Day three of the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup 2023 at Torquay brought yet more ultra-shifty and variable breeze, this time from the northwest quadrant, which built from around six knots at the start of racing to sixteen by the finish, clocking right throughout the day.

Denmark’s Bo Johansen in Déjà Vu Ver 2.0 led from the outset of the third race and took victory by an impressive margin. Behind him the fight for second was fierce with Andy Beadsworth’s Turkish Provezza Dragon ultimately finishing second and Lawrie Smith’s Alfie third.

In the overall standings Smith, who is sailing for the Glandore Yacht Club, has consolidated his overall lead and now has a fifteen-point delta over his nearest rivals. Behind him the rankings are much tighter with Switzerland’s Wolf Waschkuhn, who finished twelfth in the race, one point ahead of third placed Xavier Vanneste of Belgium, who finished eighth. Beadsworth’s second place puts him in fourth overall, two points behind Vanneste and four ahead of Bo Johansen in fifth.

Ireland's Neil Hegarty from Dun Laoghaire is lying 20th, Jonathan Bourtke 32nd and Kinsale's Brian Goggin 46th. Results here.

After racing Bo Johansen was very pleased with his team’s performance, saying, “It was fantastic, the start was very narrow and we got over to the right side and then we just got in front of all the boats and then it was just a case of stay ahead and don’t do anything! It was shifting about 15 to 20 degrees to the right side, so it was more fair to be on the right.”.

The forecast for the day had only offered wind in the afternoon so Race Officer Stuart Childerley had delayed racing by two hours until 14:00. With much fresher conditions and vastly improved visibility over the first two days, the fleet ran down to the racecourse under blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The backdrop for racing was also more scenic with the spectacular English Riviera and Devon’s rolling hills sparkling in the sun.

Racing got underway at the first attempt, but with Peter Gilmour and Germany’s Magdalena Grundt both individually recalled and forced to return under spinnaker. The wind was still light and shifty, the tide was running fairly evenly right to left across the course, and the fleet was clearly undecided on which way to go so were soon spread across the bay. Once again those on the right gained and Bo Johansen had made the best of it to take a generous lead early on. Following him around the first mark were Finland’s Lauri Rechardt, Lawrie Smith, Sweden’s Jan Secher and Germany’s Stephan link.

By the end of the first run Johansen had extended his lead further, Rechardt and Smith held their positions, Link had pulled up into fourth and Salcombe based David Tabb into fifth with Secher now sixth and Beadsworth seventh.

On the second lap Johansen had opened up his lead even further. Smith had held second place for four of the five legs and looked reasonably secure rounding the bottom mark, but with the wind building and still shifting right Beadsworth was determined to reel him in, and the pack was pressing hard.

On the line Johansen won in spectacular style, but the fight for second would go all the way. Smith did all he could but as they came to the line, it was Beadsworth who took second with Smith third, Secher fourth, Skolaut fifth, Link sixth, Tabb seventh, Vanneste eighth and Rechard ninth.

After racing Christoph Skolaut said, “It was a really good race, we started bad and had to make a turn before the starting line because we had no space, but went to the right side and then we came around tenth at the first mark. Then we went down to the right side, went a little bit faster than the other. After this our position was quite stable. We picked the right buoy at the last gate and went to the right side and gained I think two or three boats on the last leg. So we’re very happy.”.

One of the most impressive performances of the day came from Peter Gilmour and his team who sailed like demons to make up for their disastrous OCS. On every leg they pulled up places and at the finish they crossed in thirteenth place, which puts them into sixth overall and still very much in contention for a podium finish.

Fifth placed Christoph Skolaut was the first Corinthian boat across the line with David Tabb second and Guus de Groot of the Netherlands third. At the midpoint in the regatta Skolaut now leads the Corinthian Division from Tabb with de Groot third.

David Tabb commented, “We’re really pleased, we went around mostly around seventh, thought we got up to sixth, dropped back to seventh and just a bit of backwards and forwards but very competitive. We’re good in the light stuff but struggling a bit because we’re underweight in the heavier stuff. It’s a lovely place to sail, it feels a bit like home when you’re from Salcombe!”

In the Nations Cup for the three boat national teams the UK team of Lawrie Smith, Grant Gordon and David Tabb continues to lead the pack. Germany’s Jan Woortman, Olaf Sternel and Stephan Link are second with Ireland’s Neil Hegarty, Brian Goggin and Jonathan Bourke third.

