Around the buoys

A report from the Euro Gay Cup in Cowes

Boatox used their home advantage to win the third annual Euro Gay Cup by one point from team Gust Do It, the winners in 2002.

This is the second year running that a team from members of the Gay UK Sailing Team (GUST) have won the event, although this year the winning crew was aided by a member of the Australian team who won the gold medal at the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney.

The regatta was held at Cowes, Isle of Wight and attracted 32 competitors from the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and Australia. The event was hosted by the Island Sailing Club who organised the racing and their fleet of matched Sonar keelboats provided the competitors with a unique opportunity to enjoy Solent racing.

"We had a fantastic weekend" said Alex Diez, President of GUST. "The Island Sailing Club was very welcoming and their organisation was superb which enabled us to have some excellent racing."

Races used Olympic-style windward-leeward courses in spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions and while competitors enjoyed the sunshine over the weekend, the variable Force 2-3 winds made awareness of the Solent tides paramount. In the final race on Sunday the wind died as the cloud increased, leaving all competitors closely bunched on the same leg of the course as they fought the tide to get round the buoys.

"We really enjoyed the weekend in Cowes," said Willem Ann Hoekstra from the Netherlands. "It was a great opportunity to meet and compete with gay sailors from around the world and visit the home of yachting in the UK with so many boats. The competition was intense but friendly and we found it challenging to get used to the strong Solent tides which we don't experience at home".

The Euro Gay Cup is part of a trio of international gay sailing events in Europe, the USA and Australia endorsed by the international gay sailing organisation, GLORY (Gay and Lesbian Organisation for Racing and Yachting) which represents over 2000 members of existing gay sailing organisations worldwide. The next Euro Gay Cup is scheduled to take place in France in late summer 2004.

Results

Pos	TEAM	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Tot
1	BOATOX	1	1	2	1	6	5
2	GUST DO IT	DNF	2	1	2	1	6
3	VCL EGALITE	2	OCS	5	8	2	17
4	GUSTY SPRINGFIELD	DNF	3	3	6	5	17
5	SHAGTACTICS	3	6	4	4	8	17
6	GROTE GEGRILDE GRAAT	DNF	4	6	3	7	20
7	VCL LIBERTE	4	OCS	OCS	5	3	21
8	DOCKERS	DNF	5	7	7	4	23