Champagne sailing conditions greeted the 30 fleets across Black and White groups at this year’s Cowes Week.
Warm, bright sunshine and daily sea breezes were on the agenda however, it was a casual morning for the sailors as the conditions took their time to arrive.
It was thanks to the excellent race management that resulted in every fleet, while experiencing some morning delays, getting underway each day except Tuesday, when unfortunately racing was abandoned.
After race one, Cowes Week reports noted that “the Dragon fleet enjoyed a tantalisingly close race on the opening day, with half the class finishing in a 28-second window. Day two, the fleet took a more conservative approach to the line than earlier classes, with Glyn William’s Dreki looking well placed at the gun and enjoying an advantage to windward of Gavia Wilkinson Cox’s Jerboa. However, Eric Williams’ Ecstatic started further to windward a couple of lengths back and had better speed and height.
“Williams went on to claim the narrowest of victories, finishing just seven seconds ahead of Chris Grosscurth & Jono Brown’s Fit Chick, while Heizkorper, sailed by German match racer Lars Hueckstaedt, took third, 11 seconds later.”
By day five the Dragon fleet had seen a different winner in each race with Cowes Week newcomer Fit Chick taking the lead and then the win in race four ahead of Ecstatic, and Simon Barter’s Bertie. Wednesday was Jerboa’s day. Fit Chick took an early lead ahead of Ecstatic but a clever tactical move by Dreki saw them sail clear with Jerboa using the tidal advantage to claim a very close race win.
Another delayed start and a schedule change had the Dragon fleet racing from a Committee boat on day six, with a big sail out to the Bramble Bank. A second win for Jerboa put the team in contention going into the final day along with Eric Williams who had not placed outside the top three.
A warm, sunny evening was enjoyed at the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club for the combined keelboat classes party. A popular attraction of Cowes Week is racing along with the social programme. Throughout the week Dragon teams, friends and family experienced live music, cocktail parties, networking and the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle of the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier arriving in Cowes and taking part in a salute exchange with the Royal Yacht Squadron.
The final race of Cowes Week saw all the fleets head West in a traditional regatta finale, finishing downwind along the green. Racing all week had been extremely close within the Dragons and it was all to play for among the top four boats. In glorious Solent conditions, race six was won by Fit Chick after claiming an early lead, followed by Ecstatic and Jerboa, securing their overall top three places.
This resulted in Eric Williams claiming his 17th Cowes Week win, an extraordinary achievement. Congratulations Eric, Katie Cole and Andrew Norden – 2024 Cowes Week Dragon fleet Winners!
OVERALL RESULTS (after 6 races, inc 1 discard)
1. ECSTATIC GBR 682
2. JERBOA GBR 831
3. FIT CHICK GBR 753
4. HEIZKORPER GER 1236
5. BERTIE GBR 763
6. DREKI GBR 816
7. FANFARE GBR 754
