Beken of Cowes eun fte euiu - and - beautiful the of return ound t ent n le o S e th d n u ro a e n jo ys th e races in and and in races and e r th u o d ys n jo le n e p s l a n itio d tra UURT6R UURT6R BRB6 1961 b u t s till re ta in s he r r he s in ta re till s t u b 1961 Thendara as CCs i Blackman BCYC’s Tim saus ts ie o eert the celebrate to time It's h fs - o u waters, our to - fast the s l nin ilt u b as w omeco

les f oen yachts. modern of fleets handicap races and class and class and races handicap IRC kind, every of events racing advancing and the ever-developing for playground excellent Each year, a season packed with with packed season a year, Each centre, and has been an an been has and centre, its world lead as a yachting yachting a as lead world its maintained undoubtedly has Cowes years, 25 past the n the middle of the season. the of middle the British the programme, racing full-on yachting. for area growth latest the otod n oe, lpbn in slap-bang Cowes, in foothold a packed. seems Solent the of season the height the in until clubs, yacht the Classic Yacht Club Regatta has taken taken has Regatta Club Yacht Classic wall-to-wall, this among Somehow, by hosted ably events, association n nw a e peoeo - phenomenon new a now, And COWES YACHTING YACHTING al away sail 109 sail away

Owning ono mointoining a classic requires a maverick streak, and it places a heavy cost on enjoying the aesthetic side of yachting

It's not hard to see why. The 20 The fleet also comprises a years from 1960 to 1980 was one strong Classic International Metre of the great periods for yachting at boat contingent. All are meticulously Cowes. British yacht designers and presented, glinting in the sun, Cowes yacht builders were hand- without doubt the sexiest, long, building beautiful racing yachts for slim, pointed yachts - and each are a driven racing fraternity, and the like a scaled down J Class. recent founding of the British Classic The Regatta sports 5, 6, 8 and 12 Yacht Club (BCYC) has brought International Metre yachts, among together these yachts once more. them Sensa, Nancy, Monsoon, So for the annual BCYC Regatta to llderim, Amorevita, If, Sceptre and come to Cowes is welcomed by Vanity V. These yachts are fast and many of the Cowes yachting furious to sail, designed for speed luminaries through misty eyes. and discomfort; with submarine tendencies and no guard rails they THE YACHTS are not for the fainthearted. Glukauf For anyone who grew up sailing is a 30-square-metre, owned by Andy in the '60s and 70s, the list of King. She measures 3 8 7 " (11.78m) could they not build an affinity with HIGH S€RS BCYC member yachts holds an loa, 25' (7.65m) on the waterline Clockwise from top left: a a "wash and go" plastic yacht and extraordinary resonance of Fastnet with a beam of 6'5" (1.96m) - King tall ship out enjoying the save time and money? Did they have Races and Admiral's Cup wears goggles to windward! re g a tta ; Frenesi of Clynder an addiction to snorting the dust competitions; Outlaw, Whirlaway, Sir was voted "Best on Show" at from rubbing down varnish? the 1961 London Boat Show; Max Aitken's Drumbeat, Swanilda THE PASSION But every classic owner knows , a J-dass classic and Zulu (now Cetewayo), and other The BCYC has been pivotal in kick- that there is no sight better then RORC yachts like Thendara, Zoom, starting the renaissance of classic sitting in the lee side of the cockpit, Danegeld, John Dory, Dawn yachting in the UK. Owning and hard on the wind, lee rail under, Goddess, Droleen II and Whooper, maintaining a classic requires a the stanchions fizzing through the Add to this the yachts from strong maverick streak, and it places water sending a fine spray across earlier in the century, from designers a heavy cost on enjoying the glinting chrome and varnish with her like William Fife III, Robert Clark, aesthetic side of yachting - but 16 tons of displacement pounding C.E. Nicholson, Alfred Mylne and classic yachts provide style and through each wave, blasting aside Laurent Giles; yachts like Foglio, charisma in large quantities. sheets of white spume - and in the Mikado, Talisker Mhor, Pazienza, Up until now, each classic yacht harbour, she stands out from the Bona, Mingary, Come, lolaire and owner had been made to think crowd and is admired by many. Sybil of Cumae and before you is 75 that they must be slightly mad - or Nevertheless, it seemed a lonely life years of UK yachting history. certainly out of step with reality. Why - especially when they looked at the

