After a day
of postponement due to strong winds, the Edinburgh Cup,
finally got underway today in Plymouth. Hosted by
the Royal Western Yacht Club and sponsored by Knight
Frank, 23 teams from across the UK, Ireland, France and
the USA are competing for the title of International
Dragon Open British Champion.
Today's
racing was initially delayed whilst a Trident nuclear
submarine left the harbour and all movements within
Plymouth Sound were suspended. Once the submarine
was clear racing got underway outside the breakwater in
17-20 knots from the south-south-west and the race
committee was able to complete the first two races in
the six race series. Although the wind had dropped
overnight there was still a considerable sea running
making for some interesting and challenging
sailing.
 Dubliner Don
O'Donoghue, sailing Seabird with Brian Matthews and Mark
Pettitt, proved to have the luck of the Irish today
winning both races to lead the regatta. Equally
consistent but not quite able to best the Irish was
Louis Urvois of Douarnenez, France, sailing Ar Youleg II
with Gwen Chapalain and Eric Droiuglazet, who finished
second in both races; and Tim Tavinor, of Burnham on
Crouch, helming Biff for Thomas and Nicky Wilton, who
took third in both races. Unsurprisingly the
leader-board tonight shows O'Donoghue first, Urvois
second and Tavinor third.
Speaking after
racing Don O'Donoghue commented, "We were waiting out
there for a long time while the sub went through, but
once we got going there was a lot of breeze and a lot of
waves and I like that. We went the right way most
of the time and it's easy to sail fast when you're up at
the front. It's my first time in Plymouth, but the
sailing is quite similar to where I grew up in West
Cork. We had a good day, but there's a long way to
go and we're expecting Louis Urvois, Tim Tavinor, Rob
Campbell, Len Jones and Gavia Wilkinson-Cox to all give
us a run for our money."
For
International Dragon Class Chairman Rob Campbell from
Burnham on Crouch, who won last weekend's South Coast
Championship and went into the regatta as a favourite;
it was a moderate first day. He opened with a
fifth then scored seventh in the second race putting him
fifth overall. Despite this he greatly enjoyed his
day and was full of praise for PRO Mike Pearson
saying, "The courses the race officer set us were
superb and we enjoyed great racing today."
Giving Campbell some tough competition was
Eric Williams of Cowes who traded places with Campbell
scoring seventh in race one and fifth in race two.
Both teams now count equal point but overall Williams
takes fourth on count back.
 Today's races
were very close with exceptionally fair beats and plenty
of excitement across the course for the watching
spectators. In race one the line was port biased
and Don O'Donoghue took full advantage, winning the pin
and making a great start before tacking onto port and
crossing the entire fleet. He then played the
middle right of the course to great effect leading round
the weather mark comfortably. Meanwhile Louis
Urvois took the left hand side of the course, but thanks
to the very even conditions rounded second just in front
of the pack. Tim Tavinor, who had also gone out to
right on the beat, followed Urvois round in third and
the podium order was set for the race with the leading
three stretching our from that point on. Behind
them places were changing regularly as Gavia
Wilkinson-Cox, Rob Campbell, Alan Krailing, Eric
Williams and Mike Holmes enjoying a great battle for
fourth place, ultimately finishing in the above
order.
Race two saw fights for places right
through the pack. At the start O'Donoghue took the
same approach as in race one winning the pin and tacking
early to cross the fleet comfortably. Urvois and
Tavinor went left, but this time it paid handsomely as
they rounded first and second respectively with
O'Donoghue in third. Their order held for the
first lap but on the second beat O'Donoghue overtook
Tavinor and as they set off down the second run he
clearly had Urvois in his sights. He spotted his
moment at the bottom of the leg and slipped into the
lead as the boats approached the gate. Despite a
building sea on the final beat O'Donoghue successfully
defended to the finish with Urvois crossing the line
second and Tavinor third.
Tomorrow racing
is scheduled to start at 11am and, subject to agreement
with the Queen's Harbour Master, the race committee hope
to keep the fleet inside the breakwater to enjoy flatter
conditions. The forecast is for tomorrow is for a
south westerly in the high teens to low twenties.
The regatta concludes on Saturday with four
races still to be sailed. The discard comes
into play once five races have been
completed.
Overall Top Five After
Two
Races
1
IRL204 Don O'Donoghue 1, 1 -
2
2 FRA365
Louis Urvois 2, 2 -
4
3 GBR734
Thomas Wilton/Tim Tavinor 3, 3 -
6
4 GBR682
Eric Williams 7, 5 -
12
5 GBR688
Rob Campbell 5, 7 - 12
Full results from www.edinburghcup08.co.uk.
The event is supported by Knight Frank, Aberdeen
Asset Management, Pantaenius and Petticrows
Ltd. For further
information about the regatta please visit www.edinburghcup08.co.uk or contact The Secretariat, Royal Western
Yacht Club of England, Queen Anne's Battery, Plymouth,
PL4 0TW. Tel. (01752) 660077, Fax. (01752)
224299, e-mail: admin@rwyc.org, website:
For further information about
Knight Frank please log on to www.knightfrank.co.uk/waterfront.
Journalists and
photographers wishing to attend the event should contact
Fiona Brown, Event Press Officer on E-mail
fiona.brown@fionabrown.com or Tel +44 (0)7711
718470.
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For
further information about the British Dragon Associaion please
contact:-
BDA Chairman
Owen Pay
Kate Sanderson
BDA Press Officer
Fiona Brown
Tel 07711 718470
or visit
For
further information about the British Dragon South Coast
Championship and Edinburgh Cup please
visit:-
www.edinburghcup08.co.uk
or
contact
The Secretary
Royal Western Yacht Club
Queen Anne's Battery
Plymouth, PL4 OTW
Tel 01752 660077
For further information about Knight Frank
please visit:-
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