EAORA Janes Cup and Thames Estuary Shield
by Paul Wood 13 Jun 2018 14:13 PDT
9-10 June 2018
'Woozle Hunter' wins the EAORA Janes Cup © Laura Ivermee
Janes Cup
On Saturday 9th June nine yachts raced from Burnham on Crouch to the River Medway for the Janes Cup. This trophy was presented jointly to the Medway Yacht Club and The Royal Engineers in 1956 by Brigadier Basil Chichester-Cook in memory of his 10 year old daughter Jane who was tragically killed in a motor accident. The crew onboard his yacht called Sea Bird were obviously devastated so they clubbed together and purchased a solid silver cup in memory of her.
In the late 1950's and early 1960's The Medway Yacht Club and The Royal Engineers were very active with the growth of East Anglian Offshore and therefore it was decided that the Janes Cup would be part of the East Anglian Offshore series.
This year, the race was started at the Branklet buoy on the River Crouch with a light north easterly wind with gentle tacking up to the Whitaker buoy. A long spinnaker leg followed, with lots of gybing along the Maplin sands and into the river Medway. It was just under 9 hours before Brave (class 1) crossed the line at buoy 26. With these light winds Woozle Hunter did what she does best and forty-five minutes later crossed the finish line, on handicap – an unexpected overall win for the new owners.
Overall and Class III win (Janes Cup and Dutch Cup): Woozle Hunter
Owners: Phil Hammond, David Harrington -Lyn, Alex Pentelow & Adam Thomas
Class II win: Spirit (Garrison Trophy)
Owner: Paul Scott
Class I win: Full Tilt (Vendatta Cup)
Owners: Ross Eldred
Thames Estuary Shield
On Sunday eight yachts raced back to the River Crouch for The Royal Corinthian's Thames Estuary Shield, the start line was at buoy 26 with a course pretty much the same as the Janes Cup from the day before but in reverse. Paul Scott and his crew having previously won the North Sea Race overall a few weeks earlier did an excellent job of keeping out the flood tide and hugged the shore from Garrison Point to the Medway Buoy, this planning paid dividends and it wasn't long before Paul was on the heels of the class one boats. This manoeuvre and good tacking set him up nicely for another podium win. Today Paul is now leading the series overall – no pressure then.
Overall & Class II win: Spirit
Owner: Paul Scott
Class III win: Woozle Hunter
Owners: Phil Hammond, David Harrington -Lyn, Alex Pentelow & Adam Thomas
Class I win: Full Tilt
Owner: Ross Eldred