The forecast for Wednesday’s fourth race is that there will be wind early in the day, but that it is likely to die off by the afternoon. The Race Committee has announced that it intends to start the fourth race at 09:30 to take advantage of the early breeze. Three races remain to be sailed between now and the conclusion of the regatta on Friday 15 September and the result of all races count. 

PROVISIONAL TOP FIVE AFTER THREE RACES

• 1st - Lawrie Smith, GBR815, Alfie - 1, 1, 3 = 4
• 2nd - Wolf Waschkuhn, SUI318, 1quick1 - 4, 4, 12 = 20
• 3rd - Xavier Vanneste, BEL82, Herbie - 5, 8, 8 = 21
• 4th - Andy Beadsworth, TUR12, Provezza Dragon - 16, 6, 2 = 24
• 5th - Bo Johansen, DEN423, Deja Vu Ver. 2.0 - 2, 24, 1 = 27

The second day of racing at the Dragon Gold Cup 2023 in Torquay brought an intensely fought second race and more than a few dramatic incidents.

Just as the race was about to get underway a call came over the VHF to announce that one of the competitors had fallen overboard by the pin mark. The Race Committee immediately announced a short postponement and tasked RIBs to assist. Fortunately, the competitor was rapidly back in his boat, a towel and some dry clothes were found, and they went on to race.

As soon as the man overboard was resolved, the race committee went back into action. With a slight current pushing the boats over the line, it took three attempts to get the fleet away, the third under a black flag. Caught out by that black flag were GBR192 Graham Bailey and GBR831 Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, who headed home for a leisurely lunch.

For the rest of the fleet, a two and a half mile beat across the mouth of Torbay in a very shifty and variable southwesterly lay ahead of them. At the weather mark, it was SUI313 Dirk Oldenburg that led the pack, closely followed by POR90 Michael Zankel, GER1221 Jan Wortman, SWE800 Jan Secher, GRB820 Grant Gordon, GBR815 Lawrie Smith, GBR682 Eric Williams, GER62 Stephan Link and TUR12 Andy Beadsworth.

Oldenburgh held his lead down the first run, while Secher pulled up into second with Gordon third. Beadsworth and Zankel rounded neck and neck, with Beadsworth taking the starboard gate and Zankel the port. Williams and Link also rounded simultaneously on opposite buoys with Smith right on Link’s heels.

The wind was going right, and the committee had signalled a change of course with the weather mark now just off Berry Head. With the breeze all over the show and anything from 5 to 12 knots, it was nip and tuck between the leading group all the way up the beat, but as they came round the mark Smith was ahead of Secher, Gordon, Oldenburgh, Zankel, Beadsworth and Williams.

As the leaders hoisted and took off down the run the remainder of the fleet was still coming in on the port lay line. Unfortunately, one of the up-bound boats, Stephan Schutze’s GER883, failed to keep clear and caught Smith’s rig, dismasting both boats. Although Schutze did the correct thing and formally retired, back ashore Smith went to the jury to request redress and was awarded average points.

The remaining pack continued to battle it out and places changed constantly. On the final beat Zankel got ahead and finished the race with a ten second lead. Behind him Secher beat Oldenburgh by inches, with Waschkuhn fourth, Beadsworth fifth, Gordon sixth and Williams seventh, all within a few seconds of each other. Belgium’s Xavier Vanneste had another good day and finished in eighth.

Michael Zankel was delighted with their performance today saying, “We had a very good day and we finished first. We got a good start and were always on the right side. At the last mark we were third or fourth and then we managed it. The sailing was very hard. We have a very good boat. It’s not our boat, we chartered it, and we have new sails from 8D Sails, which we’re using for the first time here. And it works, but we have four more days, and we will see at the end.”.

Jan Secher was also a happy man and commented, “It’s been a good day for us. We came in second with a very tight finish, really it was centimetres apart, but we’re really happy. It was quite shifty, not quite as shifty as yesterday when we had a big righty come through and we didn’t have quite the same shifts today. It was really flukey, both in terms of direction and pressure, in particular the end of, the second run when we ran out of wind at the end. We didn’t have a super good day yesterday, so this gets us back in there, we’re sitting in tenth overall and its very tight, which it normally is at the beginning of the regatta. We’re looking forward to the rest of it, great racing, really good administration and a great race committee.”.

