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17 March 2017 Dream Start For Velsheda, Winners of the Kings Hundred Guinea Cup
Velsheda made the best start to what promises to be a landmark season for the J Class when they opened the 30th edition of the Caribbean’s St Barth’s Bucket by winning both windward-leeward races and so lifting the Kings Hundred Guinea Cup from the record fleet of six J Class yachts. It is the second time that Velsheda has won the trophy, (one of) the J Class’s most prestigious annual prizes. In 2015 in Falmouth when they last triumphed there were just three boats racing.
In the brisk 16-20kts E’ly breeze Velsheda – which won here last year – nailed two very good starts near the committee boat end of the start line and lead at every mark through the day. Hanuman, which seemed fast downwind, caught distance on the final run and the two ended up in a dead heat on corrected time. But in the second race Hanuman could not catch Velsheda enough and the famous original 1933 launched J Class yacht sits on top of the regatta leaderboard by one clear point.
“Racing just does not get cooler than this. To be throwing these ‘museum pieces’ around a short race course like that in 17-19kts like we are sailing TP52s, it is pretty full on. To do one race like that is hard work, to do two back to back in these conditions is hard work. But we had a lot of fun.” Grinned Ken Read, skipper-helm of Hanuman.
Campbell Field, navigator on the victorious Velsheda reported: “We wanted to keep it clean today, to sail clean and we pretty much did and that is what made the difference. We wanted to get our noses out in front and each time we did and that really let us sail our own race. It was a really nice day. Everything went smoothly. Our boat handling was good. There are some area to improve on but we are happy. It is a great way to start the season. We could not ask for more. And hopefully it is not all downhill from here!”
Only five yachts completed the first race. If Velsheda today had something close to the perfect start to their season, Lionheart did not. They had to retire after starting late in Race 1 because of a failed jib halyard strop and at the second start they fouled Hanuman just before the gun and had to take a penalty.
Velsheda were able to tack on top of Hanuman near half way up the first beat and that was the key to their ability to step away and extend their initial lead. Topaz, with Peter Holmberg steering, showed well in the first race and rounded third ahead of Ranger and Shamrock. Topaz came back at Hanuman slightly on the first run but the black boat was well clear by the second windward turn after staying to the left on the second beat. Topaz took third on corrected time.
Tactician Tom Dodson helped position Velsheda in a strong position off the start line of Race 2, benefiting from being able to ride above Shamrock which was pretty much on the layline to the committee boat. They were able to climb away and soon established a lead. At the top mark they were 30 seconds or so ahead of Hanuman with Ranger rounding third and Topaz fourth. Lionheart fought back and did enough to beat Topaz to fourth on corrected time.
Velsheda’s winning navigator Field continued: “Hanuman are lightning fast downwind and they (other boats) are all running A sails (asymmetric spinnakers) and we like our symmetrical S sail because it gives us better options. In the second race it was a lot tighter and Hanuman still came smoking into us on the run and were within 20 seconds at the final top mark. We knew we would have to defend on the run and that is where the fleet dynamics come in where they had some traffic to deal with. We did some nice hoists and gybes and that made a difference.”
Hanuman’s Read commented: “It was full on. Racing in 18kts and the first time six boats have been on a starting line in history. A bunch of us are shaking the rust off us. The boat kind of bailed us out a few times. Velsheda are sailing very, very well. They deserved to win today. They have set the bar and it is up to us to match it.”
“One windward-leeward race on a day like that is hard. Two races like that are really full on. Packing kites again to be ready for the second race is hard, hard work. Trying to keep it all in one piece is hard. The thing is with these events is you start off with these museum pieces, full of beautiful furniture and the most gorgeous boats on the planet, and all of a sudden you are ripping around the race course like they are a TP52. We don’t know any better. We appreciate them for what they are.”
“It was a shame Lionheart broke their halyard strop before the first race because they are a benchmark boat. But it shows how one small drama can wreck your event right out of the box.” “Our lighter mode is thinking towards Newport and Bermuda. They (Velsheda) had better starts and won the boat. But downwind we have always struggled with this boat but today we kind of felt we could do things we have never done. The boat feels different. And we are learning. We tried a different modes on the beats. But, overall, honestly, it does not get any cooler than this.”
Saint Barths Bucket J Class
Race 1: 1 = Velsheda, 1= Hanuman, 3 Topaz, 4 Ranger, 5 Shamrock RET Lionheart Race 2: 1 Velsheda, 2 Hanuman, 3 Ranger, 4 Lionheart, 5 Topaz, 6 Shamrock Standings after 2 races. 1 Velsheda 2 pts, 2 Hanuman 3pts, 3 Ranger 7pts, 4 Topaz 8pts, 5 Lionheart 11pts, 6 Shamrock 11pts
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