9 Jul 2012

Victory for 'Mariette' and 'Firebrand' at Pendennis Cup

By Jason Holtom

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The fourth and final race of the Pendennis Cup in Falmouth, UK was sailed in the best conditions of the week with a good offshore wind from the north of 15 to 20 knots making for perfect sailing in relatively flat water.

The course took the fleet twice around Falmouth Bay with the furthest south turning mark - the cardinal buoy - marking the dangerous Manacle Rocks off the Lizard Peninsular.

Going into the final race the 42m 1915 Herreshoff schooner Mariette and the 34m modern Frers sloop Unfurled built by Royal Huisman in 2000 were sharing the overall lead on 7.0 points.

Mariette once again had a headstart of 14 minutes on Unfurled, as she was first away in the staggered starting format of two minute intervals that ensures that all the yachts get away safely without a crowded competitive start line.



The highest handicap yachts start earlier in a semi-pursuit format which keeps the fleet closer together at the finish and allows crews and guests the opportunity to see overtaking yachts all day. The TCF handicap is then applied to the elapsed time to calculate the positions.



Principal race officer Peter Craig had discussed the possibility of sailing the final race on full pursuit formula with the Pendennis committee, varying the start times based on handicap, so that all the yachts would theoretically finish together, a format that had been introduced for the final race of the 2010 Pendennis Cup.  However it was decided to retain the planned race instructions for the fairness of the competitors since the final result of both classes was finely balanced.


Mariette was enjoying the good breeze and flat seas with full sail set as Unfurled set off in pursuit. Unfurled worked her way through the fleet and on the long upwind leg from the Manacles took the lead. By the time she reached the top mark she had built up a lead of over 12 minutes and looked to extend it on the second shorter lap of the course.


She charged down the run with asymmetric spinnaker and then carried straight on past the leeward turning mark off Rosemullion Cove. By the time that three of the other yachts had called into the race committee asking if there had been a change of course (which the committee confirmed that none had been made) it was too late.



Realising their mistake the crew of Unfurled worked her way back up to the turning mark but had lost at least 15 minutes and five places. By the upwind finish off Pendennis Castle she just managed to overtake the 55m schooner Adela with a favoured starboard cross at the line to take line honours by 30 seconds.



The handicap result however put Unfurled back in 6th place for the race, 16 minutes behind the handicap winner Mariette and in second place overall in the Pendennis Cup.

In the Little Dennis Class of smaller classics the 1964 S&S sloop Firebrand beat the 1904 Fife gaff rigged Mikado to take the overall result on a countback with both on equal 6.0 points, both with two firsts and two seconds but Firebrand winning the final encounter.


The variety of conditions and the eclectic fleet provided a fantastic spectacle in Falmouth Bay and proved that the Pendennis Cup is a great regatta for both old and modern classics, alongside contemporary performance yachts.

Several of the Pendennis fleet are now heading to the Solent for the Superyacht Cup in Cowes from the 22-25 July.



Pendennis Cup Results

Pendennis Cup Class Race Four
Position	Yacht	Elapsed Time	Corrected Time
1st	Mariette of 1915	3:16:01	3:50:43
2nd	Breakaway	2:58:54	3:54:54
3rd	Bequia	3:09:46	3:55:41
4th	Adela	2:54:28	4:04:57
5th	Velacarina	3:23:55	4:05:31
6th	Unfurled	2:51:58	4:06:26
7th	Bare Necessities	3:19:30	4:07:23
8th	Mariquita	3:26:25	4:13:29
9th	Athos	DNS	DNS

 

Pendennis Cup Class Points Overall
Yacht	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total Points
Mariette	1.0	4.0	2.0	1.0	8.0
Unfurled	3.0	1.0	3.0	6.0	13.0
Adela	2.0	2.0	6.0	4.0	14.0
Breakaway	5.0	3.0	4.0	2.0	14.0
Bequia	6.0	5.0	5.0	3.0	19.0
Mariquita	8.0	8.0	1.0	8.0	25.0
Athos	4.0	6.0	10.0 DNS	10.0 DNS	30.0
Velacarina	7.0	7.0	7.0	5.0	26.0
Bare Necessities	9.0	9.0	8.0	7.0	33.0

                                                                                                           

Little Dennis Class Points Overall
Yacht	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total Points
Firebrand	2.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	6.0
Mikado	1.0	2.0	1.0	2.0	6.0
Tomahawk	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	12.0
Pinuccia	5.0 DNF	4.0	4.0	4.0	17.0

 

Pendennis Cup Entry List                                 

Pendennis Cup Class	LOA	Type	Design	Builder/Year
Adela	55.5m	Schooner	W.C Storey (1910) Dijkstra Partners (1995)	Pendennis 1995
Athos	61.2m	Schooner	Andre Hoek	Holland Jachtbouw2010
Bare Necessities	24.88	Sloop	Oyster 82/Humphreys Yacht Design	Oyster 2004
Bequia	27.66	Yawl	Stephens & Waring	Brooklin Boat Yard 2009
Breakaway	21.34	Sloop	Santa Cruz 70 /Bill Lee	Santa Cruz 1993
Mariquita	38m	Gaff cutter	William Fife	Fife 1911/Fairlie Restorations 2005
Mariette of 1915	42m	Gaff Schooner	Herreshoff	Herreshoff Co. 1915/ Beconcini 1988
Unfurled	34m	Sloop	German Fers	Royal Huisman 2000
Velacarina	26m	Ketch	Truly Classic /Andre Hoek	Classen Jachtbouw 2004

                 

Little Dennis Classic Class	LOA	Type	Design	Builder/Year
Firebrand	13.11m	Sloop	Sparkman & Stephens	Clare Lallow 1964
Mikado	12.55m	Bermudian Cutter	William Fife	Fife 1904
Pinuccia	14.2m	Sloop	8 Metre/ Vincenzo Baglietto	Baglietto 1939
Tomahawk	14.8m	Bermudian Yawl	Olin Stephens	Barrett Boat Works 1938

Related Links

Pendennis Profile | Pendennis Website

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