Eighteen Cape 31’s stormed Cowes Week for seven days of challenging Solent racing. This was the largest, high performance, one design class that Cowes Week has seen since the Mumm 30 days. The event also marked Round Four of the Cape 31 Race Circuit. Teams are racing for the prized trophy commissioned by Cape 31 Founder, Irvine Laidlaw for the best Cape 31 results over six events. Tor Tomlinson Cheney reports on an action-filled week of racing.
Racing highlights
The highlights of the week were the Squadron line starts, the short tacks up both shores, and the windy days that really showed off what the Cape 31’s are made of. Heads were turned and there smiles on faces at the sight of 18 Cape 31’s sending it downwind through the other fleets. The Cape 31 AIX and KMO party was not to be missed either, providing bucket loads of rosé, a great BBQ and a fantastic band all thanks to the class partners. Five teams got their hands on the Peters and May winners champagne awarded daily for the best results.
CREDITS: Photo Credits – James Tomlinson and Shaun Roster.
With thanks to the UK Class Partner’s for media support.
Consistency is king
Russell Peter’s Squirt took the overall win for the week showing that consistency is key in a fleet of this size. Squirt took two race wins, as did Mike Bartholomew’s Tokoloshe. Other races were won by Jonnie Goodwin’s Harlequin, Niall Dowling’s Arabella and Johnny Cooper’s Fanatic.
New to the fleet at Cowes Week was Tilly Harrison with Jolt 4, branded up to match her father’s TP52. Sandy Askew from Salt Lake City added the UK-based Cape 31 Flying Jenny to her programme, which already consists of an Melges 24, VX One and IC37 over in the states.
It was also the first event for David Cummins and his team on Flurg after moving on from their Ker 39 and Charlie Whelan’s on his new boat Bodfather. Charlie has spent the last few years racing his SB20 which definitely showed – the Bod team often found themselves in the top ten and on the podium in Sunday’s breezy battle. They finished sixth overall, which may be the best result from a new team in their first regatta.
Full results for Cape 31’s at Cowes Week
The next event in the 31 Race Circuit is the Royal Thames Invitational Regatta in September where the fleet should have more than 20 boats on the start line. Some of the teams are heading South to compete in the Voile de St Tropez before hopping across the pond for a winter of sailing in the US and Caribbean.
Cape 31 magic
Dave Swete, who has been instrumental behind the growth of the C31 class said, “It’s a fantastic bow-up design boat that punches well above it’s weight upwind. The size and budget of the boat is appealing too. We have a fantastic class structure set up in the UK/Ireland, and we are developing this around the world. Quite simply, the boat is right and it’s a heap of fun.”
The Cape 31 is an affordable, high performance 31 foot race boat. The boat was masterminded by Lord Irvine Laidlaw, designed by Mark Mills and is now built by a licensed boat builder, Cape Performance Sail Ltd. Teams usually sail 7 or 8 up on this latest generation race boat to a weight limit. The class rule prefers owner-driver (always amateur) and a mixed crew of amateurs and professionals.
The key to this boat’s success already is that it has proven itself as not only a great one design boat, but also as a competitive boat under multiple handicap systems. The boat has had some impressive results over the last few years in a host of UK and European IRC events, Caribbean CSA events and US ORR/ORC Events including becoming 2022 UK IRC National Champion!
