After six hours of intense racing on the second day of the One Ton Cup, Peter Morton’s Carkeek 40+ Girls on Film holds a significant points advantage at the top of the leader board. However, the devil is in the detail. The brutal intensity of the battle was personified by the fact that over the course of today’s four race marathon, Invictus was actually four seconds faster after time correction. Morty’s blip was Race 4, scoring a fourth place. However, the team from Cowes now have an impressive lead, after winning three of today’s races. Morty has come second in the One Ton Cup twice, and he will not be taking his foot off the throttle tomorrow. Alex Mills’ Ker40+ Invictus scored four podiums including a bullet in Race 4, and poses the biggest threat to Girls on Film. Stewart Whitehead’s Carkeek 40 Rebellion, continues to impress scoring four good results today, which lifts his team to third by a single point above Johnny Vincent’s Pace.
Tokoloshe, Zephyr and Jubilee, all had excellent results today, here is what the owner-drivers had to say:
Steve Cowie, owner of GP42 Zephyr, nearly all of the crew are from Scotland. “It was a very long day but we were happy – in parts! It’s been our first season with the boat and we feel as if we are always improving. We sailed at Cowes Week and we are sailing here again at the One Ton Cup so I think we are getting a little bit better at each event we come to. We are now starting to feel we have stepped up a bit. Conditions were quite hard today, blowing up to 22 knots at times, which made racing quite challenging but we are pretty pleased with our onboard performance.”
Another newcomer this season is Tony Dickin, owner of GP42 Jubilee – “It’s been a long day but we had four good races. The racing has been so close. Every boat in the fleet is in the mix. You have to take every opportunity to move up a place and if your concentration lapses for even for a second, you can lose it again. You’ve got to stay in the game all the way. This is our first season in the FAST40+ Class but we have been sailing together for several years on our J/109. It’s been a big learning curve. We are pleased with our results today, we pulled it up a bit from yesterday.”
Owner of Tokoloshe Michael Bartholomew who has already had class wins in the past two seasons. “It has been a long and tiring day but we’ve had four great races. What has struck me most is how close the racing is in this fleet. Three of our crew have come over from South Africa for the event so it’s been great to have our team together.”
The 2016 One Ton Cup will conclude tomorrow, with up to three races scheduled.
The One Ton Cup owned by the Cercle de la Voile de Paris, presented by Hamble Yacht Services and organised by the Royal Southern Yacht Club, is taking place between 16-18th September in the Solent, UK. Nine races are scheduled with a mixture of windward-leeward and weighted points factor longer races.
The FAST40+ Media team will be providing daily race reports, photos and videos as the action unfolds, and interviews with competitors during the One Ton Cup. Go to www.fast40class.com