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12.07.2011
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Press Release
Rob Gray's 'Aguila' leads on Day 1
of the 2011 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup
Cowes, UK - 11 July 2011 - Day 1 of the 2011 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup dawned bright
and clear but with an almost total absence of the most necessary ingredient for
a regatta - wind. With the glassy conditions meaning that there was very little
chance of racing getting away at the scheduled 10.30 start time, Principal Race
Officer Robert Lamb sensibly held the fleet ashore whilst he and his race team headed
off onto the Solent in search of some sort of usable pressure. Having persevered
in their quest for some several hours, Lamb and his team were eventually rewarded
for their patience at around 14.00, when a pleasant 10 knot south westerly breeze
materialised, enabling the eager fleet to finally put to sea for what turned out
to be two excellent and closely fought races.
Despite the wide range of sizes and designs making up the 30 boat fleet, the racing
could hardly have been closer both on the water and on handicap, with every startline
and mark rounding fiercely contested throughout the day. In Race 1, Louise Morton's
'Espada', (helmed at this event by Colette Blair standing in for the injured Morton)
turned in a line honours performance in the first race, which was good enough to
also give 'Espada' a corrected time race win by just under a minute. Second in
that race was last year's Quarter Ton Cup winner 'Cote' owned by Darren Marston
& Ollie Ophaus, who edged Sweden's Rickard Melander on 'Alice II' into third place
by just 16 seconds on corrected time. Fourth was Rob Gray's 'Aguila', ahead of Ireland's
Eamonn Rohan on Anchor Challenge.
Race 2 saw a compelling three-way battle for line honours between 'Aguila', 'Alice
II' and George Kenefick's Irish entry 'Tiger'. 'Aguila' eventually prevailed to
take the gun and a narrow 8 second corrected time victory over 'Tiger' in second
and 'Alice II' in third. 'Espada' rounded out a solid day with a fourth place ahead
of Ian Southworth's 'Whiskers'.
With two races completed at the end of Day 1, only 7 points separate the top 6 teams.
Rob Gray's 'Aquila' holds the overall lead with a total five points, tied with Louise
Morton's 'Espada' in second. Rounding out the top three just one point adrift of
'Espada' is Rickard Melander's 'Alice II', who holds a 4 point advantage over George
Kenefick's fourth placed 'Tiger'. Fifth at the end of Day 1 is 'Cote' owned by Darren
Marston & Ollie Ophaus.
As the fleet returned to the dock this evening, the smiles on the faces of the sailors
was a clear indication of a fun day of Quarter Tonner racing. Having travelled from
Russia to compete in Cowes this week with his French Quarter Tonner 'Bullit', Dmitry
Borodin said that he had thoroughly enjoyed his first experience of racing in England.
"To have the chance to sail here in Cowes is a real pleasure. There are so many
fantastic boats and just being here in a town with this sort of sailing heritage
is fantastic. On the water I think we have much to learn but we are enjoying our
first Quarter Ton Cup and we will take the message back home with us. Hopefully
in years to come there will be more Russian boats coming to sail in this regatta."
Colette Blair from 'Espada' declared herself happy with her team's first day performance.
"We are fortunate that Espada performs well in all conditions, but today we seemed
to be going well and we are pleased with the way we sailed." Blair also commented
that Espada's only non-female crew member, indexsheet trimmer Stuart Childerley,
had coped well with being the only man on-board. "It's great to sail with Stuart
although I think he found the general conversation onboard today rather different
to what he is used to."
Anchor Challenge's Eamonn Rohan, a first timer at the Quarter Ton Cup, had also
clearly enjoyed his day on the water but was quick to pay tribute to the quality
of the fleet. "This is the toughest Quarter Ton racing that we have done since
we bought the boat. There are so many really fast boats and competitive crews sailing
here this week, it's been a bit of an eye opener. We are having fun though and looking
forward to tomorrow's racing."
Despite lying in last place overall Richard Johnson & Sarah Lyle on 'Hannah J' were
still amongst the most enthusiastic owners checking the results in the clubhouse
after racing. "We had a great day out on the water and we are really pleased not
to have finished last in the second race! Can you tell this is our first time? What
we are really hoping for is an overall wooden spoon prize!" commented Sarah.
Racing at the 2011 Quarter Ton Cup continues tomorrow Tuesday 12 July with three
more races scheduled. The regatta concludes on Wednesday 13 July.
For further information about the 2011 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup please visit www.rcyc.co.uk
or
contact Jo Chugg,Sailing Secretary, Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, The Parade, Cowes,
Isle of Wight, PO31 7QU, E-mail jo.chugg@sigma33.com [mailto:jo.chugg@sigma33.com],
Tel +44 (0)1983 293581.
Members of the press requiring further information or images should contact RCYC
For further information about Coutts please visit www.coutts.com
For further information about the Quarter Ton Class please contact Louise Morton,
Class Secretary on e-mail louise@quartertonclass.com [mailto:louise@quartertonclass.com]
or visit www.quarteronclass.org
Revived Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Winners
2005 - Purple Haze (1977 David Thomas design) - Tony Dodd
2006 - Enigma - (1977 Ed Dubois design) - Ed Dubois
2007 - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2008 - Tom Bombadil (1982 Doug Peterson design) - Chris Frost & Kevin George
2009 - Anchor Challenge (1978 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2010 - Cote (1990 Gonzalez design) - Darren Marston & Olly Ophaus
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
Jo Chugg
Sailing Secretary
jo.chugg@sigma33.com [mailto:jo.chugg@sigma33.com]
+44 (0)1983 293581
www.rcyc.co.uk
Justin Chisholm
Press Officer
E-mail Justin [mailto:justin@justinchisholmsolutions.com]
+44 (0)7769 938722
Paul Wyeth
Official Photographer
+447549 884 683
paul@pwpictures.com
www.pwpictures.com
Quarter Ton Class
Louise Morton
Class Secretary
louise@quartertonclass.org [mailto:louise@quartertonclass.org]
+44 (0)7769 972979
www.quartertonclass.org
The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club was founded at Erith, Kent in 1872. Over the years,
it operated from a number of locations but finally settled at Burnham-on-Crouch,
Essex where the 'Northern' branch of the Club continues to operate and prosper.
In 1948, the Club established it's 'Southern' branch at Cowes in the present Clubhouse.
The Cowes branch of the Club has over 800 Members. It's position, the style of
the Clubhouse and its grounds set it apart from the other Clubs in Cowes. It is
the favourite spot for relaxing after sailing, and its ambience has also helped
it be successful in attracting visiting yacht clubs and classes.
14.07.2011 - 'Espada' wins 2011 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup
13.07.2011 - Breeze On For Day 2
12.07.2011 - Rob Gray's 'Aguila' leads on Day 1
04.07.2011 - Anticipation Builds Ahead of 2011 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup
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