Crash day at Lendy Cowes Week

A crunchy second day at Lendy Cowes Week saw Girls of Film hit a rock, a collision between Invictus and Rebellion and navigational error costing a round of drinks…

Sir Keith Mills’ British Ker40+ Invictus took line honours, and corrected out to win the race. However, after racing, Peter Morton’s British CF40+ Girls on Film, was given redress, and awarded joint first place for the race. The two teams will share the Royal Thames Yacht Club’s 1840 Challenge Cup.

Bas de Voogd’s Dutch Carkeek MkIII Hitchhiker was second, and leads the class for Lendy Cowes Week. Johnny Vincent’s British Ker40+ Pace stayed out of trouble to finish third. Tony Dickin’s Farr designed Jubilee was fourth, just four seconds ahead of the German Felci designed Silva Neo.

After the first beat, Peter Morton’s CF40+ Girls on Film, was leading by two minutes, approaching Baxters, located near Gurnard Head. “We had dropped our spinnaker and we were about to round the mark when we hit a rock.” explained Peter Morton. “We were hard on and had to be towed off some time later. At the time, we were frantically waving at the boats behind to alert them, and we saw Invictus and Rebellion coming in really fast.”

In the fracas, Invictus and Rebellion had a minor coming-together. “It was a just a kiss really.” suggested Stewart Whitehead, owner Driver of Rebellion. We had our A2 up, and I think Invictus had their Masthead Zero, so we were coming in at different angles. When we both took evasive action, we touched. To cap the day off, Campbell Field took us to the wrong mark in the confusion, which cost us a bit of time. He was a bit sheepish about it, and bought a big round when we got in, but we are still all good friends on board.”

Racing for the FAST40+ Class continues Monday 31 July, for the Royal London Yacht Club Bloodhound Challenge Trophy.

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