Time 20:48 – by Steffan Meyric Hughes
Finally, the weather turned, with a westerly breeze of 10-12 knots, and the sun breaking through the cloud cover that has hung over Largs Bay the last couple of days. The cold-water swimmers were back in the water at the edge of town; and out in the bay, so were the fleet of this year’s Richard Mille Cup, whose crew were swapping foulies for suncream.
The fleet, after a shared start to the north, split in two today, with Classes One and Two – the schooners and the big gaff cutters – heading southwest to the tip of Holy Island, off the southeastern tip of the Isle of Arran. Classes Three and Four – the small bermudans and the small gaffers – raced around Great and Little Cumbrae, enjoying reaches nearly the whole way, spinnakers out in the glorious conditions, and sailing close to the shorelines of the Cumbraes, giving magnificent backdrops.
It was a fast start, Atlantic just overstepping the line by an agonising few seconds, closely pursued by Elena, which has seemed untouchable nearly all week, storming past to claim her customary place at the head of the fleet. There was drama immediately after in Class Two. Mariquita got away cleanly, but ‘little’ Moonbeam was forced to luff by her larger namesake and went wrong side of the mark, forced to circle back to cross the start line.
In Class Three, Saskia got a near-perfect start, hotly pursued by Sonny, then Blazing Star. Class Four saw Kismet, which has been racing in a class of her own all week, take the lead in her class, followed by Thalia, then Patna.
Set in the morning sun, with backlit sails and the yachts heeling obligingly towards the lenses of the photographers on the chase boats in her lee, it was a start for the ages, and the greatest spectacle of the regatta yet.
The battle in the small bermudans has so far been played out between the slim Fife 8-M Saskia and the much beamier, heavier, and slightly longer S&S sloop Sonny. With Saskia giving Sonny almost nothing on time, the racing is effectively boat for boat; what you see between these two is what you get. After the longer John Alden-designed yawl Blazing Star took a wrong turn early in the race, it was another duel between Saskia and Sonny.
After rounding the mark just north of Great Cumbrae and sailing hard on the wind, Saskia worked the lifts well, getting to within a hair’s breadth of catching Sonny by the next mark, when they both tacked to reach south between the Isle of Bute and the Cumbraes. Sonny pulled away, opening ground quickly, and Saskia used her spinnaker in a gamble to keep boat speed up, albeit with greater distance to sail, making up some ground – but not enough. As they rounded the southern tip of Little Cumbrae to start the final reach home, it was clear that Sonny’s greater waterline length was going to win the day. The shoreline and sky reflected on her white hull, and with the rest of the fleet just dots on the horizon, she romped back, after 20 miles of course made good in just 2 hours and 40 minutes, to be the first boat home. Saskia came in 15 minutes later, then Kismet, with no regard for class, leaving Blazing Star to come last in the bermudans. Patna was in next, taking second place after Kismet in line honours for the small gaffers, then Thalia in third.
Sonny’s tactician Nadir Balena described the day as “a shifty, reachy course.” Another crew member chipped in that it seemed the air mass was shifting every five minutes. A jib halyard winch on the mast breaking early in the race didn’t help matters much, especially when they were hard on the wind. As Nadir put it: “A lift for Saskia is a header for Sonny!”
The big classes, on their longer, 32-mile course, fell into a series of wind holes, the largest of them off Holy Island, victims to changing winds in the lee of the land in these intensely archipelagic waters. Class Two’s finish was shortened at Holy Island, and Class One’s finish shortened mid-channel off the southern tip of Little Cumbrae.
There were no surprises in the big gaffers, all Fife designed, with Mariquita beating her sisters on elapsed time for another class win. Elena once again took honours in Class One, the schooners, despite a very stiff challenge from Atlantic, which led Elena for much of the race. The finish between the two giants went down to the wire, with Elena crossing the line just 45 seconds ahead after a protracted gybing match, leaving victory on corrected time to Atlantic. The Richard Mille Cup continues to deliver racing that comes down to the line every day. Lay day is tomorrow, Sunday. What next week will bring is anyone’s guess.