(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Although light winds were predicted for
the race, the fleet experienced the remnants of a westerly sea breeze
for the Squadron Line start, lasting long enough for a twilight exit
from the Solent. Calms and complex local effects during the night, made
observation and experience of light airs racing paramount. As night
fell, the breeze dropped significantly resulting in somewhat of a park
up off Portland Bill, giving an advantage to the higher rated IRC boats
that had made the tidal gate. However, close to Midsummer the night was
short, dawn broke before 5 a.m. and the lower IRC rated yachts enjoyed
longer daylight racing with enhanced breeze. For many of the top boats,
after passing Portland Bill, those that stayed offshore found more
breeze than the inshore boats.In the IRC 1 division, Nick Angel’s J/121 ROCK LOBSTER finished fourth in an elapsed time of 23:24:29- nearly a full 24 hour day for such a short race! Many boats reported kedging to not lose distance to the finish using 300 feet of anchor line!
In IRC 2 division, Andy Theobald’s J/122 R&W placed 4th and the famous French J/133 PINTIA, sailed by Gilles Fournier and Corinne Migraine, took fifth! A tough race indeed for such a crackerjack crew!
Then, the J/109s had an equally challenging time in IRC 3 division, Chris Preston’s JUBILEE taking 4th and Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN happy to get 5th in the painfully slow drift-a-thon. For more RORC Morgan Cup Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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