Although Zankel won the race, Smith’s first day win means that currently his average points give him two first places, so in the overall standings with two races now completed he continues to lead the regatta. Wolf Waschkuhn’s fourth puts him second overall, with Xavier Vanneste now lying third with a fifth and an eighth. Peter Gilmour had a steady day adding a twelfth to yesterday’s third, putting him into fourth overall, with Grant Gordon fifth.

Speaking immediately after racing Wolf Waschkuhn said, “We have two fourths now so we are first or second, as if Lawrie is reinstated it will be second. There were big holes in the course, especially in the middle. If you were caught in the middle, then you stayed in the doldrums and that was a problem. We got a very good start, probably leading the fleet together with Provezza, then lost the lead and had to play catch up over the course of the race, and eventually came fourth, a decent result. The Gold Cup is all about consistency and so far, we’re consistent.”.

Dirk Oldenburgh also acknowledged what a challenging day it had been, “We had a very good day, a difficult day and successful day, especially after we had a difficult, not successful day yesterday. The conditions were better today, it was tricky, it was difficult, the waves were difficult, the sea state was difficult, and the shifts were difficult, but overall we were happy and lucky!”

In the Corinthian division the day’s top performer was GBR763 Simon Barter, with GBR818 David Tabb second and GER1113 Thomas Scherer third. In the overall Corinthian standings Barter now leads the fleet from Holland’s Guus de Groot and Britain’s David Tabb.

Simon Barter commented, “Overall it’s been great. We’ve had tremendous conditions, challenging, and the quality of the fleet is exception. We feel that if we are in the top half of the field, we’re doing a good job so we’re very pleased with where we got to. There were lots of shifts out there today and the most important thing was just keeping your eyes out of the boat and having the courage of your convictions to sit through a difficult patch knowing you could try and get somewhere there was a bit more breeze.”.

Alongside the overall and Corinthian results, there is also a special ranking for the top-performing national teams. The teams are set based on the top three performing boats from each nation in the opening race. After two races the United Kingdon team, comprising Lawrie Smith, Grant Gordon and David Tabb, leads the Nations Cup from the German team of Jan Woortman, Olaf Sternel and Stephan Link, with Ireland’s Neil Hegarty, Brian Goggin and Jonathan Bourke third.

For day three light airs are forecast for the morning with the breeze building in the afternoon, so the Race Committee has announced that the start of race three will be postponed from noon until 2 p.m. Four races remain to be sailed between now and the conclusion of the regatta on Friday 15 September and the result of all races count.

PROVISIONAL TOP FIVE AFTER TWO RACES

• 1st - Lawrie Smith, GBR815, Alfie - 1, 1 = 2
• 2nd - Wolf Waschkuhn, SUI318, 1quick1 - 4, 4 = 8
• 3rd - Xavier Vanneste, BEL82, Herbie - 5, 8 = 13
• 4th - Peter Gilmour, JPN56, YRed - 3, 12 = 15
• 5th - Grant Gordon, GBR820, Louise Racing - 12, 6 = 18

Results are here

Glandore Yacht Club’s Lawrie Smith, the 2015 Gold Cup and 2011 Dragon World Champion, and this season's Edinburgh Cup champion, emerged victorious in the Børge Børresen Memorial Trophy after a gruelling 10-mile-long windward leeward course in challenging conditions.

From Ireland, Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring and David Williams from the Royal St.George Yacht Club finished 24th, and Brian Goggin, Sean Murphy and Daniel Murphy from Kinsale Yacht Club were 31st. 

Despite leading at the first mark, Smith faced tough competition from half a dozen other contenders, with the race lead changing hands frequently. It was only on the final beat into the line that Smith was able to regain control and cross ahead of Denmark’s Bo Johansen. Japan’s Y-Red Yanmar Racing Team helmed by Peter Gilmour came in third, with reigning Dragon World and European Champion Wolf Waschkuhn of Switzerland finishing fourth.

The Royal Torbay Yacht Club Race Committee, led by Race Officer Stuart Childerly, faced a forecast of mainly light airs with the possibility of wind building for a period during the afternoon and clocking round to the right. The wind did exactly that, going from five to fifteen knots and through almost ninety degrees as the race progressed. Stuart and his team did an excellent job of keeping on top of the shifts and moving the marks to ensure each of the legs was as true as possible.

