One of the most successful yachts competing in this year’s AAM Cowes Week was ‘Blanco’ which races in the Contessa 32 Class.
This group of cruiser/racers was first built in 1971 and there are currently some 350 distributed worldwide. In fact they are built in Lymington by Jeremy Rogers and crewed by up to seven people, although some Contessa 32s are handled by just three or four.
Keeping it in the family
Skippered by Reginald Rouse ‘Blanco’ keeps it in the family crew-wise. Their policy has paid dividends with the boat having been the most successful entry in their class in the last four Cowes Week regattas, as well as other events.
This year the crew from ‘Blanco’ captured the Elmer Ellsworth Jones Trophy (Royal London YC) in racing on Monday. Such is their dominance in the class that they are often referred to as ‘Blanco Bxxxxx Blanco’ as the boat sails past others to win a race. By the end of the week ‘Blanco’ took the class honours.
Women members for the Yacht Squadron
Part way through AAM Cowes Week there was the announcement from the RYS regarding allowing females to become full members. Much has been written and debated on this topic through OnTheWight and elsewhere.
At present only gentlemen who are ‘Actively interested in yachting’ are eligible for membership of the RYS which was founded in1815. However, in the Spring of 2014 rule changes allowing female members will be introduced. There is a note of caution, though, insofar as any change has to be ratified by all members. Currently Princess Anne is an honorary member.
Royal connections
When Prince Philip was a regular competitor in Cowes Week one of the yachts he sailed was ‘Bluebottle’ which was in the Dragon Class. First produced in 1929 the Dragon fleet has a crew of four per boat. ‘Bluebottle’ was a wedding gift to HM The Queen and Prince Philip from the members of the Island Sailing Club and in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics her crew won a Bronze medal for GB.
‘Aimee’ was awarded the ‘Bluebottle Trophy’ for its performances over the first five days of the regatta. Receiving the trophy from Shirley Robertson OBE was 12 year old William who seems to keep the older members of the crew in winning form. An iconic photo depicting a young Prince Charles sailing with his father has been compared to William sailing with his crew. Later in the week five wins in the first six races gave the overall win in the Dragon class to Graham and Julia Bailey’s ‘Aimee’ with a day to spare and at the end of the week ’Aimee’ tied on points with the winner of the Mermaid class for second place in the White Group.
SB20s welcomed to Cowes by designer
Another class of yacht with a crew of three or four is the SB20. These one design boats were conceived by renowned yacht designer Tony Castro with the first model being produced in 2002 under the Laser SB3 banner.
Tony Castro was on hand to welcome the SB20s to Cowes and explained the boats had been rebranded as SportsBoat 20 as they are 20 feet long. 31 boats competed in a Grand Slam event at Cowes racing twice a day. After the Grand slam event 10 SB20s stayed on to race in the rest of AAM Cowes Week. Every day the previous day’s winner sailed with a Pink Kite so that members of the public viewing the sailing could easily spot the leading boat.
At the end of the Grand Slam ‘SportsboatWorld.com’ won the inaugural SB20 UK Grand Slam on day four of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. Jerry Hill, Craig ‘Spike’ Watson and Richard Lovering sailed an excellent series in this brand new SB20 which was only launched on Thursday 1st August.
A regatta within the regatta
Featuring a regatta within the regatta the Sunsail 40 fleet has daily races. Some of this fleet are used by AAM to host their guests who wish to take part in the sailing. Although having a different crew each day Sunsail 40 ‘Aberdeen Edinburgh’ was the most successful winning the AAM daily awards and ending the week fifth overall out of a fleet of sixty-two Sunsail boats.
Although there are dozens of trophies to win throughout the week, it has always been considered that the two main trophies are the Britannia Cup and the New York Yacht Club Challenge Cup. Mike Sanderson has stayed on friendly terms with Sir Keith Mills despite being fired from his Team Origin campaign in 2010 but on Wednesday he beat him fair and square to take the New York Yacht Club Challenge Cup.
Mike was sailing as strategist on American mini maxi ‘Belle Mente’, owned by Minnesota financier Hap Fauth and the race saw Mills’ TP52 ‘Five Degrees West’ trail in by seven minutes after a hard-fought contest over 20 miles in the Solent. Hap received the trophy from Shirley Robertson joking that he was “Senior Rookie” during Cowes Week and he was looking forward to the Rolex Fastnet Race.
