Event Report
Here is the official write up of the event. Emsworth finished P3 against some stiff opposition...congratulations are in order to Adrian and his team consisting of Simon Dwyer and Dave Cockerill.
When Simon has dried out after last nights high tide, he may find time to provide a more light hearted alternative view based on his experience....
From the LMYC: "This years De Quincey Cup Team racing event was contested by 9 teams of 3 DF95 yachts. The unique event format starts with a fleet race followed by a round robin of one-on-one team races.
The day started with a stiff breeze from the south which built through the day making life difficult for the competitors, particularly those who only have top rigs!
The fleet race was delayed for 15 minutes to allow the PRO to extend an unre- alistically short line for the impressive spectacle of a 27 boat start. After an in- evitable general recall the fleet got away cleanly on the second attempt. In a prelude to the rest of the day, the race was dominated by Craig Richards of Datchet 1 who won comfortably from Mike Brand of East Kent followed by Barrie Martin of LMYC Specials with Vernon Appleton of Datchet 1 coming in in 4th place to give a score of 4 to the Datchet 1 team and an early advantage.
The course was altered slightly for the team racing with the fleet race leeward gate becoming two port hand turning marks creating a classic “square” team racing course. After two rounds of the round robin (4 heats and one team receiving a “bye” per round) it was decided that the course would benefit from a longer final beat and so for the 7 subsequent rounds the boats finished between the windward and spreader marks.
Datchet 1, Craig Vernon and Jim continued to dominate the day winning all of their 8 heats to give them with their “bye” in Round 3 a perfect 9 wins, 0 losses day and an overall total of 13 points. East Kent (Mike, Adrian and Dave) had an impressive 7 wins and 2 losses record giving them an overall score of 25 points. 3rd place was taken by Emsworth with 6 wins and 3 losses, the same team racing record as Hampton Court 1 with the tie settled by a superior fleet race score.
Craig Richards, (left) accepted the 19th Century trophy from Nicola De Quincey, The Great Granddaughter of the original doner of the trophy, thanked the event organisers, particularly the race support team of Ian Gill and Martin Garnett and local competitor, Nicholas Fezer-Brown for manning the boat to move marks and rescue tangled boats throughout the day.
We look forward to the 2025 event and will continue with DF95’s which per- formed really well throughout a difficult day and provided the inclusivity the class brings to allow a 27 boat, 9 team event to take place. In response to the continued interest in team racing, we will review the format to see if we can accommodate more teams next year."
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