The third and final day of the Vice Admiral's Cup organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club produced a dramatic finale in two classes. A light northerly breeze succumbed to a solid southwersterly air flow which built during the afternoon, as did the tension, especially in the 10-strong Fast40+ Class and the 12-strong Quarter Tonner Class. Race Officers, Stuart Childereley and Rob Lamb organised two races for their respective fleets, completing the eight race series for all six classes.
Fast40+ Class
Bill Coates' Texan Ker 43, Otra Vez was kicking himself after racing today, having been called back in both races for crossing the line too early. “I told you if you make a mistake, this fleet punishes you and they did, two 'over earlies' today meant we threw away the class win but this has been fantastic racing and we will be back for more.” Peter Morton's British Carkeek40 Girls On Film scored a win and a second place to snatch the title on the last race. Mike Bartholomew's South African GP42, Tokoloshe was third by less than a point.
“This event has been going since 2005 and it is great to see it is in good shape and in good hands.” commented Peter Morton, who was one of the founders of the event. “My congratulations to all of the winning teams and also to the Race Officers and their teams who did a fantastic job. The Fast40+ class is some of the best racing we have had in the Solent for years and we hope that it is going to get bigger and better.
HP30 Class
Thorkild Juncker's Danish, Open 7.50 Cool Runnings revelled in the conditions today to win both races by a healthy margin but Lloyd Thornburg's Farr 280, FOMO scored two second places to win the class by three points; Malcolm Wooton's Farr 30, Pegasus was third.
“That is the first time I have got in a machine like that since my college days” smiled Lloyd Thornburg. “It was great , very challenging but surprisingly fun and very powered up. She goes off the wind. This is something of a laugh and primarily to race in Cowes Week but I have to say we have done more starts this weekend then I have done with the MOD70 all year.”
SB20 Class
In the SB20 Class, Forelle Estates, helmed by Joe Llewellyn kept up their perfect score line with two more bullets to win the class with a perfect score. Charles Sheppard racing Sharc and McAdam & Whelan racing Here come Bod, had a tremendous battle for second place, which was won by Charlie Sheppard.
J/111 Class
The intense competition in the J/111 Class continued right until the last race with virtually every one of the eight race series being decided by seconds. Overnight leader Stuart Sawyer's Black Dog could only manage a sixth place in the last race but just hung on to win the class on countback from Cornel Riklin's Jitterbug. The young team on Martin Dent's JElvis scored a second place in the last race to come third in class, just a point ahead of Tony Mack's McFly.
“Fantastic, close racing, which is just what we need” smiled Stuart Sawyer. “This is a big year for the J/111 UK fleet, we have the J-Cup, The National and the World Championships to look forward to and the Vice Admiral's Cup has been a great event to start our season and we have done better than I expected.”
J/109 Class
Robert Stiles' Diamond Jem had another great day, posting two wins to win the class by a big margin. David Richards' Jumping Jellyfish was second and Simon Perry's Jiraffe finished the regatta in third place.
Quarter Tonner Class
Sam Laidlaw's Aguila retained their class win from last year. In a highly completive class, Aguila won the very last race to take the series by a half point. Aguila designed by Ralph Vrolick in 1990 was helmed by Sam Laidlaw; all of his crew, from the Isle of Wight, were not born when the boat was built. Louise Morton's Bullit had led the regatta from the first day and agonisingly lost the title by just half a point.
“Very tough close racing” summed up Sam Laidlaw. “ I felt that we were capable of beating them in both races but if it hadn't been for Magnum Evolution getting between us, we would have lost by half a point, so we were very fortunate in that respect. This fleet produces really close racing, which is also good fun and bodes well for the Quarter Ton Cup.”
RORC Commodore, Michael Boyd officiated at the Prize Giving at the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Cowes Clubhouse. He thanked all of the competitors for coming and showed appreciation for the RORC Race Team, especially the number of volunteers who give up their free time. Racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club continues with the Myth of Malham offshore race, on Saturday 28 May.
