| Excitement (and Weather) Builds as Skandia Cowes Week Kick off the 180th Anniversary Regatta |
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| Written by Peta Stuart-Hunt | |
 The excitement is building as competitors, organisers, sponsors and the town’s businesses gear up for tomorrow’s start of the 180th edition of the world’s oldest and largest regatta, Skandia Cowes Week. The latest news from Cowes today is that we’re REALLY close to reaching last year’s record entry figure of 1,039 but we’re not quite there yet with a total of 1,029 yachts currently entered. However, Stuart Quarrie, the Regatta Director, reckons that by the end of ‘the Week’ (actually eight days) around 1,050 yachts will have raced here at Cowes. A FEW KEY FACTS Entries from 15 different countries: Australia (1), Belgium (4), British Virgin Islands (1), Czech Republic (1), France (3), Germany (3), Hong Kong (2), Ireland (2), Italy (1), Russia (1), Switzerland (1), The Netherlands (13), United Arab Emirates (2), United States (5), The largest yacht entered: ICAP Maximus at 29.7m and ...the Smallest boat is Alive and Kicking, the Beneteau First 211 (6.4m) skippered by Ingrid Kane from Chichester, West Sussex. The boat will race in Class 7 IRC. Oldest yacht: Mikado, Originally a Gaff Cutter and now a Bermudan Cutter owned by Michael Briggs QC & Beverley Briggs, London. Mikado is 102 years old this year; this West Fife III was built in 1904. She was originally a Gaff Cutter then in 1942 she was converted to a Bermudan Cutter with 2-3 berths. Spent 1930s– 40s on the East Coast, 1950s on the Thames Estuary, then back to Scotland. In 1990 she was laid up in Exeter in a sad state. She was restored and started racing again in 2002 and has enjoyed excellent seasons in Scotland, Cowes and the Mediterranean. The largest class: Laser SB3 with 89 entries to date. Designed in 2002 there are nearly two hundred boats sold. Sailed by two to four sailors it offers high performance asymmetric sportsboat sailing, with the tightest one-design rules in keelboat sailing today. Youngest Skipper: 14-year old Sam Prime sailing on the National Squib Liz Whiz. WEATHER Forecast for Saturday 29th July 2006 issued 1700 Friday High Water Portsmouth 0222 4.3m and 1452 4.4m Situation Low 985mb in the mid Atlantic has a fast moving secondary low heading towards the UK. This is expected to bring two fronts across the area during tomorrow before clearing away during Saturday night. The first of these fronts is expected during Saturday afternoon and will bring a small amount of rain whilst the second more active front is expected late evening. Although we may get some sunny spells during the morning the cloud will thicken during the afternoon ahead of the front. Once the front clears on Saturday night Sunday should give a clearer sky with the chance of showers. An increasing chance of rain during the afternoon and a high chance of rain in the evening. Max temperature in Cowes is expected to be around 22-24C. The sea water temperature reported at the Bramble Post is 22C, with 17C reported in the Channel. Expected Wind – Saturday (speed in knots) 06-0900 S-SW 5-10 09-1200 S-SW 5-10 increasing 10-15 12-1500 S-SW 10-15 probably increasing 15-20 ahead of the front 15-1800 S-SW 15-20 occasionally 20-25 late in the period. Note: Gusts are likely to be 1/3rd as high again above the average wind speed; more if associated with heavy squalls or thunderstorms.  RECORD BREAKER DEE CAFFARI SETS A COURSE FOR COWESSailing on Pindar, ABN AMRO and MAXIMUS 33-year old Dee, based in Portsmouth, is the first woman in history to have sailed single-handed, non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents setting a new world record of 178 days, 3 hours 5 minutes 36 seconds. While Portsmouth was awaiting the arrival of the Volvo fleet at the end of Leg 7, England's latest sailing heroine was celebrating the completion of her 178-day solo voyage in AVIVA, her 72-foot steel yacht. In doing so she has become the first woman ever to complete a solo westabout circumnavigation under sail. TECHNOLOGY ENABLES AMERICAN DISABLED SAILOR TO COMPETE AT COWES Kerry Gruson (58) is a severely disabled woman based in Miami, Florida. She is competing for the first time at Cowes this year helming a Sonar (the Paralympic class boat) BLUE BA YOU 2 (IRL600). Kerry is able to compete using an adaptive seating and steering system, an innovation created by Shake A Leg – a US-based non-profit organisation that caters for people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth. The system enables Kerry to tack, while still having the option to sit on either side