19 May 2012
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Press Release
2012 Vice Admiral's Cup -
Snakes And Ladders On Day Two
19th May 2012 - Cowes UK - The teams competing in the 2012 Vice Admiral's Cup were
delighted when day two brought sunshine and wind, albeit a shifty 6-10 knots from
the west, enabling all six fleets to complete three more races - races 4-6 of the
series. With more tricky wind and tide conditions to contend with and the discard
in play there have been plenty of place changes on the leader boards and there's
all to play for going into tomorrow's final day.
Race Officers Robert Lamb and Bob Milner took their fleets up onto the Hillhead
Plateau with the race area for Classes 0 to 2 set to the south-west of that for
Classes 3 to 5. The big boat fleets were able to get underway on time at 10.30,
but the smaller boats, which were closer in to the indexland shore, had a postponement
whilst they waited for the lighter and shiftier inshore wind to settle.
Overall Class 0, the GBR Team triallists for the 2012 Brewin Dolphin Commodores'
Cup, continues to be led by Jonathan Goring's Keronimo. In Class 1, for the 40-45
foot series production boats, the British Keelboat Academy's Kolga extended her
lead. It was all change in Class 2, for the J/111s where James Arnell's Jeez Louise
now has top spot, while in Class 3's J/109 fleet Steven Tapper's Stalker has extended
her lead with another impressive day. Boat of the series is currently Rick Melander's
Alice II in Class 4 for the Quarter Tonners whose run of six straight bullets puts
him in firm control. The battle for supremacy in the SB20 fleet of Class 5 continues
to be fierce with Russia's Oleg Zherrebtsov and Rodion Luka aboard Team Russia just
hanging onto their overnight lead by a single point.
It was all change in Class 0 as the 17 teams continued to vie for their places in
the GBR Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup Team. Overnight leader Keronimo, owned by
Jonathan Goring, got the day off to a good start with a win in race four and a
4th in race five, but a disappointing 8th in race six saw them drop down the standings
into second overall. Meanwhile their closest rival Dignity, owned by Andrew Williams,
was impressively consistent adding 2, 1, 1 to their card and, with the discard now
in play allowing them to drop an 8th place from yesterday, they lead the regatta
by 7 points going into the final day. Andrew Pearce's Magnum III has moved up into
third place, 5 points behind Keronimo, thanks to a pair of 3rds and a 4th, Nicolas
Gaumont-Prat's Philosophie IV retains fourth place overall whilst Mike West's Eauset,
who had been lying third overall overnight, dropped into fifth place.
The British Keelboat Academy's Kolga tightened her hold on Class 1 with two more
1st places and a 4th in race five. They now lead the regatta by 9 points from Jerry
Otter's Werewolf who scored 2, 3, 4 and count 15 points. Jeff Blue's Espresso Martini
jumped up the standings from 5th to 3rd thanks to two 2nd places and a 5th, which
they now discard so they sit 1 point behind Werewolf.
There were big changes for the J/111s where the normally ultra reliable David &
Kirsty Apthorp's J Dream had a shocker of a day finishing last in races four and
five before recovering slight to take 4th in race six. As a result they drop from
first to fourth in the overall standings. James Arnell's Jeez Louise has moved up
into the lead from second thanks to a 4, 3, 1 score. Ricardo Tavoncelli's Manic
finally found form winning races four and five but dropped back into last in the
last race although it was enough to move them up into second overall on equal point
with Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas's Shmokin' Joe. Manic currently holds second
on count back.
Steven Tapper's Stalker has a firm grip on the 16 strong J/109 fleet thanks to two
further wins and a second place. They count 6 points and have an 11 point lead over
nearest rival J2eau, owned by Steve and Jody indexe, who managed to hang onto second
overall by adding 3, 8, 7 to their card. Six points behind them is Tor McLaren's
Inspara, who moved up from fifth, and fourth places is now held by Paul Griffiths'
Jagerbomb. Stalker's run of luck almost came to an end in the fifth race when their
jib sheet snapped as the tacked onto the starboard layline for the first mark. Fortunately
the crew's quick thinking saved the day and within a few seconds three of the team
had hold of the flapping sheet tail and clew and they were able to sheet in effectively
enough to allow them to continue towards the mark at almost full speed as their
team mates rigged up a replacement sheet.
Rick Melander's Alice II is not only dominating the 11 strong Quarter Ton Class,
but is also top performing boat in the regatta. Their perfect score of six straight
wins puts them into pole position for class victory tomorrow. The big battle in
the Quarter Tonners will be for second place with George Andreadis's Atalanti IV
and Sam Laidlaw's Aguila counting 17 points apiece and both currently discarding
a 6th. Also still in contention for a spot on the podium are Diamund Foley's Anchor
Challenge with 21 points and Louise Morton's Espada with 30 points.
Russia's Oleg Zherrebtsov and Rodion Luka aboard Team Russia are hanging onto the
lead in the SB20 fleet (Class 5) by a single point over Henri-Lloyd/Forelle Estates,
owned by the Llewellyn/Wakefield/Virgus syndicate. Henri-Lloyd/Forelle Estates actually
had the better day today with two 1sts and a 2nd but Team Russia finished immediately
behind them in each race and just managed to keep them at bay overall. Jerry Hill's
Sportsboatworld.com is nipping hard at their heels thanks to two 3rds and a win
in race five and is now just two points behind in third overall.
The forecast for tomorrow's final day promises more wind with around 10-15 knots
from the North East so we look forward to a great final showdown for this record
breaking Vice Admiral's Cup.
Once again the Vice Admiral's Cup is supported by long standing sponsors North Sails, Musto and Boat Sales International
and for 2012 we are delighted to welcome new sponsor Pascall Atkey.
The generous support of these sponsors is vital to the ongoing success of the event.
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
The Parade, Cowes
Isle of Wight, PO31 7QU
Tel: 01983 293581
Fax: 01983 294385
www.rcyc.co.uk
Jo Chugg
Sailing Secretary
Fiona Brown
Press Officer
Fiona Brown Communications | 3 Palmers Road | Emsworth | Hampshire | PO10 7DL | null
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