Nationals

Royal Thames Yacht Club

27/09/2024 to 29/09/2024

The 2024 Contessa 32 nationals included three days of challenging conditions with strong winds (20-30kts) on both Friday and Sunday and then the absolute opposite (4kts and shifty) on the Saturday. Kudos goes to the Royal Thames Race Committee for completing the full 7 race schedule, giving the fleet the opportunity to showcase their skills in all conditions. Consistency proved the key, with Collateral capping off their excellent season by adding the National Championship and Inshore series to their growing trophy cabinet.
2 races were completed on Friday in strong winds with the lead changing hands in both races multiple times. The first was a windward-leeward, the second a nine-mile round the cans. Merak & Andaxi ultimately proved victorious in the two races, but a 5th from Andaxi in race 1 meant Merak (1,4) and Collateral (2,3) were at the top on 5 points overnight. Saturday was a completely different beast, with 2 windward-leewards (the first being shortened at the second windward mark as the breeze drifted off to nothing) and one shortened round the cans. A 1,4,2 for Collateral left them as overnight leaders closely followed by Andaxi. The big breeze returned for Sunday, with the forecast indicating a breeze of 40+kts in the early afternoon so two quick Windward-Leewards finished off the Nationals. Two bullets from Collateral sealed their win, with Drumbeat and Merak tied on 2nd place, with Drumbeat winning the tie curtesy of their two 2nd places. As the only double handed boat, Carinosa took the double handed title.
As ever the fleet partied as hard as it sailed, with the pontoon party hosted by Jemmana on Friday getting the weekend off to a great start. The dinner on Saturday was hosted by the RAF Yacht Club where we were treated to a delicious three course meal followed by dancing to the Tinders sponsored by Jeremy Rogers Limited. Many shapes were thrown by sailors of all generations, with plenty of hijinx on the dancefloor. Definitely a great way to remember a superb end to the 2024 season.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
CO918	Collateral		1	3	2	1	4	2	1	1
CO651	Drumbeat		2	2	6	8	1	3	2	5
CO401	Merak II		3	1	4	3	5	4	3	4
CO701	Andaxi		4	5	1	5	3	1	7	7
GBR2751R	Jemima of Farley		5	4	3	6	2	TLE	4	3
CO682	Blanco		6	8	5	2	6	TLE	DNS	6
CO640	Concerto		7	9	7	7	10	TLE	6	2
CO370	Jemmana		8	10	9	4	7	6	5	9
CO926	English Rose		9	6	8	TLE	9	TLE	8	8
CO718	Carinosa	2H	10	11	11	9	8	5	10	DNF
GBR6541	Connie		11	7	10	10	12	TLE	11	DNF
CO753	Starstreak		12	DNC	DNC	TLE	TLE	TLE	9	DNS
GBR3285	Fritha of Wight		13	DNC	DNC	TLE	11	TLE	12	DNS
GBR3318T	Pelican		14	DNC	DNC	TLE	TLE	TLE	DNF	10
GBR5154	Wild Thyme		15	DNC	DNC	TLE	13	TLE	DNC	DNC
GBR2958	Corafin		16	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC

CCYC

Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club

14/09/2024 to 15/09/2024

9 Contessa's lined up for the penultimate racing weekend of the 2024 season. After a short delay waiting for the wind to arrive, we were set off into a building South-westerly of around 6-8kts. Two windwards leewards were run on Saturday - with Collateral taking victory in both races with Andaxi 2nd. A very convivial pontoon party in Cowes Yacht Haven followed by dinner at the Cowes Corinthian was enjoyed by all. There was another delay on Sunday, but by 12noon, 12-15kts had filled in, again from the South-west and the fleet enjoyed one windward-leeward and one round the cans race. Once again Collateral proved victorious showing she is the in-form boat going into Nationals in 2 weeks time.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3	4
CO918	Collateral		1	1	1	1	1
CO701	Andaxi		2	2	2	2	2
CO370	Jemmana		3	3	4	4	3
CO682	Blanco		4	5	3	3	4
GBR6541	Connie		5	6	5	5	6
GBR2958	Corafin		6	7	8	6	5
CO718	Carinosa	2H	7	4	DNF	7	7
GBR222T	Coric		8	8	6	DNF	8
CO608	Panache		9	9	7	8	9

