2015 Panerai British Classic Week – Spectacular day 2

by Panerai British Classic Week on 21 Jul 2015 The second day of Panerai British Classic Week 2015 may have featured grey skies and drizzle, but nothing could dampen the spirits of the 77 strong fleet of classic yachts as they came together for a spectacular Long Inshore Race sponsored by Classic Boat in partnership with Wight Vodka.

Five of the six classes started en-mass with only Class 0 starting separately and all boats raced the same course allowing for combined fleet results to be given as well as Class results.

After a short postponement the big boats of Class 0 got away on an exciting high-speed broad reach from the Royal Yacht Squadron line heading east. Ten minutes later the remaining classes set off in pursuit making a wonderful sight as they bowled down the Solent with their spinnakers billowing out before them.

Although the bigger boats had achieved some separation by the first mark at Browndown, the bulk of the fleet arrived in a huge pack making for some nail biting moments as they vied for space around the mark. Fortunately the majority of boats somehow found their way around safely, but a few got caught up in the mêlée including Stephen Jones’s Modern Classic ‘Meteor’ which arrived on the inside of a large group which refused to make room, forcing ‘Meteor’ to spin out for a second bite of the cherry. Later in the race ‘Meteor’s’ jib clew blew out so she had to retire.

Simon Payne’s Nicholson Jolina 35 ‘Damian B’ also had their fare share of excitement, but fortunately quick thinking enabled them to finish the race. “We started with wheel steering and we finished with tiller steering.’ Explained Simon. “We went round the penultimate mark and snapped our steering wires so had to rig the emergency tiller for the last reach and a beat.” Despite their troubles they still managed to finish sixth in class four.

Not wanting to miss out on the drama, eight Metre Saskia’s bowman Mark (Gonz) Gonzolez was swept off the foredeck by the genoa during an unexpectedly quick tack. Displaying great presence of mind he grabbed hold of a trailing sheet and was promptly hoisted back aboard by one arm by fellow crew member Big Malc.

Whilst John Caulcutt, Jamie Matheson and Stephen Hemsley’s ‘Mariquita’ claimed line honours and a win in Class 0 and Stephen O’Flaherty’s ‘Soufriere’ led the other fleets home to win the Modern Classics, it was actually a day for the small boats and in the overall combined fleet David Sherriff’s diminutive Cork One Design ‘Jap’ won the overall race, and class four, by an impressive margin of over nine minutes on corrected time. Second place overall and victory in class three went to Giovanni Belgrano’s ‘Whooper’, while Pascal Oddo’s ‘Jour de Fete’, being skippered this week by Bruno Troublé, took third overall.

After his disqualification following a port/starboard incident yesterday, Ed Dubois and his crew aboard ‘Firebrand’ sailed a fabulous race today putting them into fourth in the overall fleet and first in class two, thirty seconds ahead of nearest class two rival ‘Cetewayo” owned by David Murrin. Avia Willment’s ‘Siris’ romped home to victory in the eight Metre Class and sixth overall.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for glorious sunshine and a southwesterly wind that is expected to build from the low teens to the mid-twenties through the day. Two inshore races are scheduled with the first start at 10.00am. Racing continues until Friday 24th July and the regatta will conclude on Saturday 25th July with a Parade of Sail past the Royal Yacht Squadron and Cowes Green at 11.00am.

Overall results

 Class 0

Pos	Boat Name	R1	R2	Total
1	MARIQUITA (George Newman)	1.0	1.0	2.00
2	SUMURUN (Armin Fischer & Robert Towbin)	2.0	2.0	4.00
3	ELEONORA (Zbynek Zak)	3.0	4.0	7.00
4	CORAL (Richard Oswald)	5.0	3.0	8.00

Class 1

Pos	Boat Name	R1	R2	Total
1	FLIGHT OF UFFORD (Sean McMillan)	2.0	1.0	3.00
2	SOUFRIERE (Stephen O'Flaherty)	1.0	2.0	3.00
3	CHLOE RACING SPIRIT (Michael Hough)	4.0	3.0	7.00
4	HELEN OF DURGAN (David Grylls)	3.0	6.0	9.00
5	DIDO (Tom Hill)	6.0	4.0	10.00
6	PHANTOM (Brian Scowcroft)	7.0	5.0	12.00
7	METEOR (Stephen Jones)	5.0	10.0	15.00
8	STREGA (Sandy Fielding & Martin Whittle)	8.0	7.0	15.00
9	SPYRYS (Alexis Guillaume)	9.0	8.0	17.00

Class 2 (Classics)

