The form book

We look at how the British trials for the Rolex Commodores' Cup are shaping up ahead of this weekend's decider

This weekend sees the final stage of the UK’s Rolex Commodore’s Cup trials take place, with the fleet competing at the Mees Pierson IRC Nationals on the Solent.

Following the first set of inshore races, held in light winds a couple of weeks ago, and last weekends RORC race, The Myth of Malham Trophy, the form book is starting to show.

It is important at this stage to note that the points table is not the only governing factor for the selectors, but it obviously provides a good guide as to who is on the pace and who is struggling. Upto three teams will be chosen, with one boat each from each rating band.

The points for the trials have been factored, so as to mirror the Rolex Commodore’s Cup itself – where an offshore is scored x4 and inshore is x0.5. To this end the Myth of Malham was actually scored in two halves, the first being to Poole buoy and the second to the finish.

Three boats in the trials did not make it to the start line of the offshore. Eclipse VII, experienced steering problems during the week prior and withdrew and Salvo had an issue with their propshaft. I-Site also did not take to the start line. As a result these three boats are propping up the bottom of their respective classes.

In the big boat division it’s looking reasonably clear cut as to who is in the frame. Minx is some way off in a distant fourth, with El Gringo ready to pounce in third place; the battle for top boat is between Bear of Britain and Exabyte 3. With Stuart Childerley on the helm of Bear, this weekend could see some fun and games played out with their smaller rival.

The middle boat slot is looking a little more confused, with the running principally between the Beneteau 40.7s and the IMX 40s. Pete Newland’s Anticipation rates as the highest 40.7 at 1.075 due to a taller rig and deeper keel, which has proven to be very fast, although they were unlucky with their results from the first inshore weekend. Andrew Pearce’s IMX 40 Magnum II rates the lowest of their trio, due to having non-overlapping headsails, they will be hoping for some breeze this weekend after suffering a little from a lack of horsepower in the previous light airs.

The top three at this stage are Maverick 2, Exabyte 2 (both IMX 40s) and the 40.7 Tarka of Nick Jones, whose win offshore in the Myth of Malham has put them in serious in contention.

The little boat slot is still wide open. Jonathon and Lisa Goring’s Jeronimo, a J109, came in last in their group in the offshore, but are still in the frame after scoring well for the race. They had an excellent first half, before struggling overnight, apparently having picked up weed on the foils. Out in front is Peter Rutter’s Elan 37 Quokka, scoring well offshore. The two HOD 35s are separated by thirteen points, with Carpetbagger having the upper hand over Capitali$m, the latter having had a poor offshore race.

All this scoring for the little boats could well be thrown to the wolves this weekend however. Still in the shed is John Sheppard’s new Ker 32, Fair Do’s VI. This little IRC weapon, in the form of Eamon Crosbie’s Voodoo Chile sistership won the Red Funnel Easter Challenge with a staggering 21 point margin from Jeronimo. While Voodoo Chile is not in the trials she will be at the coming IRC Nationals. A repeat performance for Voodoo Chile this weekend could well open the door for Sheppard’s as yet unfinished boat to selection.

The IRC Nationals will see the trialist’s mixed in with the rest of the fleet, for some good big fleet racing. With upto eight races scheduled there will be plenty of points on the table and it will be all to play for.

Below - IRC Rating, Fleet position after first inshore series, Corrected time overall for the offshore, and Total Points - as per the Commodore's Cup trial scoring.

					Offshore	Total Points
Big Boat (1.124-1.325)	Type	Owner	IRC	Inshore	Corrected
Exabyte 3	IMX 45	Shaun Frohlich	1.156	3	16.55.21	23
Bear of Britain	Farr 52	Kit Hobday & Tim Louis	1.315	1	17.17.12	26
El Gringo	Ker 11.3	Nick Hartshorn	1.156	2	16.59.24	31
Minx	Corby 41	Andrew Ritchie & Alex Thomson	1.171	5	17.22.49	52
I-Site	Ker 11.3		1.158	4	DNC	64
Medium Boat (1.050 - 1.123)
Exabyte 2	IMX 40	Jerry Otter	1.094	1	16.56.59	37
Tarka	40.7	Nick Jones	1.069	4	16.51.07	38
Maverick 2	IMX 40	Dominic Chappell	1.095	7	16.54.15	46
Magnum II	IMX 40	Andrew Pearce	1.077	3	17.09.00	57
Vote No (Yes!)	44.7	Adam Gosling	1.107	9	17.02.04	70
Anticipation	40.7	Peter Newlands	1.075	2	17.26.39	71
Euphorix	40.7	Paul & Joanna Dentskevich	1.073	5	17.16.20	79
Charley J	J120	Charles Ivill	1.088	10	17.20.27	82
Eclipse VII	Humpreys	Douglas Hassell	1.111	6	DNC	114
Salvo	Sydney 36	Peter Morton	1.073	8	DNC	120
Little Boat (0.980 - 1.049)
Quokka	Elan 37	Peter Rutter	1.039	3	17.02.13	27
Jeronimo	J109	Jonathon & Lisa Goring	1.038	1	17.13.34	33
Carpetbagger	Hod 35	Michael Ronson	1.036	4	17.04.17	34
Capitali$m	Hod 35	Tim Harrington	1.037	2	17.12.04	47
Civils with Flair	Elan 37	Jim MacGregor	1.032	5	17.07.37	47