Cowes, Isle of Wight, England: Jeremy Vines and his team sailing the National 18 Ace remain undefeated, in the fast handicap class, after the second and final day of the Uffa Fox 50 Celebration Regatta. The toughest fleet at the event was the slow handicap, where the battle for the top spot was between two Fireflies, with Ben Pym’s KEM just taking the honours from John Greenland in Falken.
The Flying Fifteens were the numerically strongest, and Patrick Harris sailing Seventh Heaven took victory by three points from Rob Goddard’s Over The Moon. In the keelboat class, Rowan Horner’s Harrier 20 Meg won the only two races sailed, beating the beautiful yawl Mary Lunn skippered by Robin Whaite, which finished second in both races.
Jeremy Vines’s strongest competition came from a pair of Albacores, Mathew Thompson sailing Uffa Fox Sake and Mike Banner’s Fifty Shades. The first of the vintage International 14s in the fast handicap fleet was K545 Sunrise in the hands of Mark Harrison. This boat was originally built by Fairey Marine for “the boss” Charles Curry and he went on to win the coveted Prince of Wales Cup with her.
Conditions on day two of the regatta were sparkling from start to finish, with sunshine and 12 to 15 knots of breeze with the occasional gust of 20 knots. The courses were laid off the Shrape, to the east of the harbour entrance. The Royal London Yacht Club, who were hosting the event, did a great job ashore and afloat.
John Roberson