CPC

Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club

30/08/2024 to 01/09/2024

A fresh Easterly breeze sent the strong fleet quickly on their way down the Western Solent. Gusts were isolated meaning that a real game of snakes and ladders was at play. Corafin showed the early pace with Jemmana and Andaxi battling it out. Alice Butcher was back with Panache, again single handed and showing many boats just how quick she is!
At Hurst, the fleet split. Andaxi and Jemanna led Coric and Starsteak down the more direct Northerly route. Corafin chose the Needles Channel with Connie and Carinosa trying to chase her down. Blanco initially went for the sneaky cut through however prudence decided that the Needles was a better option!
While Andaxi and Jemmana continued to play snakes and ladders to the North, Carinosa managed to sneak inside Corafin and Connie at Bridge. All was set for the charge across the bay.
Those to the North had a better angle, those in the South a bit more pressure but at times a little tight. Poles were well forward and the fleet charged for Poole.
As the finish approached, it was clear that it would be close and it would be decided on the line. Would Andaxi sneak ahead of Jemmana? Could Carinosa hold off a last minute surge from Corafin.
It couldn't have been tighter, Carinosa snuck over the line for her maiden win, just ahead of the next four - all who finished within a boat length of each other. Even after twenty nine miles of racing, Panache finished just ahead of the next group of four of Blanco, Muscadet de Havelet, Starstreak and Coric. The first ten boats had split evenly North to South yet still finished within three minutes of each other.
This year was a first visit for the event to the Poole Quay Boat Haven; the marina team were delighted to be welcomed onboard Jemmana as judges for the Cowes-Poole-Cowes Bake Off. Various Cakes and tasty treats were presented. Some better looking than others, some definately better cooked than others! At the end of the judging; Andaxi's chocoholics' dream was a worthy winner.
A lively pontoon party hosted by Muscadet set the tone for an outstanding dinner at the Oriel restuarant on Poole Quay.
Some sore heads woke to lighter winds and a very much shortened course. Surely just nine miles wouldn't be too far..? Racing was sent away by the local crew of Trican into a building northerly breeze. That Northerly became North Easterly and then East before flipping back to the North and North West. Kites went up, kites came down. Some boats found some breeze, others found holes. With a building foul tide shooting around Hengisbury head, after three hours and nor more than six miles of progress made, many decided to call it a day. Andaxi, Jemmana and Carinosa had squeezed out a small lead; however Jemmana went offshore into a large hole while Carinosa and Andaxi found an elusive bit of breeze in on the beach.
After over four hours of racing, a fortuitous lift on the last tack to the finish saw Carinosa sneak ahead of Andaxi to take the win by a length. Starstreak were the only other to hold their nerve as the wind finally turned fair and brought them to the line some twenty minutes later.
A cracking weekend of racing, baking and socialising was had by all.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2
CO718	Carinosa	2H	1	1	1
CO701	Andaxi		2	2	2
CO753	Starstreak		3	9	3
GBR2958	Corafin		4	3	RET
CO370	Jemmana		5	4	RET
GBR6541	Connie		6	5	RET
CO608	Panache	1H	7	6	DNC
CO682	Blanco		8	7	DNC
GBR5500	Muscadet de Havelet		9	8	RET
GBR222T	Coric		10	10	RET
GBR5154	Wild Thyme	2H	11	11	RET
CO905	Liamar		12	12	RET
CO698	Caramor II		13=	DNC	DNC
CO926	English Rose		13=	DNC	DNC

Cowes Week

Cowes Combined Clubs

27/07/2024 to 02/08/2024

A 15 strong Contessa 32 fleet enjoyed a week of Champagne sailing for 2024 Cowes week. Whilst there was a wait for wind each and every morning, it filled in every day bar one, ensuring 6 great races could be completed. Conditions were, in general, light with around 6-10kts and Friday was slightly windier allowing for plenty of tactical decision making. Courses ranged from 90mins to 4 hours but Collateral proved the most consistent winning four of the six races and coming 2nd overall in Black Group. Gualin even cut short their cruising plans to join in for one more race double-handed! The fleet also enjoyed an excellent Pontoon party hosted by Drumbeat and a fabulous dinner at the ISC followed by dancing til the small hours in the Anchor.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3	4	5	6
CO918	Collateral		1	2	1	1	1	3	1
CO701	Andaxi		2	1	2	4	2	2	3
CO671	Mary Rose Tudor		3	4	4	2	4	1	OCS
CO651	Drumbeat		4	5	3	3	3	4	2
CO682	Blanco		5	11	6	6	5	6	4
CO370	Jemmana		6	6	5	7	6	5	6
GBR2958	Corafin		7	9	7	9	7	7	5
CO718	Carinosa		8	10	10	8	8	8	7
CO776	Nimbus		9	7	11	10	9	9	8
GBR2751R	Jemima of Farley		10	3	8	5	NER	NER	NER
GBR1370R	Coh Karek		11	12	12	11	12	12	9
K5165	Toucan		12	13	13	13	11	10	10
GBR568	Gualin		13	8	9	NER	10	NER	NER
CO753	Starstreak		14	NER	14	12	13	11	11
GBR3318T	Pelican		15	14	NOD	NER	NER	NER	NER

