With the decision to abandon racing for the day taken on Sunday evening, Olympic gold medal-winning kitesurfer Ellie Aldridge took a break from the Cape 31 Fargo, which she is racing on all week.
Instead, she donned her wetsuit and gave spectators an entertaining wingfoiling display in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Joining her in the display was champion pro kitesurfer Tom Court.
The Weekend Warrior Trophy was introduced two years ago for the top Club Cruiser entering for just the first three days of Cowes Week. It aims to encourage those who prefer a long weekend, rather than a full week of racing.
This year’s trophy was awarded to Geoffrey Yeowart’s Arc En Ciel, counting a second and a sixth, ahead of Simon Grigg and Anne Jackson’s Arcadian. Both boats have been racing in Club Cruiser C, where the length and style of courses is aimed to reflect a slightly less intense racing experience.
Monday was Cowes Week Charity Day. The official Cowes Week charities this year are the RNLI and Autism on the Water, which provides free of charge sailing for autistic people and their families.
Autism on the Water director, Murray MacDonald is also the skipper of AOTW, the charity’s Hunter Impala 28, which is competing in IRC6 all week. ‘I’m autistic myself and sailing’s really helped me with confidence, problem solving and social skills, which are three skills people with autism struggle with in everyday life.’
The charity Stride Forward supports people who experience life-changing injuries to help empower them to take their lives forwards in new positive directions. Olympic sailor Stuart Childerley sustained serious injuries after a road bike accident four years ago. He’s competing on Stride Forward, initially racing a Sun Fast 3200 competing in IRC3 before being forced to change boats for day two.
After his accident, Stuart feared he would never get back to a high level of racing, but he’s found a new perspective this week. The majority of Stride Forward’s crew are inexperienced at sailing, and many have life-changing injuries.
The sailing community was also there when Scaramouche Sailing Trust’s Flying Fifteen, Scaramouche, sailed by Jessye Opoku-Ware and Corneille LePrince blew out their spinnaker whilst in second place Sunday.
Not only are they racing on a boat donated to them by Cape 31, Bullit’s, owner Julian Metherell, but they were invited to the North Sails loft in Fareham to get a new spinnaker to replace the shredded one.
The forecast for Tuesday is windy and sunny promising a great day of racing. It’s also Women’s Day.
Full results available here . . .
Read more here . . . Report by Gael Pawson
