I am in England’s sailing capital, Cowes on the Isle of Wight, soaking in the heady atmosphere at the first Admiral’s Cup to be held in 22 years. But I also sneaked away over the weekend to catch the action at the SailGP event in nearby Portsmouth.
It has been a bustling weekend of sailboat racing on the Solent – the tidal sandbank-strewn stretch of water that separates the Isle of Wight from the English south coast – with SailGP wowing the grandstand crowds in Portsmouth, while the first Admiral’s Cup edition for 22 years got underway on Saturday morning in Cowes in the annual 160-mile RORC Channel Race.
After weeks of balmy summer conditions in the south of England the prolonged dry spell finally broke on the opening day of both events, with torrential rain on Saturday morning dampening spirits for both the offshore and inshore crews.
Happily though, the skies cleared by mid-afternoon making for close to perfect conditions for SailGP’s four-race opening day. British Olympic medallists Dylan Fletcher and Hannah Mills masterminded a dominant 1,2,3,2 performance aboard the home team Emirates Great Britain crew that was cheered on enthusiastically by the estimated 10,000 people who packed the event’s gigantic grandstand.
I check-in with Tudor Team Alinghi’s director for technical and sailing, New Zealand America’s Cup veteran Dave Endean – the man in charge of making sure that in AC38 the Swiss syndicate improves on its somewhat lacklustre performance in the last Cup in Barcelona.
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