Saskia’s first two wins at Cowes

by Pater Campbell on 25 Jul 2007
Saskia, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s entrant in the Metre Class Centenary Regatta at Cowes on England’s Isle of Wight, has won her first two races in the 8-Metre division, sailed overnight on The Solent.

Fresh from winning the Sira Cup for Classic yachts at the 8-Metre Centennial World Championships at on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, Saskia outsailed a smaller fleet of nine 8-metre and 8-metre cruiser/racers.

Saskia, owned by Squadron members John and Michael Stephen, won the opening race on The Solent from the British entry Siris (Avia Willment) and the Belgium yacht Iderim (Marc Busshots).

In the second race, the Australian boat beat Iderim and another Biritish entry, Athena, owned by the Early of Cork & Orrery and David Glasgow, which placed 4th in the Neptune Trophy division of the World Championships last week.

However, Siris, which placed 6th in race two, received redress of average points and still holds second place overall behind Saskia.

Conducted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Metre Class Centenary Regatta continues through to Friday with six races, the last two being longer races starting off the RYS at Cowes.

The 8-Metres are part of a near 60 boat fleet of yachts built to the Metre Class yacht design rule, introduced in 1907, with yachts still being built to this classic design.

Other ‘metre’ boats competing in the historic regatta include 12-metres, among them the 1957 British America’s Cup contender Sceptre, 5.5 metres, Darings (built to the 5.5 metre rule) and 2.4 metres, with the largest divisions being the 6-metres and classic 6-metres which between them have 25 entries.

Saskia, built in Scotland in 1931, is the third oldest boat in the 8-Metre division, but the oldest yacht in the fleet is the Classic 6-Metre Cailin, owned by Irish yachtsman Sean Cullinan.