Double olympic gold medalist, Sarah Gosling with Shadows winner, Laurie Gustar.
DINGHY WEEKDOUBLE Olympic gold medallist Sarah Gosling presented the awards for another highly successful Cowes Dinghy Week, at Gurnard Sailing Club.
This year’s event was blessed with warm weather and generally moderate winds, apart from Wednesday’s gusts, with a new format of seven races for each fleet over six days introduced by organiser Mark Harrison.
There were some committee boat starts, and the resulting racing was close, with several series not decided until the final day.
Yngling sailor Sarah, who was Sarah Webb when she won gold in Athens and Beijing, gave a speech about her Olympic experiences following the presentations.
Commodore Martin Bean rounded off the week by thanking the event supporters — Awlgrip, Ancasta, Navigate Solutions, Happy Daze, North Sails, Joli and Fastnet Insurance — and in particular Mr Harrison and his wife, Liz, plus all the volunteers whose hard work made for a successful week both afloat and on shore.
On the water, the Pico Race fleet was particularly hard fought, with cadet sailors Shannon Tate and Georgia Caws swapping the lead all week.
Shannon needed to win the final race to retain her title, and led for most of the way, but Georgia fought back and it was neck and neck down the last run, with Georgia clinching the race and the series by inches on the line.
The Laser 4.7 fleet was similarly close, but an emphatic win from Bradley McLaughlin in the final race secured series victory.
Ben Gibson dominated the Laser fleet, and also won the Yachts and Yachting trophy for best performance, with six wins and one second place. Derek Ness and daughter Daisy sailing an RS Feva won the slow handicap and also the Henry Symons Trophy for parent and child. The John Davis Memorial Trophy for best Gurnard cadet was awarded to Georgia Caws.
In the Shadow cat class, several sailors gained podium places but Laurie Gustar sailed consistently to win the series, while in the big cats the Hurricane of Paul Jennings and Viki Gill survived the rough conditions on Wednesday to gain a lead which they maintained for the rest of the week.
The fast and medium handicaps were both very open, with Tim Wilkins and Heather Martin in an RS 500, and Miles Mence in his Blaze, winning the titles.
The RS 400 was won by Paul Bowen and Shaun Kellett, and in the Laser Radial, Richard Ellis won the battle of the masters, leaving Jane Peckham and Libby Deegan in second and third respectively.
• Full results in the Friday, August 6, County Press.