Panerai British Classic Week - International 8 Metre domination

by Deniz Karatepe on 13 Jul 2012 At Panerai British Classic Week, today was Antigua and Barbuda Race Day and for the first time all week, the day dawned with glorious warm sunshine and a nice 7-10 knots from the southwest. Unfortunately, the sun did not last and by mid-afternoon the rain had set in again with the wind going light and very shifty.

After the strong winds earlier in the regatta, 8 Metre Athena’s co-owner Jonathan Cork was delighted to have had a day of lighter airs saying, 'The wind was good, terrific, the best race we’ve had so far!' Race Officer Tony Lovell set a long inshore course of 22-miles for all classes, zigzagging them around the Solent in race four of the five race series.

Competition for today's overall honours was particularly fierce as the teams knew they were racing not only for overall victory, but that the winner would receive a luxury holiday to Antigua and Barbuda courtesy of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority and St James Club and Villas. With its azure-blue waters, 365 spectacular white and pink sandy beaches, a rich colonial heritage and some of the most spectacular sailing conditions anywhere on the planet, Antigua and Barbuda are a sailor’s dream holiday destination.

The St James's Club Resort and Villas are tucked away on a secluded 100-acre peninsula on the south eastern coast of Antigua and exude a casual, club-like ambience. Whether your heart’s desire is a romantic retreat for two, an action packed sports holiday or you simply want to relax, unwind and rejuvenate the St James's Club can meet your every need.

After some three and a half hours of racing the leading six boats were separated by less than three minutes on corrected time. Once again Hugh Morrison’s Savannah took line honours, but it was the 8 Metres that dominated the combined results with seven of the top ten places being filled by the class. Rufus Gilday summed up the situation perfectly saying that, 'It was a day for waterline length and big genoas! By a very narrow margin of just twenty-one seconds, Hanns-Georg Klein’s Anne Sophie claimed first place overall from Jan Willem M Ypma’s Falcon. Third place went to Luna, owned by Harri Roschier. First non-8 Metre in the overall standings was Andrew King’s 1929 Abeking and Rasmussen International 30 Square Metre Glucklauf in fourth place, with David Sheriff’s Cork Harbour One Design Jap in fifth.

In Class 1 for the Modern Classics, the battle for top step on the podium is between Savannah and Stephen Jones’ Meteor. In today’s race Meteor was the victor by just shy of nine minutes with Savannah second and Stephen O’Flaherty’s Soufriere third. Going into tomorrow’s final race Meteor and Savannah both count four points with Meteor leading class on count back and Sean McMillan’s Flight of Ufford six points adrift in third.

Class 2 was won by Jamie Abdy Collins and his crew aboard Tomahawk, with David Murrin’s Cetewayo second and Jamie Matheson’s Opposition third. As a result Cetewayo now leads the fleet by just one point from Opposition with Tomahawk and Brian Smullen’s Cuilaun both three points further back counting twelve points.

In Class 3, Gluckauf beat Brian Turner’s Clarion of Wight by a confident seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds with Jonathan and Scilla Dyke’s Cereste taking third place on corrected time. Going into the final day Gluckauf leads Class 3 with five points, a single point ahead of Cereste, with Vincent De Vries’ L’Esprit Du Morbihan third on eight points.

David Sheriff’s Jap continued to dominate Class 4 with another impressive victory today, this time by eleven minutes and twenty seconds. Second place went to Robert Veale’s Danegeld with Roddy Steel and Eric Newman’s Stren third. In the fleet standings Jap now counts three of her four straight firsts and leads Stren by four points. Danegeld is in third place with nine points.

The 8 Metre results in class differ from their finish order in the combined results as they race boat-on-boat in class and under IRC in the combined. In class today’s victor was Raven with Luna second and Anne Sophie third. In the fleet standings Raven enters the final race with a three-point lead over Anne Sophie on six points with Luna in third on ten points.

Sadly the 6 Metre Class has been reduced to three competitors following the loss of the rig from Robin Richardson’s St Kitts in race three. Today Tom Richardson’s modern Georgia was race winner with Peter Andreae’s Erica second and Fenton Burgin’s Sioma third. In the fleet rankings Georgia leads with seven points from St Kitts on eleven points, Erica third on fourteen and Sioma fourth on fifteen.

In the Overall Event Ranking, which combines the results for all races in the Classic classes but excludes the Modern Classics, Jap leads the fleet overall with 8.32 points. In second place is Gluckauf, owned by Andrew King, who counts 12.50 points and David Murrin’s Cetewayo is in third on 14.43 points.

With just one final race, sponsored by Sandeman Yacht Company, remaining to be sailed, the competition is really hotting up. Weather permitting the final race gets underway at noon tomorrow and the regatta concludes with a Parade of Sail on Saturday 14 July.

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