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Vice Admiral’s Cup 2008

The 2008 edition of the Vice Admiral's Cup, hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Cowes, was plagued by lack of wind and as a result racing was only possible on one of the three scheduled days. Four races were the minimum required but unfortunately none of the four fleets participating were able to achieve this and so the series is incomplete.

The regatta opened on Friday 30 May but there wasn't a breath of wind to be found on the Solent. After a day spent checking reports from weather stations and scanning the horizon for any hint of wind the Race Committee were eventually forced to abandon hope and call it a day.

Saturday brought an initial postponement but by lunchtime a light sea breeze had materialised and racing got underway on both courses. On the big boat course PRO Bob Milner took the fleet to the Western Solent and was able to run two races in a 10-12 knot breeze. Niklas Zennstrom's Ran won both Class 0 races with Stuart Childerley at the helm. In the first race he won the start and led all the way, but he had to work a little more for it in the second race as the wind died down to 6 knots and he came through to take the bullet. Second place in race one went to Charles Dunstone's Rio with Colm Barrington's Flash Glove third. In the second race Colm Barrington took second with Stuart Robinson's Stay Calm of London third. Overall Ran led the class with Flash Glove second and Stay Calm third.

In Class 1 it was Agne Nilsson's Fortis Excel that shon with a second in race one and a win in race two giving them the overall lead. Jerry Otter's Werewolf took the first race and a fifth in the second whilst Tony Langley's Atomic took two third places leaving them tied on points but with Werewolf second overall on count back.

On the small boat course Race Officer Bill Oakley took the fleet up to the Hill Head shore where they managed to squeeze 3 short races in before the sea breeze died. The five strong X35 class had some very close racing despite the tricky conditions. The main battle was between Tim Harrington's Vortex and Thorkild Junker's Cool Runnings with Vortex just taking race one from Cool Runnings while for races three and four the positions were reversed with Cool Runnings winning both and taking the overall lead. The battle for third overall was equally fierce Colin Fry's X-Dream eventually got the upper hand with a 3, 5, 3 scoreling.

The Quarter Tonners had a general recall in their excitement to get the first race away after waiting a day and half but this was quickly followed by a new start and Darren Marston's Catch won two races and Chris Frost and Kevin George's Tom Bombadil the third putting them in first and second overall respectively. Newcomer David Tydeman and his recently fitted out Snoopy made a good start to the regatta and finished third overall on the day. The boats returned to the marina around 6.30 pm to enjoy a fish pie and sausage and mash supper at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.

In an effort to achieve a series, the X35s and Quarter Tonners went out on Sunday morning to try and find the breeze to squeeze one more race in to achieve a series before the 2.30 pm cut off but to no avail. The big boats didn't leave the marina with event instigator Peter Morton liaising closely with the PRO to make sensible calls on keeping the boats in the dock. Sadly the Vice Admiral's Cups will not be presented this year, although glassware was presented to the overall day winners on Saturday.

The organisers would like to thank event sponsors Musto Ltd, North Sails and Boat Sales International.