Cowes Combined Clubs - Skandia Cowes Week - Final Day Report Magnus Wheatley
6 August 2005

After a quite simply stunning firework display on Friday evening to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar a total of 833 crews dusted off the nights' frivolities and set sail after a short delay for a lovely afternoon of short-course Solent Racing. There was all to play for across many of the fleets with overall titles still up for grabs and competitors were rewarded with a moderate south-westerly breeze of around 10 knots as a persistent band of mid-level cloud cover negated the threatened sea-breeze as the sun couldn't quite break through, leaving a steely grey atmosphere to the last day of Skandia Cowes Week.

Principal Race Officer Simon Hand, acting on behalf of the Third Triumvirate under the auspices of the Royal Southern Yacht Club sensibly elected to split the White Group under special sailing instructions sensing that time was of the essence. Therefore nine individual classes got away off the Skandia Barge on running starts to the eastern and middle Solent whilst the bulk of the Black Group fleet started on the Royal Yacht Squadron line with the Committee Boat being situated off Beaulieu for six classes in the Black Group.

The early starters on the Squadron line had tricky tactical decisions to make as a High Water time of 13.13 meant the first of the ebb tide would be running off the Medina River some two hours earlier, right on their start. The first away was a rather depleted Laser SB3 fleet who have been one of the most impressive sights at Skandia Cowes Week and they very quickly showed the classes behind them just what the order of the day would be on the water - A long starboard tack into the beach before Egypt Point and then a real fight upwind through the parked maxis and catamarans waiting for the Rolex Fastnet start tomorrow (Sunday) off the Green before heading into Gurnard Bay. Meanwhile on the outer Black Group starting line, there were split decisions between starting at the outer distance Alpha buoy to head to the Island shore or to tack early onto port and climb to the mainland shore.

The best starter of a very line shy Class 0 IRC fleet was Mark Cambell-James steering Kit Hobday's 'Bear of Britain' who led out on port tack to the mainland shore on a 23 nautical mile course in the western Solent. With the all-conquering 'Patches' of Eamon Conneely and Nick Lykiardopulo's 'Aera' not competing today it was a day of surprises for the class with a very popular class win scored by Nick Griffiths's Marten 49 'Okasama' who beat a class field by exactly six minutes on corrected time. In doing so, Griffiths takes home the Coronation Challenge Bowl whilst the Farr 52 sisterships 'Bear of Britain' and Peter Harrison's 'Chernikeeff 2' took second and third places respectively.

Class 0 IRC has had some great racing all week and this glamorous fleet has certainly added a great deal of cache to the regatta with the likes of the 98ft Skandia Wild Thing and the 76ft sled 'Nokia Enigma' providing an awesome spectacle for everyone both on and off the water.