Cowes Week 2007 - Report from With Alacrity

2007 turned out to be a vintage Cowes week in predominantly light airs and plenty of sunshine…er with just a few days of heavy rain. The Sigma 38s this year were sailing as part of a fleet of 55 in IRC 6 with separate results extracted for the S38s. Rule observance in IRC 6 left something to be desired at times with some huge raft ups at marks and the start line, but inevitably the IRC 6 results became a background curiosity as the competition between the Sigma 38s took centre stage in one of the most exciting and open Cowes weeks in years.

Saturday

A huge windshift just before the start left a horribly biased committee boat line which you could not cross on starboard. We elected to start at the pin on port but tangled with Red Macaw on what was a 50:50 windward/leeward call at best. Not wanting to risk disqualification we took a yellow flag (1% penalty) and also protested, though later decided that life was too short to pursue it in the protest room. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful with some long legs up and down the Eastern Solent in a 10-12 knot breeze that got quite patchy near the island shore. Red Macaw led the Sigma 38s around the first mark as we battled with Beefeater for second. We both gradually caught Red Macaw and eventually overhauled them on the penultimate beat to finish first Sigma 38 by 30 seconds – but after the 1% time penalty we dropped to second with Red Macaw taking the first race win.

Sunday

With a big easterly tide on the RYS line we lined up to start on the inner distance mark but 2 boats to windward barged in, forcing us to reach down with them (this link to a Y&Y photo shows it quite well: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?s=1&sa=2&article=137926&PID=94&boat=&club=Cowes&clss=&desc=Skandia%20Cowes%20Week&p=&yr=2007 ). We might have been over the line anyway but without the ability to luff and slow down we were over by a long way and, with 50+ boats on the line, it took us a looong time to extricate ourselves and turn back, eventually re-starting 6 minutes late. We spent the rest of the race slowly working our way back up through the fleet, briefly making it to 3^rd Sigma 38 before being caught in a huge raft up on the last rounding mark and being blanketed by a wall of boats to the finish and dropping back to 6^th out of the 38s. Pavlova III finished first Sigma 38 on the water but were subsequently dsq after a protest giving Mefisto the second race win.

Monday

An incredibly exciting race in a stable 14 knots of westerly wind, Beefeater lead the charge off the start and pulled out a huge lead as the fleet tacked up the mainland shore past Lepe spit to keep out of the tide. We approached the first mark to watch Light just ahead round the wrong way, then Mefisto bear away as a Farr 45 was powering past with the kite up – they must have missed a collision by inches. Downwind we geared up in the pursuit of Beefeater, Pavlova III & Red Macaw and on the penultimate beat we crept up the shore for longer and found ourselves right back in it at the mark rounding. Red Macaw forced us to take another penalty on a very dubious port / starboard call but we rounded in second and broke into the lead on the final spinnaker leg. We held onto it to within 150 metres of the finish where we had to make the call to cover Beefeater who were heading inshore or the other Sigma 38s who were keeping out, we stayed out and Beefeater got it right to take a very deserved win.

Tuesday

Another beat off the squadron line against the tide and we pulled out a great start crossing clear ahead of the fleet on port and heading inshore to pick up the tidal eddy. Beefeater were soon back up with us though, they have the boat going really well upwind, and broke into the lead again at Lepe spit with Red Macaw always nearby. The three of us battled it out in a close and tense race and despite a final charge on the downwind leg to the finish we could not quite catch Beefeater who finished 7 seconds ahead for an outstanding second win in a row.

Wednesday

Probably the closest and most exciting race we have had in a Sigma 38. We started in the western Solent from a committee boat line and opted to sail the tidal strategy along the shore. After 20 minutes it was clear that in the shifty NE there was more wind in the middle of the Solent as Light sailed off into a huge lead. On the second beat we learnt from our mistake and headed for the mainland shore with Mefisto whilst Light and Red Macaw stayed in the middle. With huge 20 degree windshifts coming down the course any one of 5 or 6 boats could have broken into the lead but it was still Light ahead at the next mark but with a massively reduced lead. On the final beat we played the shifts up the middle and managed to pass Mefisto and Light and rounded the windward buoy within a few boat lengths of Red Macaw in a dying breeze. With a slicker hoist and sailing low into a lane of clear air we sailed through Red Macaw and this time managed to hang onto the lead to the finish - so now we had 4 different race winners in the first 5 races and just a few points separating the first 4 or 5 boats.

Thursday

Probably the worst race we have ever sailed in a Sigma 38, the fleet got away from the RYS line in 7 knots of wind and a huge pile up on the hugely biased line. Through the race the seabreeze battled with the Northerly gradient wind leaving huge holes in the wind and enormous 180 degree windshifts. Beefeater, Pavlova & Red Macaw got away well and headed inshore to park in a big hole, Light stayed out and picked up the first of the new breeze whilst we sat drifting somewhere in between. Light read the diabolical breeze best to become the 5^th race winner in the series closely followed by Beefeater who finished 20 minutes clear of the next Sigma 38! Worth noting that with 6 rounding marks criss crossing the Solent the wind was so shifty we sailed the whole course without getting the chance to put the spinnaker up!

Friday

The final race of the Sigma 38 series was poised to be a corker with just 7 points separating the first 5 boats, and it was even closer once you started to take discards into account. Unfortunately, perhaps as a result of criticism over the previous days torrid race, racing was abandoned for the day – obviously, 30 minutes later a solid 14 knot sea breeze had set in!

So, congratulations to Beefeater who sailed a great series to win the closest Cowes week we have sailed in. We will remember the great atmosphere on-shore; the Sigma 38 barbecue on Wednesday night was a hit with everyone but most of all the racing was unbelievably close proving again what fantastic one design yachts we are lucky enough to sail.

Saturday postscript…..

Although the Sigma 38 series was over the results in IRC class 6 were also very close and more than half the Sigma 38s turned out for the final IRC 6 race. Another incredibly close race with long downwind legs against the tide, we managed to break into the lead at the first windward mark and covered the other Sigma 38s for the next 2.5 hours to finish just ahead of Red Macaw – in the end just 10 seconds faster in this race would have secured 2^nd place overall in IRC 6 but we were happy to hang onto 3^rd and it was great to see 3 Sigma 38s in the top 5 of the handicap results.