of the boat and, the designers reckon it could be useful for any less nimble sailors! Kerry's condition, termed Anoxia (a lack of oxygen to the brain), has left her with paralysis in the legs and arms requiring her to use a wheelchair for mobility on land. While sailing a boat, Kerry uses a specially designed seat that provides the trunk stability necessary to sail in various wind conditions. A graduate of Harvard, Kerry has recently retired from her job as a news assistant in the Miami bureau of The New York Times. Kerry started sailing in 1991 at Shake-A-Leg Miami, and now teaches at the facility Her father, Sydney Gruson, was vice chairman of The New York Times Company. FIFTY YEARS ON : THE JARDINES & JANE PITT-PITTS TEAM UP AGAIN FOR THE CAPTAIN’S CUP In 1956 twin brothers Stuart & Ado Jardine together with Jane Pitt-Pitts won the Captain’s Cup racing their XOD Persephone at Cowes Week. Now, 50 years later, they are all racing together again at Skandia Cowes Week. Stuart has now won the Captain’s Cup a record SIX times including in 2004 & 2005 and is the defending Champion. Ado won the Captain’s Cup in 2003 helming Lucrezia, so between them they have won the last three events. Originally designed in 1909 by Alfred Westmacott, the XOD Class has been the largest class competing at Cowes until this year when they have been overtaken by the Laser SB3 Sportsboat fleet. Most of the original XOD’s are still sailing today although they originally had a wooden gaff rig and asymmetric spinnaker. This was altered in 1928 to the current spruce Bermudan rig with the symmetric spinnaker being adopted in 1969. YOU MIGHT BUMP INTO (but only on-shore please!)… Dame Ellen MacArthur Dee Caffari Shirley Robertson – Double Olympic Gold Medallist (& maybe with her twins, Killian and Annabel) Mike Golding Alex Thomson Conrad Humphreys Ben Ainslie – Double Olympic Gold & Silver Medallist (Sat 29th only) Iain Percy – Olympic Gold Medallist Steve Mitchell Sarah Ayton – Olympic Gold Medallist Yngling Sarah Webb – Olympic Gold Medallist Yngling Lucy Horwood - RSX windsurfer Bryony Shaw - RSX windsurfer Nick Rogers - 470 men, silver medallist Victoria Rawlinson – Yngling Gemma Farrell - Yngling Rachel Howe- Yngling Christina Bassadone - 470 women Saskia Clark - 470 women Nicki Ponsford – Women’s World Cup Rugby Player (Thurs only) Mike (Moose) & Emma Sanderson (TBC) Shelley Rudman (Thurs – Winter Olympics Skeleton Bobsleigh Silver Medallist) Will King (King of Shaves) Rhys Jones (Wed) Bear Grylls (Wed/Thurs) Tom Avery (Wed/Thurs) Nick Moloney David Gower (Wed) Mary King, British Olympic Three Day Event Team (Wed) Jeremy Irons (Tues) Ben Fogle James Cracknell (Tues) Jodie Kidd (Wed) Sir Chay Blyth Harold Cudmore Shelley Jory & Libby Keir (Thurs only) British Women’s Powerboat Champions 2005 Babs Powell (Thurs) Dan Snow (Thurs) Beth Tweddle (Gold Medal Gymnastics – Thurs only) …AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? DETERMINING THE FUTURE STRATEGY FOR THE EVENT Skandia Cowes Week is celebrating its biggest year ever in 2006 and, whilst it is fantastic that so many boats and their crews are able to enjoy the challenging, large-fleet racing that the Event offers, the focus of the organisers is very much on ensuring that the Event continues to deliver excellent racing without compromise. It is with this in mind that a small Working Party has spent the last six months examining the challenges presented by the continued growth of the Regatta, and the possible ways in which these challenges can be overcome to support the long-term development of this important Event - regarded by many as a national institution. In a statement given on behalf of the Working Party, Stuart Quarrie, Director of Cowes Combined Clubs, said: “The Working Party believes that allowing the Event to grow in an unchecked way is not a viable option. If this is accepted as a premise, then in reality there are only two ways to go. Either, entries and class numbers need to be limited in some way or, the Event needs to be extended beyond its current one-week format in order to allow future growth.” The brief of the Working Party is to seek feedback from all the stakeholders associated with the Regatta on the options explored, with a view to making recommendations on the basis of this feedback to the Boards of Cowes Combined Clubs and Cowes Week Sponsorship later this year. To this end, a detailed questionnaire is available on the Skandia Cowes Week website and the Working Party is keen that anyone wishing to express a view makes sure that it is heard. Related Items:
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