Historic glamor on the Solent

British Classic Yacht Club Cowes Regatta 2009 gets underway

Racing at the British Classic Yacht Club Cowes Regatta 2009 got under way in fine style today. Happily the gales of the previous day had abated and given way to a twelve to fourteen knot breeze, which allowed the fifty four boat fleet to enjoy near perfect racing conditions. Principal Race Officer Tony Lovell set his start line in the vicinity of the Flying Fish buoy and sent all four classes upwind on a beat to East Knoll. The eight strong Modern Classic fleet were the first away with SN O’Flaherty’s Irish entry Soufriere setting off at a blistering pace. BCYC Commodore David Murrin aboard the much-favoured Cetewayo led Class 1 up the first beat, despite being the smallest boat in the fleet. In Class 2 Adam and Sarah Gosling’s Sinbad made the best of the start to position themselves strongly on the first beat. The 14 boats in Class 3 were the final fleet to start, with a right hand shift bunching the boats at the committee boat end of the line.

Spectators on the Green at Cowes were treated to a spectacular sight, as the entire fleet of classic yachts came downwind close to the shore, with the majority under spinnaker. With several gybes required on this leg, boat handling was at a premium in the lumpy, wind against tide conditions. Enrique L Granados and his crew aboard the Modern Classic Dragon, who had opted for an asymmetric spinnaker, pulled off a series of impressively slick gybes as they carved their way down the Solent. Meanwhile, aboard the 90ft Savannah, things went less smoothly when a fluffed gybe resulted in a wrapped gennaker which eventually had to be dropped, costing valuable minutes and dropping them back into the chasing pack. Savannah recovered well over the rest of the race, taking advantage of some long upwind legs to finish the race well ahead of their fleet on the water.

Back ashore, owner Hugh Morrison said that all on board Savannah had enjoyed their day of racing, despite their difficulties. "Savannah is 90ft on deck and 60ft on the waterline and was built in 1996 by the Concordia Yard in the US. She has a Kevlar E-Glass hull and a carbon mast and sails beautifully. We managed to take line honours, but realistically we weren’t as far ahead as we might have been, having had genoa problems on the first beat and a spinnaker problem on the first run."

Morrison was full of praise for the race committee, who he said had done a fantastic job. "We draw more or less four metres, so to be able to set a course as good as that on a falling tide on the Solent is outstanding. I think everyone will have had a tremendous day’s racing and it has got this regatta off to a great start."

BCYC Commodore David Murrin was clearly delighted with both his boat’s performance and the record turnout for the regatta. "With all the current economy issues the size of this regatta is just marvellous and is a real vindication of the value system of the BCYC. It really feels like the club is in the right place at the right time with this sort of event."

This evening, owners and crews will gather at the Waterside Pub to enjoy a seafood buffet and no doubt to discuss their day on the water. Tomorrow is Ladies Day at the British Classic Yacht Club Cowes Regatta 2009 and racing will start at midday.

Day 1 Results

Modern Classics:
1st Savannah
2nd Dido
3rd Dragon

Class 1
1st Cetewayo
2nd If
3rd Argyll

Class 2
1st Gluckauf
2nd Mikado
3rd Clarion

Class 3
1st Cereste
2nd Danegeld
3rd Estrella