Intrepid keelboats

Cowes fleet brave the elements

A small, but intrepid, fleet battled through gales and driving rain for the second Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship weekend on 20-21 May. Blustery conditions with gales on the Saturday and driving rain on the Sunday provided a challenge for the Etchells, Daring, and Dragon fleets for the second weekend of the 2006 Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Championship.

On Saturday, with the wind gusting to 30 knots, and even more forecast, race officer Mike Brinton of Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club decided against a committee boat start in the Solent. Instead he offered a start from the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club line for any boat daring to participate, although points from this race will not count towards the final results of the series. 

Three Etchells and five Darings turned up for a single race, with 1333 taking first place and Ray of Light second in the Etchells. In the Darings, Defender took pole position with Dauntless second and Defiant third.

With 17-22 knots from the south, Sunday produced what might have been more suitable conditions, were it not for the persistent driving rain. A select group of 13 competitors – five Etchells, and four each of Dragons and Darings – braved the start line. 

In the Etchells fleet, Bedrock gained two convincing firsts, with 1333 and Ray of Light gaining two seconds and two thirds respectively. The first start saw the closest of scrums right next to the committee boat, allowing Ray of Light to get well clear off the line, but by the first run Bedrock was a clear three lengths ahead of the tightly bunched remainder of the fleet. At the end of the 40-minute race, the entire fleet crossed the line within 50 seconds. With the rain continuing to lash the competitors, a shorter course was set for the second race. The top three places were taken by the same boats, in the same order, but by the finish the fleet was well spaced out compared to the first race.

In the first Daring race, Dynamite and Defiant were off the line first, but by the bottom mark Audax had gained an eight second lead over the tightly bunched fleet. The second beat saw the fleet split, with Defiant and Defender taking the right side of the course, while Audax and Dynamite choose to go left. Audax, however, didn’t hold her lead, finishing five seconds behind Dynamite, but with Defiant a clear winner. In the second race Defiant and Dynamite repeated their respective first and second places. 

In the Dragon class Rumours was first away from the line, passing close to the committee boat at full speed. At the start of the second beat 996 was leading Njord by 10 seconds, followed by Rumours a further 10 seconds back and Jerboa chasing hard just 5 seconds away. The fleet remained in this order to the finish, with the exception that gear failure forced Njord to retire. Rumours won the second race, with 996 second. 

The next week of racing for the Red Funnel Cowes Keelboat Champions will be on 10-11 June, with the racing organised by the Royal Thames Yacht Club.