Cowes Week - RS Elite class goes down to the wire

by Cowes Week on 8 Aug 2010
Cowes Week - With the first four overall from the recent Elite national championship competing this week, as well as several previous RS Elite Cowes Week winners, competition has been exceptionally high.

At the end of seven tough races in the RS Elite class, the first five places overall were separated by just two points which shows the strength of the competition.

Steve Powell's E'Tu from Lymington, with Alastair Keck on the helm and John Botty forward, won the event on countback ahead of Kandoo 3.

Day after day, there have been just seconds between the leading boats, with place changing right to the finish. Early in the week the banter was that the one place you did not want to be was in the lead around the last mark, because defending while picking the right route seemed almost impossible. Five different winners of the seven races tells its own story.

'Cowes Week gives a really different kind of racing which is great for our Class' says Martin Wadhams of RS Sailing, and skipper of Joyce. 'The changing breeze and tidal strategy throws in many more variables than typical windward leeward races and it can lead to a different kind of pressure and tension with the crews. But I think that variation is fantastic and adds to a season's mix of exciting competition.'

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