#halftonner – Howth half tonner King One finished Ramsgate Week on the East Coast of England last Saturday with five firsts and discarded a second to be top scoring boat of the regatta. The Royal Temple Yacht Club in Ramsgate provided a huge welcome for their first ever Irish entrant which proved hugely popular with competitors and organisers alike.
Skipper Dave Cullen with his crew of Aidan Beggan (main), Andy George (Trim), Grainne Beggan (Pit), Rob Kerley (Bow) and James Hynes (Trim/Tactics) enjoyed a tiring week that had this sociable crew in bed by 11:00pm on some evenings!
The regatta which was sailed in 20-25 knots was split into two, the first being the three day Ramsgate Coastal Series where one long race was sailed each day. In a varied class, King One won two races with one day lost to lack of wind.
Irish visitors – (L-R) Andy George, Rob Kerley, David Cullen, Deirdre Cullen, Grainne Beggan, Aidan Beggan
The second series was the Ramsgate Week Regatta Series and the fleet was enlarged to include the heavy artillery of the Belgian half ton fleet joining in. The series kicked off with the famous Round the Goodwins
offshore race. Sailed in 20-32 knots of breeze, King One won this race with a corrected margin of over half an hour ad enjoyed a fantastic sleigh ride with speeds hitting 15 knots at times. There followed a day with two shorter races and again King One excelled to win both with ease. With the regatta won with a day to spare, the final day became a fantastic match race with hot shot half tonner, General Tapioca from Belgium and the lead changing six times, again with King One taking victory. Whilst this match race was on, Belgian Half Tonner A+ caught up to take first on corrected leaving King One second.
King One was rewarded with a huge haul of trophies, cups and prizes and skipper David Cullen made the competitors' thank you speech at the prize giving presenting Commodore Mike Brand with a HYC burgee to add to their collection.
Next year it is Boulogne for King One for the Half Ton Cup!