The fleet got away at the first time of asking, but Britain’s Mark Dicker, Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, and Tom Hill were all called over the line and had to return. Wilkinson-Cox made an impressive comeback, fighting her way back up to nineteenth place, a considerable feat in a fleet of this quality. After the race, she commented, “We’re well pleased with our boat speed, we just need not to start on the ‘ladies’ tee,’ to use a golfing analogy!”

PROVISIONAL TOP FIVE AFTER ONE RACE

• 1st - Lawrie Smith, GBR815, Alfie - 1 = 1
• 2nd - Bo Johansen, DEN423, Deja vu ver, 2.0 - 2 = 2
• 3rd - Peter Gilmour, JPN56, YRed - 3 = 3
• 4th - Wolf Waschkuhn, SUI318, 1quick1 - 4 = 4
• 5th - Xavier Vanneste, BEL82, Herbie - 5 = 5

Four Irish Dragon keelboats are in the hunt for the Gold Cup 2023 this weekend in Torquay.

Hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club (RTYC), the regatta will officially begin with an Opening Ceremony on the Harbourside at 18:00 on Saturday, 9 September, followed by a Welcome Reception at the RTYC. Championship racing will run from Sunday 10 to Friday 15 September.

With 50 teams from across Europe, Asia, and Australasia and some of the top Dragon sailors in the World competing, the event will follow the traditional and infamously challenging Gold Cup format of six days racing with one single long windward leeward race each day and all races to count.

British Olympian and America’s Cup veteran Lawrie Smith, sailing Alfie is, entered under the burgee of Glandore Yacht Club in West Cork. 

From Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay, former national champions Peter Bowring, Neil Hegarty (Helm) and David Williams are racing. Also from the bay, Jonathan Jonathan and Barry O'Sullivan from the National Yacht Club sailing Full Speed are in action.

From Kinsale, and with the 2024 Gold Cup heading there next September, Daniel Murphy, Sean Murphy, and Brian Goggin will fly the KYC flag in Whisper this weekend in Torquay.

The Dragon Gold Cup is one of the most famous trophies in yachting and is raced for annually at venues across Europe. Quoting from the original 1937 Gold Cup Rules created by the Clyde Yacht Club’s Conference when they presented the Gold Cup, the intention of the competition is to “bring together as many competitors of different nationalities as possible in a friendly spirit”. With 14 countries from 3 continents represented and full professional to all family crews racing, this edition most certainly meets that criterion.

Torquay is a popular venue with superb racing waters, a welcoming and very experienced host club, and all the delights of the English Riviera. On behalf of the RTYC, Commodore James Clapham looks forward to welcoming the sailors; “We are delighted that the Dragon Gold Cup is returning to Torquay. Our club’s association with the class goes right back to the early days of Dragons in the UK and includes hosting the sailing for the 1948 Olympics, in which the Dragon featured, the Gold Cup in 1995 and the Edinburgh Cup no less than ten times between 1952 and 2018. Our volunteer team has been working for over two years to prepare the event and we are excited that those plans are finally coming to fruition. Torbay offers outstanding racing, our race committee is well-practised, and we are looking forward to working with Race Officer Stuart Childerley, who knows our waters well. Our hospitality, bar and restaurant teams are also at the ready to ensure the event is one that everyone will remember both afloat and ashore.”

With a host of top names participating competition will be fierce. Fresh from victory at the recent 75th Dragon Edinburgh Cup comes British Olympian and America’s Cup veteran Lawrie Smith, sailing Alfie for Glandore Yacht Club. Smith will be joined by his fellow Edinburgh Cup podium finishers, four-time World Match Racing Champion and New Zealand sailing legend Peter Gilmour of the Yanmar Racing Team, and Grant Gordon’s Louise Racing Team sailing for the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Reigning World and European Champion Wolf Waschkuhn will be hoping to achieve the elusive treble of holding the World, European and the Gold Cup trophies simultaneously. Other big names to watch out for include three-time Dragon World Champion Andy Beadsworth, sailing the Turkish Provezza Dragon, who took the silver medal at last year’s Gold Cup; 2019 Gold Cup winner Pedro Andrade from Portugal; and 2017 champion Stephan Link from Germany.

