O'Donoghue leads day 1 of Dragon the Edinburgh Cup

by Fiona Brown on 11 Jul 2008
Dubliner Don O'Donoghue, sailing Seabird with Brian Matthews and Mark Pettitt, proved to have the luck of the Irish today winning both races to lead the regatta. Equally consistent but not quite able to best the Irish was Louis Urvois of Douarnenez, France, sailing Ar Youleg II with Gwen Chapalain and Eric Droiuglazet, who finished second in both races.

And Tim Tavinor, of Burnham on Crouch, helming Biff for Thomas and Nicky Wilton, took third in both races. Unsurprisingly the leader-board tonight shows O'Donoghue first, Urvois second and Tavinor third.

After a day of postponement due to strong winds, the Edinburgh Cup, finally got underway today in Plymouth. Hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club and sponsored by Knight Frank, 23 teams from across the UK, Ireland, France and the USA are competing for the title of International Dragon Open British Champion.

Today's racing was initially delayed whilst a Trident nuclear submarine left the harbour and all movements within Plymouth Sound were suspended. Once the submarine was clear racing got underway outside the breakwater in 17-20 knots from the south-south-west and the race committee was able to complete the first two races in the six race series. Although the wind had dropped overnight there was still a considerable sea running making for some interesting and challenging sailing.

Speaking after racing Don O'Donoghue commented, 'We were waiting out there for a long time while the sub went through, but once we got going there was a lot of breeze and a lot of waves and I like that. We went the right way most of the time and it's easy to sail fast when you're up at the front. It's my first time in Plymouth, but the sailing is quite similar to where I grew up in West Cork. We had a good day, but there's a long way to go and we're expecting Louis Urvois, Tim Tavinor, Rob Campbell, Len Jones and Gavia Wilkinson-Cox to all give us a run for our money.'

For International Dragon Class Chairman Rob Campbell from Burnham on Crouch, who won last weekend's South Coast Championship and went into the regatta as a favourite; it was a moderate first day. He opened with a fifth then scored seventh in the second race putting him fifth overall. Despite this he greatly enjoyed his day and was full of praise for PRO Mike Pearson saying, 'The courses the race officer set us were superb and we enjoyed great racing today.'

Giving Campbell some tough competition was Eric Williams of Cowes who traded places with Campbell scoring seventh in race one and fifth in race two. Both teams now count equal point but overall Williams takes fourth on count back.

Today's races were very close with exceptionally fair beats and plenty of excitement across the course for the watching spectators. In race one the line was port biased and Don O'Donoghue took full advantage, winning the pin and making a great start before tacking onto port and crossing the entire fleet. He then played the middle right of the course to great effect leading round the weather mark comfortably.

Meanwhile Louis Urvois took the left hand side of the course, but thanks to the very even conditions rounded second just in front of the pack. Tim Tavinor, who had also gone out to right on the beat, followed Urvois round in third and the podium order was set for the race with the leading three stretching our from that point on.

Behind them places were changing regularly as Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Rob Campbell, Alan Krailing, Eric Williams and Mike Holmes enjoying a great battle for fourth place, ultimately finishing in the above order.

Race two saw fights for places right through the pack. At the start O'Donoghue took the same approach as in race one winning the pin and tacking early to cross the fleet comfortably. Urvois and Tavinor went left, but this time it paid handsomely as they rounded first and second respectively with O'Donoghue in third.

Their order held for the first lap but on the second beat O'Donoghue overtook Tavinor and as they set off down the second run he clearly had Urvois in his sights. He spotted his moment at the bottom of the leg and slipped into the lead as the boats approached the gate. Despite a building sea on the final beat O'Donoghue successfully defended to the finish with Urvois crossing the line second and Tavinor third.

Tomorrow racing is scheduled to start at 11am and, subject to agreement with the Queen's Harbour Master, the race committee hope to keep the fleet inside the breakwater to enjoy flatter conditions. The forecast is for tomorrow is for a south westerly in the high teens to low twenties. The regatta concludes on Saturday with four races still to be sailed. The discard comes into play once five races have been completed.

Dragon - Overall After Two Races

1 204 M SEABIRD Don O'Donoghue 1 1 2pts 2pts
2 365 M AR YOULEG II Louis Urvois 2 2 4 4
3 734 M BIFF Thomas Wilton 3 3 6 6
4 682 M ECSTATIC J E Williams 7 5 12 12
5 688 M QUICKSILVER III Rob Campbell 5 7 12 12
6 515 M BASILISK Alan Krailing 6 10 16 16
7 684 M HAND OF FORTUNE Mike Holmes 8 8 16 16
8 716 M JERBOA Gavia Wilkinson-Cox 4 13 17 17
9 310 M CLAIRVOYANT Edward Sawyer 11 6 17 17
10 633 M FEI-LIN'S FLIRTATION Ron James 15 4 19 19
11 708 M RUMOURS Len Jones 10 9 19 19
12 714 M NORBERT Chris Brittain 12 12 24 24
13 686 M DUCRU Christopher Hunt 13 15 28 28
14 717 M NEREID Michael Hayles 18 11 29 29
15 695 M MAGIC Jonathan Hughes 9 21 30 30
16 653 M NJORD Owen Pay 16 17 33 33
17 322 C BLUE SKIES Matthew Ratsey 21 14 35 35
18 693 M VIRAGO Timothy Blackwell 17 18 35 35
19 710 M ALCYONE Simon Winn 14 22 36 36
20 636 SEAFIRE David Crabb 19 19 38 38
21 718 M CAVALIER Tony Singer 24 16 40 40
22 434 C MOONBEAM David Jephcott 20 20 40 40
23 184 C INGE David Dale 24 24 48 48


The event is supported by Knight Frank, Aberdeen Asset Management, Pantaenius and Petticrows Ltd.