Nick Cousins Memorial Spring Regatta at Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club
by Bill Harris 22 May 2025 07:46 PDT
17-18 May 2025
Class 6 start - Nick Cousins Memorial Spring Regatta at Royal Channel Islands YC, Jersey © Bill Harris
Superb conditions were the order of the day for the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club's Nick Cousins Memorial Spring Regatta held in St Aubin's Bay over Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th May.
Saturday opened to super sunny conditions that held until the first boats arrived on the line for the 8.30 start when overcast moved in, clearing only as boats made their way home. Whilst it was really chilly under cloud cover, the established east-north-easterly breeze persisted throughout the weekend with moderate breezes giving way to light accompanied by unbroken sunshine on Sunday.
Racing on both days was successfully completed with just a few minor course adjustments as the breeze wavered back and forth.
This was, as ever, a regatta for all types of sailboats ranging from cruisers through to junior dinghies, supervised by independent race committees operating in the Bay; cruisers and fast sport catamarans to the south and dayboats, dinghies and sport catamarans closer to the beach, keeping the two race areas well apart.
Overall, racing ran smoothly, essentially on time, with the odd recall and occasional general recall when a boat or boats transgressed at the start. Two back-to-back races were scheduled each day for the cruiser classes, three for all others with one discard allowed in each class over the two days.
Racing in the amalgamated IRC Quarter Ton and Sportsboat Class, Allen Brown & partners' Melges 24, The Dog's........!, won all but one race to take the series. Team Super Q's Farr 727 clinched the Quarter Ton class, with three wins, ahead of Team Fahrenheit's Farr 727. Racing in the YTC fleet, Karen Roworth's First 21.7, Jacamol, claimed the spinnaker class win on countback from Don Thompson's gaff cutter, Foxhound, each boat having scored four points.
The 'white sail' class win went to Darren Stower's First 36.7, Altair, with four 'bullets' ahead of Hani Salem's UFO27, Matchless, some three points behind, having scored three second places. Nick O'Hare's Westerly Fulmar, Honky Tonk, finished a close third.
Ben Jones' Cornish Coble, Baloo, took the Dayboat series, having won three races against Malcolm Annan's Oysterman, Jamesina's, two to give Baloo a two point lead overall. Gary Hollick's Tosher, Tykki Duw, raced well in her first appearance on the Jersey regatta scene, scoring two seconds and closing the event with a first place in the final race.
Racing on windward-leeward courses in the south of the Bay, Andy Hart and Michael Kinross, sailing Wildcat 517, with four wins, took the F18 Class two points ahead of Adrian Jesson and Paul Martin's Wildcat 618 with two wins both well clear of Simon Martin and Andrew Frigot's Wildcat 565.
Competition in the eleven-strong open sport catamaran class, all Hobie 16s, was no less stiff with Luke Paxton-Garnier and Steph Egan's Time-2-Spare finishing on equal points with Ollie Voak and Megan Roworth's Ships & Giggles. Whilst both boats had chalked up two wins it was Time-2-Spare's day, winning on countback. Aaron Le Cornu and Rachael Smith's Top Kat with one win took third whilst Alex Ohlsson and Arthur Jennings, sailing Purr Energy, took the final race to clinch fourth, overall.
Five boats came to the line in the Hobie Dragoon sport catamaran class. Ava Martin and Nat Winchester took the series by two points ahead of Lottie Ohlsson and Capucine Bacquet, with three wins and two, respectively. Henry Edwards and Oscar Thomson opened with a first in the first race but had to settle for a close third, in the end.
Laser Standard dinghies took the three top spots in the 'fast' dinghy class. Kai Surcouf swept the board on Saturday morning with three wins added to two seconds on Sunday giving him a four point victory. Morgan Surcouf turned the tables on Sunday, however, winning two races to secure second place two points clear of Peter Washington.
Also making her debut on the regatta scene, Nick Querée's very smart Wayfarer, Black Jack, performed well, including a first on Sunday, to take fourth just one point behind Washington.
Just two Optimists sailed in the junior dinghy class with all but one race, on Sunday, going to Izzy Ohlsson, George Edwards, sailing Top Tub, winning the first race on Sunday. Both sailors showed commendable tenacity and produced very impressive performances in this 'match race' over fairly long courses.
The Regatta concluded with the place prize-giving on Sunday evening when Commodore Jeremy Swetenham thanked Mrs Michele Cousins for her kind and generous sponsorship. With the presentation of place prizes completed, the Commodore awarded the Nick Cousins Memorial Trophy for under-18 years of age sailors to Morgan Surcouf for overall performance through the Regatta.
He went on to congratulate and thank all competitors for their success and great sailing over the weekend and the forty-strong volunteer team for putting on such a spectacular event.
Detailed results: www.rciyc.je/racing
Quarter Ton Class:
1 Super Q - Team Super Q
2 Fahrenheit - Team Fahrenheit
Quarter Ton & Sportsboat Class:
1 The Dog's........! - Allen Brown & Partners
2 Super Q
3 Fahrenheit
Cruiser Class 3a (spinnaker):
1 Jacamol - Karen Roworth
2 Foxhound - Don Thompson
Cruiser Class 3b (white sail):
1 Altair - Darren Stower
2 Matchless - Hani Salem
3 Honky Tonk - Nick O'Hare
4 Ruby - Paul Raimbault
Dayboat Class 4:
1 Baloo - Ben Jones
2 Jamesina - Malcolm Annan
3 Tykki Duw - Gary Hollick
Sport catamaran Class 5:
1 Wildcat 517 - Andy Hart & Michael Kinross
2 Wildcat 618 - Adrian Jesson & Paul Martin
3 Wildcat 565 - Simon Martin & Andrew Frigot
Sport catamaran Class 6:
1 Time-2-Spare - Luke Paxton-Garnier & Steph Egan
2 Ships & Giggles - Ollie Voak & Megan Roworth
3 Top Kat - Aaron Le Cornu & Rachael Smith
4 Purr Energy - Alex Ohlsson & Issy Elliott & Arthur Jennings
5 Fli-Bi - Jamie Washington & Olly Hunt
6 Hobie Camille - Luc Richard & Thomas Harris
7 Tom Cat - Tom Newman & Lucca Gentilli
8 Cowabunga Cat - Antoine Bacquet & Katie Bacquet
9 Black Cat - William Richardson & Tom Allo
10 The Cat in a Hat - Giselle Barrowcliffe & Charlie Barrowcliffe
11 Hobie Mistral - Marc Haslam & Oliver Haslam
Sport catamaran Class 7:
1 Dragoon 1368 - Ava Martin & Nat Winchester
2 Dragoon 1370 - Lottie Ohlsson & Capucine Baquet
3 Dragoon 1369 - Henry Edwards & Oscar Thompson
4 Dragoon 1366 - Alice Capstick & Connie Allo
5 Dragoon 1034 - Luke Haydon & Cameron Castle
Open Dinghy Class 8:
1 Laser Standard - Kai Surcouf
2 Laser Standard - Marlin - Morgan Surcouf
3 Laser Standard - Great White - Pete Washington
4 Wayfarer - Black Jack - Nick Querée
5 Laser Standard - Hywl2 - Matthew Thompson
6 Laser Radial - Tyler Horton
7 Laser 4.7 - Imogen Heart
8 Skeeta - David Carter (Saturday only)
Open Dinghy Class 9:
1 Optimist 6550 - Izzy Ohlsson
2 Otimist 6424 - Top Top Tub - George Edwards