110 COWES YACHTING IngnO Ate'vbw* hOtCK Xn com th e A m e ric a 's C up Jubilee Jubilee up C 's a ric e m A e th Top to b o tto m : : m tto o b to Top lsi ent at wes ow C t a ts n ve e classic UUHeeiFORTUN6 OF sa eylnk o f ur re tu fu to k lin tta y ke ega R a is BCYC e th ; tta a g e R Tiuga a t t a that the BCYC and its Cowes Regatta Regatta Cowes its and BCYC the that the world's greatest ever classic classic ever greatest world's the Regatta, Jubilee Cup 's The yachting. of birthplace the at - event classic a stage to place best the to is it now So UK. the in void a such was there why understand to difficult was it developed; had circuit classic the town. The staging of the annual annual the of staging The town. around the echo week fantastic that of come and people the together brought yachts, the together brought has that how saw and Mediterranean events at Cowes. at classic events future to link a provide to event and that to back link permanent a as act to started has itself, club sounds and sights the still and 2001 in Cowes at staged was regatta, PAST THE FROM FUTURE lsi n mdr caswil be ill w class modern and classic the Round Rolex the after Cowes at and, arrival its after Challenge Transatlantic Rolex the of class the with liaising is Squadron Yacht the indeed and Regatta, BCYC Ozannes and the Guernsey Tourist Tourist Guernsey the and Ozannes where Guernsey, to BCYC Race the Ozannes in participate to invited the both June, 13 on Race Island classic the with up link to BCYC or ae otn te event. the hosting are Board hscmn sao, h Royal the season, coming This for the Dartmouth Classic Rally and and Rally Classic Dartmouth the for Dartmouth to Cowes from BCYC the Classic Class is invited to race with with race to invited is Class Classic o oe otk pr i te BCYC the in part take to Cowes to returning Race, Channel Classic the yachts, the J Class and many of the the of many and Class J the yachts, the to looking world, the around or were also built as part of the the of part as built also were Cup America's class, metre 12 and 8 both Rule, Metre the of anniversary 100th the and Championships World Metre Six the host ill w Cowes happen. to waiting water the on party ais fleet BCYC the yachts, 50 member than more with that, knowledge the in BCYC the of involvement the seeks event classic a for UK July. 23 to 16 from Regatta they are eligible. This provides an provides This eligible. are they provided yachts, member to addition in yachts classic visiting welcomes racing. handicap and Rule Metre good such providing by events, huge these to opportunities build-up as seen are regattas Cowes. to attracted which classics, Mediterranean big 6, of selection enormous an 2007, in nentoa Mte ue il be will Rule, Metre International Similarly, in early July, the Rolex Rolex the July, early in Similarly, With the mooted decision that that decision mooted the With UK the in organisation any So The BCYC's 2005 and 2006 2006 and 2005 BCYC's The The regatta is an open event, and and event, open an is regatta The H RACING THE and France Belgium, from yachts with were of course built as out-and-out out-and-out as built course of were small as possible to keep the weight weight the keep to possible as as small were or fitted, not were when era engines an in built were Many sail well. to built were yachts these All the skirt flipped over the guard rail, rail, guard the over flipped skirt the tight, back cranked are genoas the that: way British very the in reply will so past, racing a have yachts classic the all almost Indeed, Cuppers. Admiral's the were as - racers yachts Metre International The down. year. last part taking Holland event the to flavour international different matter; the boat takes over, takes boat the matter; a is it different water the on out But race." called. The racing is taken seriously, seriously, taken is racing The called. "water" and out blown spinnakers speed, at changed are sails windward, to out hanging are crews owners classic of lot a quite harbour, rally? a really it is or the regatta, to racing the is important how seriously established in the '50s and and '50s the in established seriously proper. and accurate is the handicapping that is this for reason the and '60s, when many of these boats were boats these of many when '60s, became system rating IRC The rating. really don't we know, you "Well, When asked while sitting in the the in sitting while asked When All the yachts have a current IRC current a have yachts the All COWES AHIG 113 YACHTING al away sail sail away

originally racing. Even though all SAILS TALK regularly in the modern IRC fleets. the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club and the yachts are different, this sets a Clockwise from below: the Both Frenesi and Cetewayo have the . level playing field. 12m Vanity V was designed won the Warsash series outright. As a result, the BCYC Regatta has Criticisms of the Mediterranean by W illiam Fife III; peace and Last year W hooper won the IRC become a "must do" event for those tranquility before a big race; Classic Circuit, run by CIM, include Class 3 Championship outright, and who find their heart in classic yachts the powerful racing yacht the facts that the rating system is the IRC Gold Roman Bowl for the as part of their life and lifestyle. Cetewayo is one of a kind not adequately scientific, creates Round the Island Race. Bill Green, best known for building anomalies and mixes too many Each of the International Metre superb state-of-the-art modern racing aesthetic requirements into the boats is designed and built as a one' hulls, races his gorgeous classic 6m calculation. It works well in off and, as classics, they are not so Nancy at the regatta; while Giovanni maintaining the big classics, but is competitive against the modern Belgrano, co-opted to the New not applicable to this style of racing. versions. With IRC, at the regatta, Zealand America's Cup design team, The BCYC adopting IRC has been enthralls in his 1939 Whooper. a masterstroke, as the racing is tight Th

114 COWES YACHTING