Registration and launching for the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup 2023 will take place from Thursday, 7 September to Saturday, 9 September, with a practice race scheduled for Saturday. Gold Cup championship racing will run from Sunday, 10 to Friday, 15 September, with a total of six races scheduled.

Cameron Good, Simon Furney and Henry Kingston sailing ‘Little Fella’ maintained their lead to defend their Irish National Dragon Championship in Kinsale on Sunday (27 August).

The host club leaders finished with a four-point margin after a total of seven races sailed Dublin Bay’s Phantom, sailed by Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring and David Williams of the Royal St George YC.

Third in the 17-boat fleet were Kinsale Yacht Club’s Tenacious, sailed by Anthony O’Neill, Arthur Mehigan and Eoghan O'Neill, who pipped the day one leaders Whisper, sailed by Brian Goggin, Daniel Murphy and Sean Murphy, thanks to their single bullet and two third-place results.

This year's national championship gave a taster to all competitors to what racing will be like for the much anticipated Dragon Gold Cup to be held in Kinsale next year.

The crew of Little Fella (Cameron Good, Simon Furney and Henry Kingston) and KYC Dragon class captains Brian Goggin and Daniel Murphy of Cantor Fitzgerald. Little Fella won the Dragon National Championship for the second year in a row Photo: Dave Cullinane

Defending Champions Cameron Good, Simon Furney and Henry Kingston sailing 'Little Fella' have moved into the lead at the Irish National Dragon Championships in Kinsale on Friday (25 August).

The host club leaders have a five-point margin after five races sailed over Dublin Bay's Phantom sailed by Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring and David Williams of the Royal St George YC.

Third in the 17-boat fleet are the day one leaders Whisper, sailed by Brian Goggin, Daniel Murphy and Sean Murphy.

Racing continues on Saturday.

Second overall - Dublin Bay's Phantom sailed by Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring and David Williams of the Royal St George YC Photo: Bob Bateman

Whisper — sailed by Daniel Murphy, his brother Sean and Brian Goggin — tops the fleet after the first day of racing in the Irish National Dragon Championships in Kinsale on Thursday (24 August).

The home team scored a bullet in the first race with a fourth-place finish in the second, enough to put them ahead of the Royal St George’s Phantom (Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring & David Williams) who placed second and third respectively. Both are on five nett points.

Little Fella, another Kinsale YC home entry and last year’s championship winner, is in third after a stronger performance in the second race, second over their previous fifth.

The highly touted Jaguar Sailing Team from the Royal St George is much further down the table in eighth place after a disastrous second race which saw them trailing most of the fleet in 15th.

Racing continues on Friday (25 August).

Dragon National Championships 2023 Photo Gallery Day One at Kinsale Yacht Club By Bob Bateman

Lawrie Smith’s Alfie from Glandore Harbour Yacht Club, crewed by Richard Parslow, Goncalo Ribeiro and Ruairidh Scott, is 75th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix 2023 Champion.

Peter Gilmour’s YRED of the Japanese Yanmar Sailing Team takes second place overall and wins the new Britannia Trophy for the yacht with the best score without discard.

Defending champion Andy Beadsworth sailing Provezza Dragon completes the overall podium in third place.

Chris Grosscurth’s Fit Chick from the Medway, crewed by Jono Brown and Emma York, wins the Corinthian all amateur Edinburgh Cup Trophy.

The fifth and final race of the 75th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix was reminiscent of the great 12 Metre battles of the America’s Cup, as two of the World’s most talented sailors went head-to-head. Going into the race four-time World Match Racing Champion and America’s Cup helm Peter Gilmour and Britain’s Olympic Bronze Medallist, America’s Cup helm and Whitbread Race veteran Lawrie Smith knew that, allowing for discard, they were on equal points, each counting two firsts and a second.

After a three-hour delay to allow strong winds and big seas to abate and with a south easterly of 15 to 22 knots blowing down a two-mile beat, war was declared. Pre-start they were clearly sizing each other up, both started at the pin end with Smith slightly ahead and to weather. At the first mark Smith led the race with Gilmour right on his tail. Passing opportunities were few and far between due to a heavily left biased beat, and although Gilmour kept pressing, when Smith still held the lead as the boats turned onto the final run you might have been forgiven for thinking it was all over.

