Panerai British Classic Closing Update
Conditions: 0-10 Knot Shifty South-East Winds
As the boats arrived in the race area the breeze died briefly, but then veered to the south-east and filled in at just under 10 knots. Once again it was a tricky Central Solent race with patchy and shifty winds, particularly up on the mainland shore. With a strong ebb tide building, judging lay lines became critical and there were more than a few boats who found themselves forced to put in an extra tacks to squeeze around a mark.
Class One for the modern classics saw Brian Scowcroft’s Phantom take her second race win of the series, beating Stephen Jones’ Meteor by just 27 seconds on corrected time after nearly four hours of racing, while third place went to Michael Hough’s Chloë. With the discard now coming into play Phantom’s win jumped her up the leaderboard into third place in class, just three points behind Sean McMillan’s Flight of Ufford. Class One overall victory went to Meteor, whose crew paid tribute to both the boat and to Stephen, who had carried on racing despite painfully wrenching his knee during yesterday’s race.
In Class Four Robert Veale’s Danegeld claimed her third race win, beating Cereste, owned by Jonathan and Scilla Dyke, with Mark Whiteley’s Zarik third. In the overall class standings it was Cereste who was victorious with Danegeld second and Richard Wallrock’s Beeleigh third.
Andy King’s Gluckauf finally managed to snatch a race from Sam Laidlaw and Rob Gray’s Clarionet in Class Three, beating them by a handsome margin of almost 9 minutes, and David Messum’s Josephine took third. For Clarionet, today’s second place was a discard so they end the series counting an impressive five straight firsts. Gluckauf took the second step on the Class Three podium with Martin Thomas’ Charm of Rhu completing the line up.
Displaying remarkable speed and judgement Murdoch McKillop’s Saskia put in a stellar final performance to win her last race by almost 13 minutes, the biggest winning margin of the day. Lord Cork and David Glasgow’s Athena finished second with David Murrin’s Cetewayo in third. In the series results Saskia beat Athena by three points with Cetewayo in third.
Special mention today must go to Blue Eagle and Hatty, the two smallest boats in the regatta, who have frequently struggled to keep up with their big sisters in this year’s light airs. Blue Eagle is a 1964 Kroes en Zonen bermudan sloop built by AN Milnes and owned by renowned artist and illustrator Michael Frith, whilst Hatty is a 1963 Top Hat racer/cruiser designed by Captain John Illingworth, built by Souters of Cowes and owned by Nick Hughes. Both boats found themselves retiring from more races than they finished, but it was clear that their crews were having the time of their lives, always smiling and enjoying the wonderful ambiance of this very special regatta.
Speaking after racing British Classic Yacht Club Rear Commodore David Orton was delighted with how this year’s regatta has gone, commenting, “The weather exceeded all my expectations and I was this year surprised by the high standard of sailing. Seeing Britain’s yachting history sailed by real enthusiasts is a wonderfully uplifting experience. It’s been huge fun but I am now totally worn out and require three days in bed!”
At the final prize giving gala dinner the assembled fleet paid tribute to its class winners as they received their trophies, but the biggest applause of all was saved for the special fun prizes and the presentation of the overall winner, whose name is kept secret until the last moment.
The Je Ne Sais Quoi prizes, which are awarded to the boat in each class which, in the opinion of their fellow competitors, has that “certain something”, went to Cereste in Class 4, Gluckauf in Class 3, Stiren in Class 2, Flight of Ufford in Class 1 and Zoom in the Cruising Division with Saskia being named overall winner.
The Lallow Cup for the best presented new entrant was won by Iain Pickard’s 37’ Illingworth sloop Chamois. The Brian Keelan Memorial Trophy for the highest placed gaffer went to Beeleigh and the Moonbeam Trophy, for the overall winner of the long inshore race was presented to Saskia. Saskia also claimed the Universal 8 Cup and the International Metre Trophy, which are presented to the top performing 8 Metre and the most successful boat built to the Metre rules respectively.
Seven year old Horatio Murrin, who raced everyday aboard father David’s Cetewayo, was awarded a special trophy for the youngest participant this week. Horatio has been eagerly watching the daily prize presentations each evening and he could hardly contain his excitement at finally being called up to receive his very own trophy.
