Regatta Report - Cowes Classics
- Class Captain
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Welcome back! It's been a while since we wrote and I owe an apology to Doublet for singularly failing to report on their two convincing winds in breezy conditions on Saturday 24 May. I saw little of it, only briefly the start, but it looked like the kind of lively conditions I love. Rob Bottomley and his team won the first race by nearly 90 seconds over 45 minutes although Dreamer gave them more of a run in the second.
On Sunday 25 May, although everybody was disappointed that the race was cancelled due to high winds and a ferocious sea state, we rescued something from the day by holding a very successful trim clinic. I'm still working on uploading the second two videos, adding subtitles in my spare time; the nascent playlist can be found by clicking the image below.
Cowes Classics Regatta
After much anticipation, 12 boats arrived for the first day of Cowes Classics Regatta, run this year for the first time jointly by the Royal Thames and Royal London Yacht Clubs, under PRO Tim Hancock.
Friday
Friday saw us meet our race team. We would be racing on the Hill Head Plateau under Tony Newberry for each of the three days. On that first day, the tide was turning to ebb as the racing started in a stable SW breeze, with few shifts. Tactically, somewhat at the start but increasingly as the ebb set in, there was benefit to be had in going left up the beat to find slightly deeper water. Approaching near the port layline also limited the effect of any Southampton-bound tide to be found on the starboard layline.
However, in committee vessel racing, other factors were crucial. Starts helped but, most importantly, boats needed to get clean air to sail the race they wanted, and they needed to avoid boat-handling errors. When boats could create situations where they spent time building speed and focussing on telltales, they often advanced through the fleets.
On Day 1, last year's defending champions Darling had an uncharacteristically slow start, while Doublet and Dynamite showed themselves to be contenders. Dauntless however showed a clean pair of heels in both races, getting clean starts and early clean air to take fairly untroubled wins.
Saturday
On Saturday, a strange fog enveloped the whole Island until late in the morning. By the time it cleared, a good sea breeze had picked up which built to a F5 by the time it was done. With the postponement however, the tide state was similar to the day before and tactics were similar. Dauntless' focus on starts slipped in the first, being caught out in some congestion and starting last, while Darling reminded the fleet why they weren't to be written off by bagging a win.
Overall, starts were much more competitive and, with a slight CV bias but left-side gains, the outcomes were much less predictable. All beats were well-fought and the leaders didn't have it easy. Pietro Strada, in famiglia with Dreamer, started to show some fiery upwind pace although boat handling occasionally limited their ambitions.
Nonetheless, Dauntless worked her way to the front again in Races 4 and 5, with the other top places being shared by Darling, Doublet and Dynamite. Those four boats seemed to be the front-runners going into the last day.
I recall some other moments on the Saturday. Darius was seen gift-wrapping their bows, and when they later sent somebody up the mast on the downwind leg, the cause became clear. Dreamer found themselves without jaws on one end of the spinnaker pole and ended up lashing it to the mast and crossing their fingers for no gybes! Streak sadly retired from the last race with problems with their forestay, if I recall correctly.
It was nice to see Jo Manser racing Decoy for the first time. While getting his feet under the table the day before, he was bringing up the rear, but started to make inroads on Saturday and took several places. One to watch!
Sunday
Heavier winds were forecast as the day wore on and so, with it being the last day of the regatta, racing was brought earlier for a rather different tactical situation with a more even, or even slightly right-favoured, beat. On Sunday like on Saturday, runs were much more even and required more gybes.
While winds started moderate, several boats decided that discretion was the better part of valour and opted not to race, and only eight started. Credit must go to the Darius team who not only went out 3-up with one relative novice but flew the kite all the way!
Between races an unfortunate incident led to one boat receiving significant rig damage and being towed home. Without going into details of the incident, it goes to show that you cannot switch off after the race finishes. Sandwiches need to be eaten, spinnakers packed, gear spun; but the water isn't empty and care must be taken. It also reminds me that, whatever COLREGS say, more often than not it takes two to cause a collision.
Back to the circuit and, with yet more competitive beats and lots of gybes on the runs, we had excellent racing. Again, the top few places were consistent, with only Doublet having a late blip for her worst result (6th) and Defender showing good speed and racing instincts to take a second. Dauntless wrapped up the weekend with another pair of wins, bagging her the regatta overall and a major boost to her season's points.
That's all for now. See you in a couple of weeks for the Cory Cup, the RTYC 250th Anniversary, and the first round of the 2025 Cowes Keelboat Championships!
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