Gilmour was like a dog with a bone though, forcing Smith to pull out his best defensive moves as they constantly traded gybes. Nearing the final leeward mark on starboard Gilmour spotted his moment and took advantage of a timely wave and gust to surge level to leeward. In classic match racing style voices were raised and kites flapped as Gilmour and his team worked to press home their hard-fought gain.

But Smith is not an easy man to suppress and at the leeward gate, although Gilmour rounded first by mere seconds, Smith was able to claim the favoured left hand mark forcing Gilmour into the stronger tide for longer and requiring him to make one more tack on the beat. As they came to the line Smith had regained the upper hand crossing just seconds ahead of Gilmour to claim his second Edinburgh Cup win. Crossing the line behind the leading pair came Andy Beadsworth’s Turkish Provezza Dragon, securing him the final step on the podium.

After racing Alfie’s Ruairidh Scott commented, “We just had one race today. There were very strong winds this morning and east going tide made it pretty un-sailable first thing, but when the tide switched the seas moderated and the wind calmed down a bit. So we got one race in this afternoon which was a nice race. The situation meant that the title was between ourselves and Peter Gilmour, so unsurprisingly we started close to each other but we managed to get the better of the start. But Gilly and his team on YRED came into us on both runs and in the end, I think there was maybe only two to three boat lengths in it after a two hour race.”

L-R - RYS Rear Commodore Yachting Bruce Huber presents Emma York, Jono Brown and Chris Grosscurth with the Corinthian Edinburgh Cup Trophy and IDA Championship Coordinator Martin Payne presents them with the UK Dragon Grand Prix prize

In the Corinthian Division Chris Grosscurth’s Fit Chick team won by a single point from Ireland’s Martin Byrne. Simon Barter’s Bertie, of the local Solent fleet, took third place on countback alone from Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen.

The regatta concluded with a spectacular 75th Edinburgh Cup Gala Dinner sponsored by The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust. The competitors and their guests assembled on the Squadron Platform for predinner Hendrick Gin Neptunia Fizz cocktails, before moving to the Pavilion for dinner and the prize presentations.

Kinsale Yacht Club is gearing up to host the Irish National Dragon Championships next weekend, which is set to attract boats from the UK, Dublin Bay and Glandore, who will join the strong local Kinsale fleet.

The event, sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, promises to be a thrilling competition with last year's champions, "Little Fella" helmed by Cameron Good, looking to defend their crown on home waters. However, they won't have it their own way with "TBD" showing early form and winning the South Coasts in Kinsale earlier this season. Other competitors to look out for include Royal St. George's "Phantom" (Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring & David Williams), International Dragon Sailor Martin Byrne, and the Jaguar sailing team, who are rushing back from the Edinburgh Cup to make the start line on time. 

Regatta Director Maeve Cotter is keeping a close eye on the activities as Kinsale Yacht Club will also host the prestigious Gold Cup in September 2024. "We are treating the Nationals this year as a warmup for the Gold Cup next September and are delighted to have principal race officer Con Murphy oversee proceedings," she commented. The racing will take place on the Gold Cup course, well outside the harbor, giving competitors a taste of what they can expect next year. 

"Daniel Murphy and Cantor Fitzgerald are instrumental sponsors of the event, with Kinsale Yacht Club hugely indebted to their significant sponsorship," Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Matthias Hellstern told Afloat.

Daniel, a well-known Dragon sailor, will sail on "Whisper" together with his brother Sean and Brian Goggin. The event is set to kick off next Thursday (August 24th), and the organisers are optimistic that it will be a successful and entertaining competition for all involved.

There were big gains and big losses across the fleet as teams battled variable shifting breezes and strong tides on the penultimate day of the 75th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix in Cowes.

Two bullets have given Peter Gilmour a six-point overall lead. The early leader Lawrie Smith drops down into second, with Grant Gordon holding third.

Peter Cunningham jumps up from tenth to fourth overall, while a favourite Andy Beadsworth is Black Flagged in race four.

Ireland's Martin Byrne is lying second in the Corinthian division.