Murdoch McKillopBut the loudest cheer of the night was saved for the presentation of the British Classic Yacht Club Racing Trophy and a Panerai Watch to the overall winner of Panerai British Classic Week, which this year goes to Murdoch McKillop’s stunning 1931 William Fife classic 8 Metre Saskia. On accepting his prize Murdoch McKillop spoke on behalf of the competitors to thank the organisers of the event, the race officers, Panerai, EFG International and the other sponsors, and the weather gods for making this such a fantastic week. He concluded saying, “I’d like to thank everybody involved in Project Saskia. From Scott Comben who has put it all together, to Gilmour [Manuel] who was the helmsman, who was very disappointed not to win the youngest person in the regatta prize, and to everybody who made it possible. And we really are delighted that we’ve managed to bring a truly classic Scottish yacht back into full fettle, so thank you very much everybody.”
The regatta concludes tomorrow with a Parade of Sail past the Royal Yacht Squadron at 11.00, which will be taken by Commodore Michael Campbell, after which the yachts will disburse once again to their homeports. Panerai British Classic Week 2014 will take place from 12 to 19 July and will once again be held in Cowes.
Panerai British Classic Week Day Five Update
Conditions: Winds 0-12 Knots Strong Tidal Conditions
Murdoch McKillop’s Saskia was boat of the day in every sense winning both Class Two and claiming victory in the overall race where she beat Sean McMillan’s Flight of Ufford. Lord Cork and David Glasgow’s Athena came third and Robert Veale’s Danegeld fourth. With the entire fleet coming together for the first time there was some interesting new battles developing. Perhaps the closest of these was between David Orton’s St David’s Light and Jonathan Dyke’s Cereste who tied on corrected time and shared tenth place.
In Class Two Saskia won her race by an impressive ten-minute margin over Athena with David Murrin’s Cetewayo in third. As a result Saskia, a 1931 William Fife 8 Metre, now leads the class by two points from Athena with Cetewayo in third but sharing equal points with Gildas Rostain’s Stiren in fourth. Only four points separate the top four overall so we can expect a very exciting conclusion to the regatta tomorrow.
Flight of Ufford claimed victory amongst the modern classics of Class One while Michael Hough’s Chloë and Sandy Fielding & Martin Whittle’s Strega fought it out for second place. Although Chloë finished well ahead on the water, on corrected time she claimed second place by just 16 seconds. Stephen Jones and his crew aboard Meteor started their day off in flying style, but an injury to Stephen’s knee forced them to throttle back and as a result they finished in last place. This drops Meteor down the overall standings into second place in class, with Flight of Ufford taking the lead by just one point and Chloë third overall, four points behind the leader.
Sam Laidlaw and Rob Gray’s Clarionet continued her winning streak in Class Three and once again beat Gluckauf with David Orton’s St David’s Light third. Clarionet now leads the class by four points from Gluckauf with Martin Thomas’s Charm of Rhu eight points behind in third.
In Class Four Robert Veale’s David Cheverton Sloop Danegeld beat Jonathan and Scilla Dyke’s Cereste with Ricard Wallrock’s Beeleigh third. Jonanthan Dyke summed up the day’s very challenging conditions succinctly as “Perplexing.” He went on to give a perfect example of how easily positions could change within a leg saying, “When we came around Prince Consort there was ourselves, Cetewayo, Glucklauf and Clarionet almost side by side and we battled for half an hour to get across to East Bramble in very light airs, and blow me down the wind came in from behind and the boats astern of us laid straight from Prince Consort to East Bramble, so the half hour we’d spent tacking back and forth was completely wasted as the other boats just sailed right round us!”. In the overall standings Cereste leads the class by a single point from Beeleigh with Danegeld third. Richard Wallrock is clearly quietly proud of their performance this week saying, “For an old banger like Beeleigh we manage to keep trucking round the course.”
The post racing hospitality in the Panerai Lounge was as generous as ever with wonderful canapés and delicious wines being served to the hungry but happy sailors. The daily prize giving not only honoured the day’s winners but also paid tribute to regatta organiser Mary Scott-Jackson of MSJ Events who celebrated her birthday with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday sung by the entire fleet.
One final race remains to be sailed tomorrow with the discard coming into play once it is completed. The forecast is for further moderate winds and sunshine from the eastern quadrant so we can look forward to a spectacular finish to what has already been an outstanding regatta. The event concludes on Saturday with a Parade of Sail past the Royal Yacht Squadron at 11.00.
