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Sailing - 09. August 2008.

Skandia Cowes Week Daily wrap up

Daily Round-Up - Friday 8 August



sailinghunter.jpg

credit: onEdition
The Hunter 707 fleet in action at this year's Skandia Cowes Week.


The penultimate day of Skandia Cowes Week found the engraver poised to etch
names, new and old, on some cherished silverware as the Solent was cleared
of racing boats to prepare for a tumultuous fireworks display.

At the start of the day, 17 of the 37 classes had already been decided and
five boats out of the 2008 entry of 976 had maintained their remarkable
unbeaten records.

Liz and Chris Savage in Savage Sailing Team had made a clean sweep in the
J80 class taking their tally of wins to 17 in 20 races in the past three
years.

Similarly, Jon Powell and Sarah Norbury were undefeated in the Hunter 707s,
Edward Donald's Njordic Folkboat Madelaine was invincible in IRC Class 9 and
Ian Braham's MG346 Dean & Dyball Enigma had produced a matchless performance
in IRC Class 6 to reclaim their 2006 title.

However, by the end of the day, as freaky Friday took its course, all five
had been beaten to tarnish an otherwise flawless week for their crews.

Men Behaving Badly in clean sweep

There were a few classes where the outcome seemed to be predictable from the
first gun as in the Flying 15s, which have been dominated by Rupert Mander
in Men Behaving Badly.

A former Flying 15 world champion, Rupert has reigned supreme over the class
for the past four years, winning a staggering 29 races out of the last 35 at
Cowes, but far from being resentful at his success, the other skippers in
the class are accepting that Cowes is a happy hunting ground for the
Warwickshire based sailor.

sailinghunter1.jpg
credit: onEdition
The Hunter 707 fleet in a down wind start on day two of this year's Skandia Cowes Week.



'He is such a nice chap that none of us mind,' said Andrew Rutherford, who
has been campaigning Double Trouble in 2008.

'I have been sailing Flying 15s for 25 years. I used to race with my dad and
now I race with my 11 year-old daughter Eleanor.

They are lovely boats and we love being out there. You might not think it
but it is a very competitive class and some of the younger guys are hopeful
that they might topple Rupert one day.'

Team Pindar scoops Laser SB3 prize at first attempt

Match-racer Ian Williams completed a breathtaking class win in the Laser
SB3s today, after driving Team Pindar to their second victory of the week by
a nerve jangling 17 seconds.

With two points separating Team Pindar, Geoff Carveth's Team Earls Court and
Jerry Hill's 3 Sad Old Blokes at the start of today, the 13 nm course was a
make or break affair and Williams, racing with his world match-racing team
Simon Shaw and Mark Nicoles, was keen to wrap up a win today.

But it was not so straightforward and after making a cracking start, they
had to wait until the last beat before they finally went into the lead.

'It was quite tense because we were in 5th place at the first mark and if we
had stayed there, we would not have won overall,' said Williams who prior to
this week had raced Laser SB3s over just two weekends in 2007.

'We have taken this very seriously. We are professional sailors so treated
it as part of our training programme and feel that we made a clear
progression. It has been a fantastic regatta and we are really pleased to
have won.'

Ribard wins Skandia Young Skipper Trophy

The Skandia Young Skipper award was also decided. Young Sebastian Ribard,
21, racing the J80 AgainstMalaria.com has spent his week sitting on the
Savage's heels but today he converted near misses into a famous win.

He was runner up four times and third twice, which was not enough for a
class win but was sufficiently emphatic to beat fellow young skipper
contender Jack Grogan on The Apprentice, who was a top five finisher in
every IRC Class 9 race.

Kite hoist costs Healthsure

sailingellenmconedition.jpg
credit: onEdition
Ellen MacArthur and young people from The Ellen MacArthur Trust onboard Scarlet Oyster enjoy Solent waters.



Pete Newland's Healthsure, which has been busy raising funds for the Ellen
MacArthur Trust all week, needed to finish second behind Amey Love Shack in
the Beneteau 40.7 class to take the overall inaugural prize but hoisting
their reaching kite after they had rounded the first mark at the front of
the fleet, left them with a broken bowsprit and cost them six places, which
they struggled to recoup.

In the end, they finished in third place, one minute and 11 seconds behind
Tim Spalding's Amey Love Shack and the top prize was snatched from under
their noses.

'The crew are pretty disappointed but it was all my fault,' admitted
Newlands whose crew of nurses, teachers and IT professionals have raised in
excess of £12,000 for the EMT this week.

'My tactician advised me not to put it up because we were in the lead and
only needed to stay in front of Amey Love Shack to win the overall prize.
But I wanted to put it up for a bit of fun.'

Everything to play for in finale

The Squibs will be out racing tomorrow but tonight Mike Probert was thinking
he and his crew on Pani Munta had done enough to win, having posted a 90
second victory over fierce rivals Ghost Rider, with whom they have been
battling royally all week. A win tomorrow will earn him the Overall White
Group trophy.

Graham and Stephen Bailey were hoping to have the Etchells title back in
their grasp by the time the fireworks started in Cowes tonight, but one of
the closest contests in years means their return to the race track tomorrow
morning will decide their destiny.

'This was not in the plan at all but it is very exciting,' said Stephen
whose 2007 winner Arbitrator is leading by a single point over Mark Downer's
Moonlight.

'If they win tomorrow and we come second we win overall. If they win and we
come third, they win overall. If we win, we win,' he explained.

The climax of the Dragon racing is similarly nip and tuck with Julia Bailey,
wife of Graham, favourite to win the title tomorrow though a seventh today
means that her work is by no means complete.

Len Jones and Rumours, lying equal on points going into the last race said
it was a re-run of 2007 when Julia finished one point behind Len with David
Palmer on Princess Jalina taking honours.

To win this year, Rumours has to win and Aimee needs to finish 4th or below,
explained Len.

'The forecast is for wind which suits us because we are the fat boys of the
fleet, but Julia has to be favourite because she is a very good competitor.
She's clever, with a very good crew.'

Conditions in the Solent once again suited Niklas Zennstrom's Ran, which
crossed the finish line just over a minute ahead of Charles Dunstone's Rio
which gave Stuart Robinson's Stay Calm second place on corrected time. It
also handed Ran a comprehensive IRC Class Zero win overall for 2008.

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