Cape 31 National Championship - Round 6 Preview

The HYS Cape 31 National Championship kicks off tomorrow with the largest ever Cape 31 fleet to date!

The Royal Yacht Squadron team is gearing up to run the event alongside the Cape 31 Class. With 21 teams on the start line for 9 windward leeward races, it’s shaping up to be an awesome three days.

The entry consists of the 17 teams from the Royal Thames Invitational earlier this month and four more entries. Michael Wilson’s Shotgunn is back out along with William Edward’s Sardonyx X and James Howells Gelert being helmed by Ian Southworth. Royal Yacht Squadron’s own Bertie Bicket has entered Harlequin whilst he waits for his own boat to arrive.

With big conditions due the weekend will be a real test for the new teams, and probably a bit of a gift to the older teams who have had the opportunity to race more in windy conditions. Either way, with a lot of mix up within temas it will be a regatta to watch to see which team will come out on top.

Firm favourite’s are Squirt and Tokoloshe, the overall leaders in the series, but both teams have new main trimmers for the weekend. Following Squirt’s win last weekend they are in direct competition with Tokoloshe for the Cape 31 Race Circuit Series. The real battle will be for third in the series with five teams in contention - Katabatic, Fanatic, Jubilee, Arabella and Shotgunn.

The trophy, donated by HYS has been used by top high performance class of the year in the Solent, will be up for grabs, won by Russell Peter’s last year and teams such as Niklas Zenntrom’s Ran in the past. Prizes also up for grabs are the top traveling boat - there are six teams in contention for this, four Irish, one Dutch and one American. Finally there will be a prize for the top Corinthian team of which six teams are also eligible.

Racing starts at 1100 tomorrow 30th September in the Solent.

Regatta info and results/entries.