Mayor of Deauville Phillipe Augier and Mayor of Cowes David Walters at the start of the Cowes to Deauville Race.
THE biggest fleet ever, of 107 yachts, contested the 50th Anniversary Cowes-Deauville Race.
The international entry was led home by French IRC Class 4 entrants, Noel Racine’s Foggy Dew and Benoit Dhalluin’s Dunkerque Plaisance.
The winner’s corrected time of 19 hours, 25 minutes and 8 seconds confirmed that a wind that had been late kicking in to the Solent had given a slow race.
The Club Class white sail fleet had struggled to clear the Island after a drifting start and ghosting spinnaker run eastward from Cowes, but two hours later, watchers on the Royal Yacht Squadron battlements observed that the wind had piped up to send the IRC classes away in fine style and they overhauled the early starters by Bembridge, before turning south west for Seine Bay and Deauville.
Of the Royal Southern Yacht Club entries, it was Noj White’s X-37 SX Girl and Angus Newton’s Swan 38 Kuutar that had good starts and were able to carry their advantage through the night, finishing fifth and eighth overall and fourth respectively in IRC Class 3 and Class 4 with corrected times of 19 hours 48 minutes 8 seconds and 19 hours 55 minutes 14 seconds.
The race was started by the mayor of Deauville, Philippe Augier, with the mayor of Cowes, Cllr David Walters.
Results
IRC Overall
Foggy Dew FRA Noel Racine 19 hours, 25 minutes and eight seconds
Dunkerque Plaisance FRA Benoit Dhalluin 19.36.10
Moondog GBR Peter Pickett 19.38.17