Taittinger

Royal Solent Yacht Club

12/07/2024 to 14/07/2024

Collateral emerged victorious again, continuing their domination of the series so far, in three long and exciting races in a mixture of sunshine and showers. Wind were light and from the west, with a short delay both mornings waiting for the 5-8kts to fill in.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3
CO918	Collateral		1	1	1	1
CO651	Drumbeat		2	3	4	3
CO671	Mary Rose Tudor		3	5	2	4
CO401	Merak II		4	4	7	2
CO682	Blanco		5	2	8	5
CO370	Jemmana		6	7	3	6
CO640	Concerto		7	8	6	7
CO926	English Rose		8	6	5	DNC
GBR6541	Connie		9	9	10	RET
GBR1370R	Coh Karek		10	10	11	DNC
GBR2958	Corafin		11	DNS	9	DNC
CO718	Carinosa	2H	12	DNC	DNC	8
CO697	Boudicca		13	11	12	DNC
CO687	Equator		14	DNC	DNC	DNC

RLYC

Royal London Yacht Club

29/06/2024 to 30/06/2024

A light wind event with shifty conditions. Sunshine on Saturday, some showers on Sunday but otherwise fair. One WL on Saturday, 2 WL and one RTC on Sunday.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3	4
CO918	Collateral		1	1	1	5	2
CO651	Drumbeat		2	2	3	1	4
CO701	Andaxi		3	4	2	2	3
CO682	Blanco		4	3	4	4	TLE
CO370	Jemmana		5	6	8	3	1
CO718	Carinosa	2H	6	5	5	7	DNS
CO944	Bird		7	DNC	6	8	TLE
GBR2958	Corafin		8	7	7	6	DNF
GBR222T	Coric		9	8	10	10	TLE
CO697	Boudicca		10	DNF	11	11	TLE
GBR6541	Connie		11	9	9	9	DNF

RTI

Island Sailing Club

15/06/2024 to 15/06/2024

34 entries, 15 starters, 5 finishers. Sustained winds of more than 30kts and gusts over 40kts made the 2024 Round the Island one of the most demanding in recent years. Four of the five finishers stayed close together all the way around finishing within 3mins of each other, with Bugler taking the win and 3rd overall in ISC.
Note that only boats that started have been included in this list. There were 19 other boats entered which considered the weather and made the decision not to venture out.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1
GBR8874Y	Bugler of Hornet		1	1
GBR3419	Binkie II		2	2
GBR2751R	Jemima of Farley		3	3
CO651	Drumbeat		4	4
GBR2958	Corafin		5	5
CO351	Contessa Calypso		6=	DNF
CO640	Concerto		6=	DNF
CO926	English Rose		6=	DNF
CO753	Starstreak		6=	DNF
BEL629	Lecas		6=	DNF
GBR634T	Harlequin		6=	DNF
CO905	Liamar		6=	DNF
CO710	Speedwell		6=	DNF
GBR222T	Coric		6=	DNF
GBR3318T	Pelican		6=	NOD

