Gales, Sun, Chop Don't Diminish the Good Spirits (Cowes, IOW, England)- It was blowing half a gale overnight, but by dawn the skies had cleared to provide sparkling conditions for the competitors in the RORC IRC National Championship. Before the end of play, the weather closed in once more to give a variety of conditions for the crews in the eastern Solent, including a 60 degree wind shift on the last beat of the championship.
There were 60-odd boats competing in the IRC Nationals, a reasonable showing considering other conflicts on the schedule. In IRC Class One John Patterson's J/122 PANACEA took third overall. In IRC Class Two, the venerable SLEEPER, a J/39 sailed by Jonty Layfield finished second against significantly more advanced IRC designs. For more info Photo credits- Paul Wyeth