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A (cheeky) light goes out Ed Dubois
The death of yacht designer Ed Dubois came as a shock to the sailing world. He was one of the most likeable characters you could meet in the marine industry and, while he became a high- flying yacht designer producing the most advanced and beautiful superyachts to grace the water, he never forgot his roots and his friends. I first met Ed in Hong Kong where he had a group of owners for whom he designed racing yachts to compete in the Admiral’s Cup. His engaging personality and skill as a sailor brought him many commissions – one of those being the Admiral’s Cup yacht Victory which he designed for Peter de Savary. This led to Ed producing a 12 Metre design for De Savary’s 1983 America’s Cup challenge and was the springboard to bigger things.
The number of Dubois-designed superyachts grew to the point that the Dubois Cup became a logical next step, which Ed started in 2007; the event became the perfect theatre for this bon-viveur and charming man.
RORC Easter Challenge
The training-while-racing format of the RORC Easter Challenge makes it one of the more interesting events in the spring calendar. The regatta is supported by North Sails who bring two coaches from the USA, Chuck Allen and former Star world champion Andreas
Josenhans, who between them look after North U Regatta Services – an educational business that travels around regattas in the US. Chuck and Andreas support a UK coaching team led by Jim Saltonstall plus Mason King and myself. Rules are relaxed to allow coaches to intervene during the racing to advise on weight distribution, sail trim and boat handling, after which competitors enjoy a full debrief at the RORC clubhouse in Cowes with video and photos illustrating the good, the bad and… the in-between. In my view this exercise is like gold dust and not to be missed, especially at the beginning of the season. While training is empha- sised, the racing is important even if the prize is an Easter egg.
At long last
The regatta was also the setting for the long-awaited first clash of the Fast40+ class as 10 boats competed for the first time in an organised series. The Fast40+ is a class limited to light-displace- ment boats with a TCC between 1.21 and 1.27 (a lower limit of 1.191 is permitted for 2016 to boost participation). To put this into context, Anthony O’Leary’s turboed Ker 40 Antixwas slowest at 1.215 and looked rather ordinary alongside Peter Morton’s brand new Carkeek 40 Girls on Filmat the upper limit, along with American Bill Coates’ Ker 43 Otra Vezand the Ker 40+ Invictus. The Girls team’s objective to lead from the front involves a step up in approach to the new class, their Carkeek 40 Mk2 being boosted with an extra foot of length plus more sail and stability and tweaked to hit the 1.270 TCC upper limit. With three more Fast40+s on the way there will be an excit- ing group of boats in the Solent in summer. Day one was won by Otra Vezscoring 4,2,1 on a sunny spring day with good breeze and very close racing. Girls on Film was second with a 1,6,2 – impressive for a boat that had only arrived in the UK a week earlier.
IRC Class 2 was made up of the perennial 40ft cruiser-racers that have been the mainstay of Solent racing for the past 10 years. RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine had the best of the first day, while working up a new crew for this year’s Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup. Close behind was Connor Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice and Cowes Race School’s Zero II designed by Mark Mills.
In IRC 3 Tom Kneen’s new JPK 10.80
Sunrise was also fast out of the blocks with a 1,2,2, only to be challenged for the
top prize by David Franks in the JPK 10.10 Strait Dealer. It was David versus Goliath in IRC 4 as the modernised Quarter
Tonner Aguillaof Sam Laidlaw battled against Harry Heijst’s classic S&S 41 Winsomeall weekend.
As well as bringing grand prix racing back to the Solent after a 15-year absence the Fast40+ fleet are also already enjoying some good boat-on-boat racing. This fleet will change in complexion as owners build boats to the rule rather than squeeze in existing designs. Will this be a good or bad thing? The former, the former…
50 SEAHORSE
Day 2 and Day 3 followed similar patterns with a very breezy forecast, PRO Stuart Childerley setting the fleet a reaching start on a long Solent course with only one race each day. Overall Fast40+ winner was Otra Vez. Andrew McIrvine seemed to have IRC 2 wrapped up on Saturday night with three first places and a sixth but a man overboard (in this case a woman) on Sunday put a retirement in the score and dropped La Réponseto fourth overall, the IRC 2 win eventually going to Conor Phelan’s Irish Team on their much-travelled Jump Juice. In IRC 4 Winsome, needless to say, revelled in the strong winds on Saturday and Sunday; although Sam Laidlaw enjoyed the extreme conditions they could not match the powerful S&S 41’s upwind performance, overall honours going to Harry Heijst and his well-practised team. Eddie Warden-Owen, CEO
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PAUL WYETH
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