RICHARDSON CROWNED KING OF COWES

By Martin Neville - Saturday, August 4, 2007
LAST year’s Extreme 40 class winner, Alister Richardson, was crowned Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes – despite only pulling his crew together at the last minute.
Raced in one-design Laser SB3's in perfect Solent conditions, Alister drove away with the top prize of a brand new Volkswagen Touareg.
Alister, and his team of Laser SB3 owner Toby Litton plus Rachel Williamson and Dan Johnson, put in a stunning performance to snatch the crown in a final race showdown.
David Apthorp, of the J/105 class, with SB3 owner Geoff Carveth had led the fleet going into the final race but he seemed to struggle as the sea breeze strengthened to over 20 knots.
His problems were compounded when crewman Matt Adams took an unplanned swim when they were forced to take last minute action to avoid Hill Head buoy, which suddenly appeared in front of them.
Despite losing out on first place, Apthorp found his consolation prize of a Volkswagen Eos more than made up for the disappointment.
Russell Peters, last year's SB3 winner, who many thought would trounce the opposition despite not sailing his own boat, only made the top three thanks to a second place in the final race.
Commenting on her first time sailing at Skandia Cowes Week, Gabby Logan crewing for 11 times Cowes winner Graham Bailey, said: "It was a really big challenge but I was with a great team and realised how important it was to them to keep going. I'm delighted we finished 5th, it was a great experience."

RICHARDSON CROWNED KING OF COWES

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