Triangle trial

Royal Torbay's doublehanded Triangle race gets underway this coming weekend

Forty two boats will come to the starting line for the twentieth anniversary of the Royal Torbay Yacht Club's Triangle Race, at midday on Sunday 20th June.

This double handed offshore race has an opening leg of 220 nautical miles from Torquay to Crosshaven in Ireland, from their the fleet sail the longest leg of 270 miles to Treguier in Britanny, before the 110 mile dash back to Torquay.

This biennial amateur event always attracts an eclectic collection of boats and crews, who enjoy some demanding competition afloat, interspersed with some serious partying at the stopovers.

This year's fleet features a good cross section of "repeat offenders" and newcomers, including the first all female crew to contest the race.

Whilst Kirsteen Donaldson and Mary Sturgess, sailing an X332, Pyxis, will represent the Royal Southampton Yacht Club, most of Mary's sailing career has been at the Royal Torbay.

Probably the most consistent of the "repeat offenders" are last year's winners, Mik Underdown and Peter Howe from the Channel Islands, who are back again with the winning boat, Majic, a J110 class 36 footer.

Underdown has done six previous Triangles, while for Peter Howe this will be his fourth, both men are in their fifties, and will face some stiff competition in their bid to be "repeat winners".

Comparing the last race in 2002 to previous ones, Mik Underdown commented, "more fun, it was the best one, apart from the fact that we won it, which was a nice bonus, the camaraderie and the crack that was going on with the crews on this one, I think was the best ever."

The race, which in its heyday back in the late eighties and early nineties, attracted up to 79 entries, was down to just 26 last time, but new race director John Clapham has started a revival, that he hopes will turn the Triangle Race into Europe's premier amateur short handed race.

The Triangle Race re-starts from Crosshaven, where it is hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Friday 25th June, while the Club Nautique de Treguier send the fleet off back to Torquay on Wednesday 30th June.

Entry list:

Name	Type	Skipper	Crew
Far Fetched	Dufour 40	Alan Richards	Andrew Way
Doris Minor	Sigma 362	Anthony Llewellyn-Davies	Marc Smith
Quervain VI	Jeanneau Sunfast 36	Nigel de Quervain Colley	Heather de Quervain Colley
Bastet	Swan 40	Paul Rowlinson	Nick Metcalfe
Sleuth Hound	Sigma 362	Colin Drummond	Finbarr O'Halloran
Big Beeste	Seaquest SJ320	Dennis House	Antony Sobey
Betelgeuse	Starlight 39	Peter Flower	Zygmund Kruk
General Khaos	Westerly GK 33	Derek Baudains	Matthew Hardwick
Minstrel	UFO 34	John Elliott	Jonathan Rice
Whistledown III	Sun Fizz 40	Graham Howat	David Howat
Red Rider	Westerly Fulmar	Neil Matson	John Proffitt
Pyxis	X332	Kirsteen Donaldson	Mary Sturgess
Electron	First 31.7	Paul Harding	Pandie Bronsdon
Aye!	Elan 31	Derek Copeman	Martin O'Sulivan
Raksha	Sigma 41	Bob Cooper	Simon Turner
Tiko	Dehler 34	Fraser Hawkins	Ian Hill
Tinkerbell	Southerly 105	Paul Brant	Philip Brant
Scarlet Jester II	First 40.7	Stephen Gosling	Andrea Treat
A.W.O.L	Corby 33	Steve Thomas	Martin Newnum
Corinthian Spirit	Dehler 41 CR	Tony Whitehouse	Dave Reynolds
Jalfrezi	J 120	Gareth Thomas	Trevor Griffiths
Dreamer	Starlight 35	James Yarrow	Gary Heward
Mustn't Grumble	380 Cutter	David Lea	David Robinson
Duchess	Albin Ballad	Graham Smallridge	Janie Smallridge
Andromeda	Fastnet 34	Robert Coates	Jeff Grist
Majic	J 110	Peter Howe	Mik Underdown
Bidwell	Storm 33	Peter Carpenter	David Curno
Couilles de Chien	Beneteau First 35.5	Roger Mortimer	Vicki Duff
Roc	One-off 40'	Desmond Hampton	Adrian Biggs
Torbellino	Sigma 38	Rob Craigie	Karen Dolling
Shades of Blue	J 110	Ed Holton	Peter Cammack
Dignity	Grand Soleil	Brian Mills	Russell Farrington/Geoff Downing
Franglais	Dufour 40	Stephen Card	Padraic Conlan
The Flying Fish	Laser 28	Kathy Smalley	Rupert Smalley
Equilibrium	Sweden 38	Graham Whitehouse	Roy Mitchell
Fastrack V	Jeaneau Sunfast 35	Trevor Bush	Adrian Rogers
Fayme	One - off 10.45 mtrs	Andrew Smith	David Smith
Hero	One tonner	John Dickens	Gill Tobin
H2eau	JOD 35	Michael Short	Antony Ashworth
Suroma	Starlight 35	William Graham	Marti Graham
Sigmania	Sigma 38	Richard Cox	Guy Haigh
Complicity	She 36	Peter Young	Flavio Da Silva