Contessa

Royal Solent Yacht Club

01/06/2024 to 02/06/2024

Another enjoyable weekend in the Western Solent for the 2nd Contessa regatta featuring CO32s, CO26s, CO28 and a single CO35. A mixture of stronger and lighter winds generally from the NE, but sunshine throughout!
In usual Royal Solent style, the weekend started on Friday night with a drinks reception sponsored by vineyard Louis Jadot to ensure that everyone was raring to go for the weekend. The race officer mentioned that he intended to start on the Northern shore meaning boats had to leave promptly in the morning. The wind had been forecast to be light all weekend, but Saturday dawned and we found ourselves beating against 20 knots and against the tide to make the startline. Proceedings were a little delayed to allow the CO26s to make their start, with the 14 CO32s the only fleet that was all present and correct.
Three races were run on Saturday in winds from the NE ranging between 14-25kts, with strong gusts making the downwind legs quite fruity. Last year's winners and local boat Merak unfortunately had an issue with the kite which put them out of contention in Race 1 which was ultimately won by Drumbeat followed by Jemmana and Collateral. Racing was incredibly clsoe with all boats finishing within 12 minutes of each other over a 1hr30min race. In race 2 a failure to notice a change in the course, meant Collateral and Drumbeat sailed a slightly longer race than the rest of the fleet which allowed Merak to capitalise to take the win. A deliberately longer course was set for the whole fleet for race 3 as the wind built. A number of boats found it tricky to control the rolls downwind and Concerto unfortunately lost a crew member overboard in one of the bigger gusts. Thankfully the RSYC rib was onhand to fish him out of the water and take him back to shore to get warm. The race was won by Drumbeat who were leading overnight followed by Collateral and Merak II.
Saturday evening started with some delicious rum punch provided by Jeremy Rogers Limited and the race committee once again reminded boats that they should leave promptly. The CO32s were praised for all listening the night before. After a tasty dinner, the CO32 remained the last ones in the bar dancing until the lights came on with some excellent shapes being thrown on the dancefloor in the club and later in Saltys.
Despite some sore heads, all but one boat ventured into lighter breezes on Sunday. The Race Committee tried to start the CO26s but strong tides made it impossible for them to make headway in only a few knots of breeze. The sun was shining so no-one really minded. A repositioning of the committee vessel allowed time for the wind to build just enough but the upwind-uptide legs felt much much longer than going the other way! A gruelling 2hr race in fickle conditions meant that positions changed frequently, but ulimately Collateral took the bullet ahead of Drumbeat. A shorter race home was set for race 5, which on paper looked like it was mostly downwind, but a 180degree wind shift halfway down the run meant it turned into a challenging beat. Hats off to Connie who lost her main on the first leg but still managed to finish and not come last! Another bullet for Collateral meant that, once the discard came into play, they took other overall championship on countback from Drumbeat.
Thanks go to Royal Solent YC & Jeremy Rogers Ltd for an excellent weekend. Great racing at the front, middle and bottom of the fleet showcasing the excellence of the CO32.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3	4	5
CO918	Collateral		1	3	2	2	1	1
CO651	Drumbeat		2	1	4	1	2	2
CO401	Merak II		3	DNF	1	3	3	3
CO370	Jemmana		4	2	3	5	10	7
CO682	Blanco		5	5	5	7	5	4
CO640	Concerto		6	4	9	DNF	4	5
GBR5765	Assent		7	7	6	4	6	6
GBR2958	Corafin		8	6	7	8	9	9
GBR6541	Connie		9	10	8	6	7	12
CO718	Carinosa	2H	10	9	11	10	8	8
GBR8876T	Trican		11	8	10	9	DNC	DNC
GBR1370R	Coh Karek		12	DNF	12	11	12	10
GBR5154	Wild Thyme		13	12	13	DNF	11	11
CO753	Starstreak		14	11	14	12	DNF	13

ISC

Island Sailing Club

18/05/2024 to 19/05/2024

A light wind event where Collateral burst onto the 2024 scene with a bang.
Saturday was very light and shifty, with the first race getting started after a short delay. However race 2 was abandoned shortly after the start as the dying breeze in conjunction with the strong tide meant most boats struggled to cross the start line. Sunday was better, with three shorter races completed. The new-boat-old-faces combo of Ray Mitchell in newly purchased Collateral took three bullets and one third place to take the overall title, closely followed by old faces Drumbeat and Andaxi.

Sail No.	Name	SH	Overall	1	2	3	4
CO918	Collateral		1	1	1	1	3
CO651	Drumbeat		2	2	3	2	2
CO701	Andaxi		3	3	2	4	1
CO682	Blanco		4	4	5	5	4
CO370	Jemmana		5	6	4	3	OCS
GBR2958	Corafin		6	8	6	7	6
GBR6541	Connie		7	11	8	6	5
GBR1370R	Coh Karek		8	10	10	9	7
GBR222T	Coric	2H	9	9	9	10	8
CO718	Carinosa	2H	10	7	7	DNF	DNC
CO753	Starstreak		11	12	11	8	DNF
GBR2751R	Jemima of Farley		12	5	DNC	DNC	DNC