Pos	Boat Name	R1	R2	Total
1	CETEWAYO (David Murrin)	1.0	2.0	3.00
2	OPPOSITION (Jamie G Matheson)	2.0	3.0	5.00
3	L'ESPRIT DU MORBIHAN (Vincent De Vries)	3.0	5.0	8.00
4	STORMY WEATHER (Christopher Spray)	4.0	4.0	8.00
5	STIREN (Gildas Rostain)	5.0	7.0	12.00
6	BOJAR (Andrew Pearson)	6.0	6.0	12.00
7	FIREBRAND (Edward Dubois)	15.0	1.0	16.00
8	ARGYLL (Griff Rhys Jones)	8.0	8.0	16.00
9	INFANTA (Tim Blackman)	7.0	10.0	17.00
10	TOMAHAWK (Jamie Abdy Collins & Fiona Shead)	9.0	9.0	18.00
11	AMAZON (Olivier Pecoux)	10.0	12.0	22.00
12	GULVAIN (Chris Mannion)	11.0	14.0	25.00
13	KELPIE (Pelham Olive)	12.0	13.0	25.00
14	LUTINE OF HELFORD (James Youngman)	15.0	11.0	26.00

Class 3 (Classics)

Pos	Boat Name	R1	R2	Total
1	WHOOPER (Giovanni Belgrano)	1.0	1.0	2.00
2	GLUCKAUF (Andy King)	2.0	2.0	4.00
3	SUNMAID V (Lawrence Wride)	3.0	3.0	6.00
4	LAUGHING GULL (Barney Sandeman)	4.0	4.0	8.00
5	FREYJA (Andrew & Mary Hales)	5.0	6.0	11.00
6	A DAY AT THE RACES (Barrie J Martin)	7.0	8.0	15.00
7	ILLIRIA (Andy & Jane Easdown)	12.0	5.0	17.00
8	CHARM OF RHU (Martin Thomas)	10.0	7.0	17.00
9	MARIANNA (Eric Preat)	8.0	9.0	17.00
10	ALINE IV (Arno Twigt)	6.0	13.0	19.00
11	FOGLIO (Barry Bristow)	9.0	14.0	23.00
12	ST DAVIDS LIGHT (David Orton)	11.0	12.0	23.00
13	ATLANTIS (Andy Bristow)	14.0	10.0	24.00
14	CROIX DES GARDES (James Kelman)	13.0	16.0	29.00
15	JOSEPHINE (David Messum)	19.0	11.0	30.00
16	CHAMOIS (Iain Pickard)	15.0	17.0	32.00
17	MATAMBU (Jeremy John)	19.0	15.0	34.00
18	GOLDEN FLEECE (Michael S Wheeler)	19.0	19.0	38.00

Class 4 (Classics)

Pos	Boat Name	R1	R2	Total
1	JAP (David Sherriff)	1.0	1.0	2.00
2	CERESTE (Jonathan Dyke)	2.0	2.0	4.00
3	L'ETOILE (Timothy Wood)	4.0	3.0	7.00
4	CARESSA (Ian Welsh)	3.0	4.0	7.00
5	RAGDOLL (Mark & Liz Rushall)	8.0	5.0	13.00
6	ZALEDA (Bill Hogg)	6.0	8.0	14.00
7	BLUE EAGLE (Michael Frith)	10.0	7.0	17.00
8	TINKATOO (Peter Robinson)	9.0	9.0	18.00
9	NYACHILWA (Graham Dallas)	13.0	10.0	23.00
10	SHANTIH OF COWES (Jason Fry)	5.0	19.0	24.00
11	DAMIAN B (Simon Payne)	19.0	6.0	25.00
12	ERIDA (Bob Gatehouse)	7.0	19.0	26.00
13	MARY LUNN (Robin Whaite)	15.0	11.0	26.00
14	MYSTERY II OF MEON (Richard Burrows)	11.0	19.0	30.00
15	MARCITA (Ian Welsh)	12.0	19.0	31.00
16	MIZPAH (Lionel Hoare)	14.0	19.0	33.00
17	SPIRIT OF MARION (Luke Alexander Yeates)	19.0	19.0	38.00
17	THENDARA (Chris & Liz Day)	19.0	19.0	38.00

8 Metre Class

Pos	Boat Name	R1	R2	Total
1	JOUR DE FETE (Pascal Oddo)	1.0	1.0	2.00
2	SIRIS (Avia Willment)	2.0	2.0	4.00
3	ATHENA (David Parson, Jonathan Cork & David Glasgow)	4.0	3.0	7.00
4	SASKIA (Murdoch McKillop)	3.0	4.0	7.00
5	ERICA (David Myatt)	8.0	5.0	13.00
6	ENCHANTEMENT (Alexandre Geoffroy)	5.0	8.0	13.00
7	OSBORNE (Richard Bendy)	8.0	8.0	16.00