THERE were 'champagne' conditions out on The Solent for the opening day of Cowes Week 2024.

The classic conditions, with bright sun and a solid sea breeze, helped create some stand-out performances yesterday (Saturday, July 27).

They included Peter Morton’s TP52 Notorious, in IRC Class 0, which took line honours just two seconds ahead of Tony Langley’s Gladiator team, which won the Rolex TP52 World Championship earlier this month.

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In a strong gust, just 50 seconds from the finish line, Gladiator gybed, with Notorious following suit moments later, positioned on Gladiator’s windward quarter, which accelerated the speeds of both boats to between 16-19 knots.

Then another gust propelled Notorious forward, to take line honours by the tightest of margins.

Gerd-Jan Poortman’s lower-rated Dutch Ker 46, Van Uden – Rost 3, took third place on corrected time, 36 seconds behind Gladiator. 

Racing continues today, on 'Family Day Sunday', in brilliant sunshine, although the sea breeze is not shaping up to be effective for sailors as yesterday.

RESULTS — SATURDAY, JULY 27

Big boat classes, IRC Class 0 — Notorious (Peter Morton); IRC Class 1 — Katabatic (Lance Adams); IRC Class 2 — Jellybaby (Jones Family); IRC Class 3 — Yes! (Adam Gosling); IRC Class 4 — Further West (Alain Waha and Matt Waite); IRC Class 5 — Arcus (John Howell and Paul Newell); IRC Class 6 — Whooper (Giovanni Belgrano); IRC Class 7 — Wight Wedding (Craig and Emma Dymock); Performance Cruiser A — Belladonna (Richard Dilley); Performance Cruiser B — Dusty P (Seville Developments Ltd); Club Cruiser C — Fandango (Bob Litherland); Club Cruiser D — Apres Le Vent (Linklaters); Contessa 32 — Andaxi (Donna and Martin Rouse-Collen).

Keelboat classes, Daring — Dauntless (Giles Peckham and Milo Carver); Dragon — Heizkorper (Lars Hueckstaedt); Etchells — No Dramas (Joshua Beadsworth; Performance 40 — Luna (Tim Webb); Flying 15 — Men Behaving Badly (Rupert Mander); J/70 (Race 1) — Standfast (Simon Patterson; J/70 (Race 2) — Jelvis (Martin Dent); J/70 (Race 3) — Jelvis (Martin Dent); J/109 — Joule (Arjen van Leeuwen and Silvy Leijh); Mermaid — Jade (Richard Rivlin); Redwing — Harlequin (Matthew Alexander, John Raymond and Alexander Shaw); SB20 (Race 1) — Breaking Bod (Charles Whelan and Richard McAdam); SB20 (Race 2) — Breaking Bod (Charles Whelan and Richard McAdam); SB20 (Race 3) — Glasgow Kiss (Nico Razmilovic); Sigma 33 — Stan The Boat (Toby Gorman); Sonar — Jenny XXX (Simon Clarke); Sonata — Sonic (Leather family); Sportsboat — Mako (Ian and Imogen Watkins); Sunbeam — Firefly (Stewart Reed); Sunsail 41 — Sunsail Helios (Deloitte Green); Victory — Shearwater II (Russell Mead); X One Design — Astralita (John Tremlett, Tim Copsey, Fraser Graham).