“HOW WE WON COWES WEEK”
This year’s Cowes Week was a windier-than-average affair, with the first day canned in advance once it was clear there was a 95 per cent certainty of 40-knot winds. The White Group dayboats also didn’t sail on Sunday but thereafter, the week provided fun and fast racing in challenging conditions.
Sailors repeatedly came ashore grinning with stories of fast downwind legs. For instance Malcolm Wootton’s Farr 30 Pegasus DekMarx, which won the HP30 class and national championship, reported speeds of more than 19 knots, despite sailing conservatively. Equally, it was a punishing week for equipment – I know of five broken rigs, while others broke booms, or blocks at the mast base, particularly on highly loaded Code 0 halyards. Similarly, many sails were damaged, particularly big spinnakers that were pushed well beyond their designed wind range.
There was widespread praise for organisers, both for the early decision to cancel racing on the first day, and for getting racing completed on the other breezy days, particularly the Friday, when winds of 40 knots were forecast by the end of the afternoon.
When was Cowes Week ever this breezy? I asked a number of longstanding competitors. Graham Bailey, Dragon class winner this year, responded without hesitation that it was 1985, a year in which the Fastnet race also experienced severe gales and few boats completed the course.
“It was one of those Cowes Weeks where you had to be able to quickly change gear”
GETTING TO THE TOP
Winning a hotly contested regatta is not something that happens overnight
