Ladies day

Charles Dunstone's Rio comes to the fore to win the New York YC Challenge Cup at Skandia Cowes Week

Sparkling sun, glistening seas and a decent breeze. The sixth day of Skandia Cowes Week showcased the best champagne sailing conditions, helping along the celebration of women in sailing on Liz Earle Ladies Day. With 14 knot winds that came in as expected from the south west, the fleet enjoyed some of the best racing of the Week.

Charles Dunstone and his crew on the TP52 Rio were in blistering form to win the New York YC Challenge Cup, which this year was contested by the fleets in IRC Class Zero and Class 1. All week, Dunstone has watched Niklas Zennstrom's Ran get the better of the conditions but in 14 knot breezes, Rio whizzed around the 36nm course to post an emphatic four minute win over their rivals to crank up the pressure for the rest of the Week.



The X One Design class, the second largest fleet at Cowes with a field of 80 craft, is guaranteed to deliver a smattering of ‘bejabers' moments and 2008 is no exception. Neil Payne, a former Dragons and Etchells sailor from Cowes has spent the past two and a half years restoring Quest, which was originally built in 1935. Six weeks ago, he put it in the water and this morning, he was lying near the top of the leaderboard which, bearing in mind he has not raced an XOD for 25 years, has been a bit of a surprise.

While still without a win, he has posted a succession of top ten results but is feeling the pressure. "I'm certainly not finding it easy and despite having a bad day on Wednesday we have been fairly consistent, but it is a difficult class and we are just going to keep our heads down and see what we can do," he said.

After discards, Quest lies in third place behind Stuart Jardine's Lone Star and 2007 Captain's Cup winner Simon Russell in Swallow which was one of the 30 boats to retire on Wednesday due to lack of breeze.



As the British Sonar sailors finalise their training ahead of the Paralympic Games starting on 8 September, the Sonar fleet at Cowes is enjoying its own tug-of-war with today's Red Funnel Cup awarded to Duncan Bates and Paul Bowen racing in Repost, which belongs to British Paralympic sailor Hannah Stodel.

Just hours before they reached their first start on Friday, they realised they had a broken rig, so they rebuilt the mast and headed for the race and are up against Barry Byham in Whatever, who missed out on the title by a single point last year.

"We really want to win because it is good for business," said Duncan who builds Sonars for a living. "It was a really good course today. A lot of beating and running which gave us lots of opportunity to tack and gybe and overtake and we won by three boat lengths."

Liz Earle Ladies Day trophy nominee Kerry Gruson, campaigning her Sonar Blue Bayou 2, is an inspiration whenever she takes to the water with passion and determination. Kerry, who comes from Miami, suffers from a condition called termed anoxia after she was strangled by a Vietnam veteran while working as a journalist. It has left her with paralysis in the legs and arms but her Sonar is fitted with a special seat allowing her to race in all conditions. She recently participated in Cork Week and travelled round Ireland to work with Waterways Ireland supporting sailing clinics for people with disabilities.

Another Liz Earle Ladies Day Trophy contender Louise Morton hit the jackpot again in the Quarter Ton class that she and her husband Peter enthusiastically campaigned to have reinstated in 2008. In her sixth race, with her all girl crew on Espada, Morton posted her fourth consecutive win, having notched up two seconds in the opening two races. Runaway Bus, the red hulled Quarter Tonner that was holed earlier this week took a creditable second with Howard Sellars's Bullet in third.

The 18 Sunbeam skippers and their crews will gather at The Prospect tonight to officially celebrate their 85th birthday, so an early conclusion to racing today thanks to the helpful breezes, was welcomed. Daisy, last year's winner and a competitor in 1923 when the class was first introduced, leads the Sunbeams overall but Roger Wickens's Danny and Richard Pearson's Fay are both in with a shout for the title with two races left.

The top three boats represent 236 years worth of classic wooden keelboat history and the anniversary celebrations are sure to reflect the Sunbeam's graceful and distinguished heritage.

In IRC Class 9, Edward Donald's Nordic folkboat Madelaine is continuing where she left off in 2007 and has now raced 11 races at Cowes - six from last year and five this - without being beaten. The last time she was defeated was the first Saturday of Skandia Cowes Week last year, when Magnus Wheatley swept to victory in his H-Boat Hesperus.

Jim Tennant's Paloma and Owain Peter's Sonata Frankie the Rhino will now battle it out for second place but come Saturday, and barring disasters, Madelaine may well have retained her title.

Amey Love Shack is finding the competition in the new Beneteau 40.7 class challenging, and today was beaten for the third time this week by Pete Newland's Healthsure. But Tim Spalding's well organised and highly proficient crew maintain their overall lead with the last two races set to be nail biting affairs, especially as third placed Beechwood Homes are breathing down their necks.

Mr Contessa 32, Jeremy Rogers, of the famous Lymington dynasty, followed up his victory in Gigi yesterday with a second today, finishing less than a minute behind class leader Eldred Himsworth's 31 year-old Drumbeat, which has consistently finished on the podium for the past three years.

Champagne G.H. Mumm hosted a day of adventure, welcoming ambassadors Bear Grylls and Jodie Kidd, Neil Laughton and Tom Avery to their champagne bar in Cowes Yacht Haven ahead of their special Cordon Rouge Club dinner tonight.

More from the J/109s...

The J/109 fleet had their second Committee Boat start of the week at Browndown. A course of nearly 17nm was set which would take the fleet back and forward across the Solent. Earlier class starts had been subject to general and individual recalls despite the strong easterly tide holding the fleet back from the line and caused difficulty for some to lay the Committee Boat. A clean start by Johnny Blue II (Jeff Dakin) saw them endeavour to escape the tide on the mainland shore before tacking up to make maximum use of the slacker tide on Ryde Bank. By the laid windward mark Johnny Blue II had a strong lead from Red Arrow (RAFSA) and all the rest of the fleet could do was chase Jambo! (Bruce Grant/Graham Simpson) who eventually were caught by Juke Box (Brian Moreton), Jahmali (Mike & Sarah Wallis) and Shiva (Matt Boyle). Meanwhile Audajious (David Jobson) with Nigel & Suzie Brookes (former Jalapeno) on-board had overtaken Jeez-Louise (Jamie Arnell) and Firestorm (Jon Perry). A long beat from East Bramble to the finish line via Prince Consort saw Zelda (Ben Richards/Michael Ewart-Smith) edge ahead of Audajious to beat them into 8th position by 13 seconds.

Results:

1st – Johnny Blue II (Jeff Dakin/Bruce Jubb/Mike Flood)
2nd – Red Arrow (RAFSA)
3rd – Juke Box (Brian Moreton)
4th – Jahmali (Mike & Sarah Wallis)
5th – Shiva (Matt Boyle)