The final day of Cowes Week featured short, action-packed races, culminating in a spectacularly crowded finish line at the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Comedian Bobby Davro was among those in attendance.
It was seen by Mo Barnard and Sandra Revert.
Sandra said he was “so lovely” and happy to have his picture taken.
Rupert Mander in his Flying 15 Men Behave Badly won his race by nearly two and a half minutes and in doing so became the only boat in the race to record an unbroken streak of race wins.
In addition to his class victory, he was also crowned the overall winner of the White Group day boat classes.
Meanwhile Peter and Alison Morton’s Swan 36 Scherzo from Cowes won all but one race to win IRC Class 6 with a day to spare.
Scherzo from Cowes on his way to overall victory at Cowes Week 2022. Image: Paul Weyth/CWL.
The immaculately restored boat also won the Black Group overall and claimed the Cowes Week overall winner title.
Scherzo sailed with a crew of eight, including yacht designer Hugh Welbourne on the main sheet and Doug Vincett as the ship’s captain and navigator, plus his daughters and other guests on different days.
“It’s been a memorable week, with excellent courses overall and some pretty good sailing,” said Morton.
“Ian Handley put a lot of pressure on us every race in the Mustang 30 Banter, and we both battled every day.
“We were a little faster upwind, but they had an advantage downwind, especially in strong winds.”
Other notable performances included JPK1080 Yes! by Adam Gosling. in IRC Class 2, which came into the final race topping the overall Black Group leaderboard, with only class wins counting.
Finishing third on the day, Gosling retained the class win by a three-point margin, but the result pushed him down to second overall in the Black Group.
Kevin Downer and Tim Eccles’ 23-foot Jeanneau Fun Ziggy started the week with five straight IRC Class 7 wins.
As a result, they topped the Black Group rankings for several days, an impressive result for a boat bought for just £500 and refitted with second-hand masts, sails and deck fittings.
Men Behaving Badly by Rupert Mander and Gareth Edwards won the White Group overall. Image: Paul Wyeth/CWL.
A second place on Thursday and a fifth place on Friday meant that despite winning the class a day early, they dropped to third place overall in the Black Group.
Giovanni Belgrano’s 38ft Laurent Giles Classic Whooper won IRC Class 5 on a rest day, having taken four wins and two second places.
Francois Goubau’s Belgian Beneteau First 47.7 Moana achieved the same feat in IRC Class 1, as did Robert Baker’s J/97 Jaywalker in IRC Class 4.
Charle’s Esse’s X4.3 Baby X won all but two races in the Performance Cruiser A class, as did Neil Miller’s Dufour 40 Elidie in Performance Cruiser B, both winning their respective classes with a day to spare.
Nick Hampton’s Jeanneau Sun Odyssey Scandal won the Overall Cruising Association-sponsored Club Cruiser classes with an equally impressive performance.
Roger Wickens’ Danny took victory in the Sunbeam class with a day to spare and started the final day second overall in the White Group.
However, an altercation with Grantham Rocks a little west of the RYS start line forced him to retire and as a result he dropped five places in the overall White Group standings.
Action in the XOD class. Image: Martin Allen/CWL.
At the same time, several classes went to the cable.
In IRC Class 0, three boats reached the final day separated by just four points.
A win for Ian Atkins’ GP42 Dark n Stormy sealed his overall class title.
IRC Class 3 saw a week-long battle between Mike Bridges’ JPK1010 Elaine Again and John Howell and Paul Newell’s A31 Arcus, with the two boats level on points going into the final race.
In the tighter finishes, Bridges took the honors at the line, just two seconds ahead of the higher-qualified Arcus, thus sealing his overall class win.
In the Sonar class, Simon Clarke’s Jenny won, just one point ahead of Alistair Barter’s Bertie.
ACF Dolphin from the Andrew Cassell Foundation came in third place.
Clarke’s performance also saw him take second place overall in the White Group.
Hong Kong visitor Jamie McWilliam’s Macho Grande won the Etchells class in the countdown, level on points with Nick Stagg’s China Wight.
In the dragon class, a final day win for Graham and Julia Bailey in Bluebottle, just 11 seconds ahead of Eric Williams’ Ecstatic, saw them jump to class victory with 13 points.
At the start of the final XOD race, the top four boats were separated by just two points.
A second place was enough for Richard Faulkner’s Swallow to move to the top of the standings.
A fourth place for John Tremlett’s Astralite secured second place overall.
Source: www.countypress.co.uk