Panerai British Classic Week Day Four Update
Conditions: Winds North East 10-15 knots – Clarionet has dominated Class Three throughout the regatta and now enjoys a perfect score line of four first places. Owners Sam Laidlaw and Rob Gray are typically modest about their success giving all the credit to the boat and their crew of old friends. Andy King’s Gluckauf remains their nearest rival and they claimed their fourth third place of the series putting them on eight points, four behind Clarionet. Martin Thomas and his crew aboard Charm of Rhu took third place in today’s race and retain third overall, but the battle for fourth place in class is a hot one. David Orton’s St David’s Light, racing without her owner aboard today, and Swanilda, owned by Simon Field, both count 22.5 points this evening with St David’s Light claiming fourth place on count back.
In Class Four today’s race winner was Beeleigh, Richard Wallrock’s 46’ Fred Sheppard auxiliary cutter built by Stone’s of Brightlingsea in 1913. She beat Robert Veale’s Danegeld with Robin Whaite’s Mary Lunn, an Uffa Fox yawl built in Bombay by the Mazagon Dock Co in 1940, in third. Overall Class Four leader Cereste, owned by Jonathan and Scilla Dyke, had a disappointing end to what had been a lovely race. The final approach to the finish off Cowes was a down tide run and Cereste was staying to the right of the direct line in order to gain tidal advantage and extend her already comfortable lead. She was just making her final gybe into the line when the wind, which can be extremely fickle in the entrance to Cowes, suddenly disappeared almost completely. Cereste found herself drifting rapidly past the outer end of finish line with no hope of clawing her way back up tide to cross correctly. Their philosophical navigator radioed the Race Committee to thank them for a fabulous race, but said they were admitting defeat and heading home. Despite this DNF Cereste continues to lead Class Four but is now on equal points with Beeleigh who takes second place on count back, with Danegeld in third and Mary Lunn fourth.
In Class One the modern classics were led around the course by Sean McMillan’s Flight of Ufford, with Michael Hough’s Chloë second and Stephen Jones’ Meteor third. In the overall standings Meteor continues to lead the fleet with Flight of Ufford second and Chloë third.
Class Two is the numerically largest class at the regatta and is also currently the most closely fought with the top four boats within two points after four races. Victory in today’s race went to David Murrin’s Cetewayo whose slick crew work is a joy to watch. Gildas Rostain’s Stiren was second and Lord Cork and David Glasgow’s Athena third. In the overall standings Murcoch McKillop’s Saskia, who finished fourth in today’s race, leads on nine points, Athena and Stiren both count ten points with Athena currently second and Stiren third, and Cetewayo is in fourth with eleven points.
One crew that may never hit the front of the fleet, but nonetheless feels like a winner every day they complete the course is Bojar, Andrew Pearson’s 1937 Jonas Anker designed and built 10 Metre. Andrew is sailing with a crew of family and friends including his teenage children Olivia and Alexander. The only boat racing without a spinnaker they are happy to acknowledge they are here for the fun rather than the victor’s laurels. Just getting round the course safely can be a challenge as Andrew laughingly explains, “We have a varnished pine deck which can be like a skating rink when wet so just staying aboard is hard work!” Young Olivia and Alexander are no mere passengers with Olivia taking her turn at helming, trimming and keeping everything shipshape in the cockpit, and Alexander navigating. This is their first Panerai British Classic Week and they hope it will be the first of many.
Panerai British Classic Week Day Three Update
Conditions: Winds Light – A tactical race where the wind shifted from the North East to the East, with a strong ebbing tide.
Lady’s Class Race – Thirteen participants, with Louise Morton, Clarionet 1st, Reka Tuss, sailing Gluckauf 2nd, Chloë French with Chloë in third.
Class One (Spirit of Tradition) – Stephen Jones’ Meteor added a first and a third for a overall lead of 4 points.
Class Two – Murdoch McKillop’s 1931 Fife 8 Metre Saskia masterful performance with two bullets for a 5 point lead overall.
Class Three – Sam Laidlaw and Rob Gray’s Clarionet three point lead.
Class Four – Jonathan and Scilla Dyke’s Cereste leader overall