Wet and wild at Vice Admiral's Cup

by Louay Habib on 22 May 2016 The second day of the Vice Admiral's Cup organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club produced yet more fast and exciting racing. Of the six classes racing three are one design and the Fast40, HP30 and Quarter Tonner Class all have boats of similar speed. Right from the starts, through manoeuvres and mark roundings, the action is boat on boat, adding to the thrill of the competition.

Today's Solent weather was 15-20 knots from the south with the cold front providing constant drizzle. Not exactly champagne weather, but the adrenalin pumping action, more than made up for the cold shower.

Fast40+ Class

Bill Coates' Texan Ker 43, Otra Vez scored two bullets today to take the class lead, after being given redress in yesterday's race three. Peter Morton's British Carkeek40 Girls on Film is in second place. Mike Bartholomew's South African GP42, Tokoloshe slips to third, despite scoring two podium finishes today. All three races went to the wire with thrills and spills at mark roundings and some intense luffing matches played out during four hours of high drama.

“In any fleet this big you get a variation and that is usually down to experience but this level of racing is fantastic, probably the most intense racing in 40-footers anywhere in the world. You make one mistake and you get punished” commented Otra Vez owner, Bill Coates. “We brought Otra Vez to the Solent just for the Fast40+ series, the boats are well sailed and most of the boats have a chance of winning any race. It is looking light tomorrow, which may suit us as we have the longest water line length, which is an advantage if the fleet isn't planing.”

HP30 Class

The pocket rocket HP30 Class was fully launched, often right on the edge of control in uber gybes and virtually underwater with spray in high speed reaching mode. Lloyd Thornburg's Farr 280 FOMO now leads the class after scoring two, two, one in three ballistic races. Thorkild Juncker's Open 7.50 was fastest round the track, but after IRC time correction ended the day in second place, tied with Jamie Rankin's Farr 280, Pandemonium.

“It has been seriously good fun ripping downwind today, we wanted to try something different from the MOD 70 and we thought a traditional keel boat might not be exciting enough but this is a real blast” commented Lloyd Thornburg. “FOMO is a bit smaller than the MOD70 Phaedo, but the name stands for Fear Of Missing Out, and we hope to be racing the Farr 280 at lots of regattas this year, especially Cowes Week.”

SB20 Class

In the SB20 Class, Forelle Estates, helmed by Joe Llewellyn kept up their perfect scoreline with three more bullets. Charles Sheppard, McAdam and Whelan, Doug Innes and Peter Noe, all scored podium finishes today but Forelle Estates are virtually assured of the class win with two races to spare. Charles Sheppard's Sharc is in second place, two points ahead of McAdam and Whelan's Here Comes Bod.

J/111 Class

The J/111 class enjoyed some spectacular racing with every race decided by seconds. In the first race of the day Tony Mack's McFly won by 21 seconds from Martin Dent's Jelvis, in the second race of the day Stuart Sawyer's Black Dog beat Jelvis by 21 seconds and in the final race of a thrilling day, Cornel Riklin's Jitterbug was just one second ahead of McFly. Stuart Sawyer's Black Dog has retained the class lead but only on countback from Tony Mack's McFly, which scored the lowest points score today.

J/109 Class

Robert Stiles' Diamond Jem had another great day, posting two wins and a fourth, to extend the class lead to five points. David Richards' Jumping Jellyfish is second and three solid results by Simon Perry's Jiraffe, including a win in the first race of the day, puts the team in third place.

“We sail all year round even in Winter and that keeps the team together and tuned up, we are all from Brighton or the Sussex area and been recruited through the Brighton Marina YC and we have raced together for a few years, so I would say we have learnt how to sail Diamond Jem fast but we still have another day of racing and anything can happen.”

Quarter Tonner Class

Louise Morton's Quarter Tonner, Bullit started of the second day of racing with a bullet and a second to take a firm grip on the class but Bullit was adjudged over the line at the start of the last race of the day and having restarted correctly slipped to ninth place. Bullit still leads the class but only by a single point from Sam Laidlaw's Aguilla. Tony Hayward's Blackfun remains in third. Rickard Melander's Alice II is fourth having scored two podium finishes today and Eric Reynolds' Magnum Evolution won race five to end the day in fifth position.

“Bullit is going well but we can still catch her” commented Aguila's Brett Aarons. “Bullit is a bit larger than Aguila, so she goes a bit better in the heavier air but tomorrow looks to be a bit lighter, so we definitely have a chance. The standard of racing in the Quarter Ton fleet is as good as it gets in the Solent. The boats may be old but a lot of time is spent getting them into perfect condition, and as we sail at about the same speed, it is just like one design racing.”

Racing at the RORC Vice Admiral's Cup concludes Sunday 22 May, with two more races scheduled for all six classes.