing Peerless into fourth place, just nine seconds ahead of Rosy Jones, who was sailing another ISC boat, Biscuit.

Spare Part took eighth place today, narrowly missing out on a much better position after breaking a jib halyard block. "The team had a fantastic race and the course was really good," says RYA Paralympic Development Coach Matt Grier, who was on board for today's race. "It's still early days for the team – they are only part way through rehab – and it was Craig Wood's [a triple amputee] first experience of helming with the spinnaker up."