Winning the Dragon Edinburgh Cup has always been regarded as one of the great challenges in one design keelboat sailing, and this 75th edition is proving as challenging as any of its predecessors. Having spent a windless second day ashore, the 41-strong fleet was back out in the Central Solent today for races three and four of the eight-race series, and what cracking races they were. The wind was in the southeast quadrant, shifty and ranging from 10 to 15 knots with occasional short bursts up to 18. With the exception of the first race, a building ebb tide made left the obvious way to go upwind, but how far left was the big question.

Peter Gilmour’s was the team of the day, claiming two impressive wins and jumping from fourth to first overall. For others though, it was a day of mixed fortunes, with some leaping up the scoreboard and others tumbling down.

Talking through their day back ashore, Peter Gilmour said, “We obviously had a pretty good day. We started well in both races. Sam did a really nice job of setting a current strategy. It’s always tricky out there and we followed it to the T and it really seemed to work well for us. In the first race we got out to the right in the flood tide and got pushed up to the top mark, and we led around there and won that race. And then in the next race we got over to the left and the relief from the ebb and it made a big difference. In the first race we started at the committee boat and in the second at the pin end, and that very much reflected on where we wanted to go. I think if you can start well and keep your nose ahead and not have a boat underneath you pinching, it gives you a great opportunity to sneak out and just get that first cross which is what we got in the first race.”

Overnight leader Lawrie Smith didn’t fare so well in race three, finishing twelfth, but came back in race two with a second to put him six points behind Gilmour in second. Grant Gordon went into the day in third and came out in third thanks to a ninth and fourth, and now sits three points behind Smith.

Peter Cunningham was the big mover of the day as he and his team found their rhythm in the boat and got to grips with those ever-tricky Solent tides. Race three saw them take second place behind Gilmour and they followed it up with a third in race four, shooting up the overall standings from tenth to fourth.

Also having a good day was Jan Secher whose seventh and fifth put him onto equal points with Cunningham and fifth overall on countback. “We had two good solid races so we’re super happy with that as it’s a really good fleet. Long races though so we’re pretty tired after two races of five legs. But a good day” – Jan Secher

Inevitably when one boat gains another loses, and it was defending Edinburgh Cup Champion Andy Beadsworth who lost out most today. He went into the day in second and tied on points with Grant Gordon. A third in race three put him jointly at the top of the leader board with Gilmour. Sadly, though he fell foul of the black flag in race four and was disqualified, tumbling him down into twelfth overall. No doubt he will be keen to see the single discard introduced after the fifth race.

Likewise falling down the rankings, although not quite so dramatically, was Gavia Wilkinson-Cox. She took a fourth in race three and approached the first weather mark of race four in fifth place, but with a strong foul tide running another boat misjudged its approach, ending up in irons and forcing Wilkinson-Cox to bail out losing her at least ten places. Despite her best efforts she could only finish seventeenth so drops from fifth to sixth in the standings.

In the Corinthian Division overnight leaders Chris Grosscurth and Martin Byrne had solid days and remain in first and second respectively, but Simon Barter has leapfrogged over Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen to move into third. Hong Kong-based William Swigart and his crew had never sailed Dragons before this event and chartered a boat specially to compete. They’d also never sailed in the Solent before. After a quick crash course in both Dragon sailing and complex tidal currents, nothing was going to hold them back, and they finished sixth in race four to round out the Corinthian top five going into the final day.

Will Swigart is based in Hong Kong but hails from California and is a Star sailor of long-standing. He and fellow Star sailors David Ceasar of Canada and Arthur Anosov from the Ukraine decided that the opportunity to sail in the 75th Edinburgh Cup was too good to miss. David Ceasar explains, “We saw this was the 75th Anniversary and thought it was going to be a great event in a great venue, so we decided this was the perfect time to strike, charter a boat and see what Dragon sailing is all about. They are wonderful boats, they set up really nicely, and they love the breeze which we like. We ended up sixth in the second race today.”

With two-mile legs the races are long and test the competitors’ physical and mental endurance. 

Up to four races remain to be sailed on the final day and once five races have been completed the single-race discard will come into play. This is likely to bring significant place changes as all but three of the top competitors are carrying double-figure results.

The forecast for the final day is wet and windy, with nineteen to thirty knots from the east in the morning. By lunchtime, the wind should start to abate, clocking to east-south-east, and the rain will ease, so the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Race Committee is hopefully that whilst completing the full eight-race programme is not realistic, they should nonetheless achieve two more races to decide the winners. A single-scoring discard will be introduced once five races have been completed.