Cowes, UK - 4 July 2010 -
The last race showdown
for the 2010 Dragon Edinburgh Cup in Cowes, hosted by the Royal Corinthian
Yacht Club, Cowes, was a spectacular affair with the overall results of the
regatta being decided on the final finish line. Russia's Olga White was the star of that sixth race, winning in impressive style to take third overall in the regatta. But while Olga led the fleet, the other
big story of the day was happening back down the course as a dogfight of epic
proportions took place between Germany's Klaus Diederichs, and Denmark's Poul
Richard Hoj-Jensen for the right to go home with the Edinburgh Cup. The two went
into the final race in first and second position respectively with just one
point separating them and they proceeded to give the watching spectators a truly
edge of the seat experience as they fought it out for supremacy.
Klaus Diederichs takes
up the story, "We went into the last race with a 1 point lead and we needed to
make sure that Poul Richard is not coming in the top three, so that was our
race strategy for the day. We didn't
have a good start at all and we missed him at the start. He went off to the left, so we had a
bad start, we went to the right and had a good wind shift in our favour and we
could basically tack back on him and he was by that time already quite a bit
down the fleet and we said OK from now on we just need to control Poul.
"But Poul was steaming
through the fleet and we were hanging onto him and he got ahead of us literally
just a couple of hundred meters before that [the second weather mark] and from
then on we had to chase him and make sure he doesn't climb up the fleet very
fast as he normally does. And so
we sailed downwind and the breeze got better and that was really good for us so
he couldn't run away and we rounded the leeward mark just literally a boat
[length] ahead of him. From then
on it was a real match race, the last beat was a total match race up until the
finishing line and with the breeze increasing it was really interesting sailing."
On the finish line
Klaus Diederichs, sailing NOR272 Fever with Andy Beadsworth and Simon Fry,
crossed the line in 14th place just a few inches ahead of Poul
Richard Hoj-Jensen, sailing GBR745 Danish Blue with Theis Palm and Andrew
Norden, to claim the historic Edinburgh Cup, presented to the Dragon Class for
their Open British Championship by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in
1949. Poul Richard-Hoj Jensen took
second place overall and Olga White completed the podium line-up.
Olga White's challenge
for that third place was a tough one too, but she rose to the challenge with
confidence and style. Technically
six people had the possibility to take third overall going into the final race. Lawrie Smith had held the position over
night; White was seven points behind him in fourth, with Simon Brien two points
behind her in fifth. Also still just in contention were Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Mikhail Muratov and Louis
Urvois.
White, sailing RUS69
Murka 7 with Vadim Statsenko and Martin Leifelt, got an excellent start and opted
for the right side of the beat whilst most of her challengers went left. The race got underway just as the sea
breeze was starting to come in and this resulted in a massive
right-hander on the first beat. At
the first mark White rounded just ahead of Julia Bailey with Mikhail Muratov
third, Len Jones fourth, Mike Hayles fifth and Jamie Lea sixth. Both Smith and Brien had found
themselves on the wrong side of the shift and Brien rounded in 19th
place while Smith almost brought up the rear of the fleet in 29th. All White had to do now was hold onto a
good position and pray that neither Smith nor Brien could pull off a major jump
on the fleet.
Ultimately White
successfully defended her lead all the way to the finish although she had to
sail her socks off to do it with a hard fought tacking duel against Jones and
Lea lasting the length of the final beat. On the line White took the honours, Jones finished second and Lea
third. Brien and Smith did their
best with Brien managing to pull back up into 10th place and Smith
into 19th, but it wasn't anywhere near enough and so Simon Brien,
sailing IRL212 Kin with Stephen Milne and David Gomes, took fourth place
overall and Lawrie Smith, sailing GBR751 Alfie with Ossie Stewart and Bill
Masterman, was fifth.
Speaking after racing
Olga White was delighted with her first podium finish at an International
Dragon Ranked Event. "It's the
first time we've won a race in a regatta of this size, grade two or above, and
it's the first time we've been on the podium so it's fantastic." She also joked about the competition
between herself and husband and Murka team mate Mikhail Muratov saying, "Of
course there's a little bit of rivalry between the two of use, although we
never do anything nasty to each other, but we still like to win between the two
of us so we have two races going on, one between me and Mischa and the other
race as well. Mischa's getting a
bit upset about being recognised as the person that's always following his wife
- so we'll try and keep that up!"
In the Corinthian
Division for the all-amateur crews Ireland's Simon Brien, took overall victory from local Solent sailor Eric
Williams, sailing GBR682 Ecstatic with Joanna Richardson and Rory Patten. Cowes Dragon Fleet Captain Richard Cullen, sailing GBR669 Supremacy with
Alex Dobson and Matthew Hill, rounded out the Corinthian top three. The Corinthian Division is a new
introduction to the Dragon fleet and the organisers were delighted that it
generated such an enthusiastic response with a third of the fleet qualifying to
compete. Speaking after racing
Richard Cullen said, "I was delighted how well some of the Corinthian sailors
were doing against the professionals at times this week. It's really important for us to
encourage the Corinthian teams as without them the grass roots of local Dragon
fleets around the world will not be able to continue to build world class
events with good numbers of competitors. Congratulations to Simon and Eric - we've had fantastic racing all
week."
At the final prize
giving Regatta Chairman Colonel Tony Singer paid tribute to all the many volunteers who
had worked tirelessly to make this event such a huge success. This was without doubt the most
competitive fleet ever assembled for a Dragon Edinburgh Cup and this combined
with outstanding race management, a superb social programme and exceptional
weather conditions ensured that not only was it the most competitive, but that
it was also one of the most enjoyable. He thanked the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club who hosted the regatta, the
Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club, Royal London Yacht Club, Island Sailing Club,
Royal Yacht Squadron and Sir Max Aitken Museum, which all hosted social events
for the sailors during the week and Aberdeen Asset Management for their
generous ongoing sponsorship support of the British Dragon Association and the
Edinburgh Cup.
Although sadly unable
to attend the prize giving, Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset
Management, sent a message to the competitors and the organisers saying "Congratulations
to Edinburgh Cup winner Klaus Diederichs and his crew. We're delighted to continue our support
of the British Dragon Association and the Edinburgh Cup. Well done to everyone involved in the
organisation of this outstanding event."
The South
Caernarvonshire Yacht Club, Abersoch, will host the 2011 Dragon Edinburgh Cup,
which will be held between 13-16 July 2011. Further details about this event will be available from
www.britishdragons.org.
Overall Top Five
1. NOR272 - Fever - Klaus Diederichs - 13 pts
2. GBR745 -
Danish Blue - Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen - 19 pts
3. RUS69 -
Murka 7 - Olga White - 25 pts
4. IRL212 - Kin - Simon Brien - 32 pts
5. GBR751 -
Alfie - Lawrie Smith - 34 pts
Full Results
Thanks to Mike Austen for the header and Murka 7 photographs on this release.
Photo Gallery
IDA Blog
British Dragons YouTube Channel
Full Interview With Klaus Diederichs
Further
details about the Edinburgh Cup are
available from www.britishdragons.org and www.rcyc.co.uk and via the International Dragon Association Blog.
Members of the media requiring additional information or photographs should contact BDA Press Officer Fiona Brown on
E-mail fiona.brown@fionabrown.com or Mobile +44 (0)7711
718470.
For further information about the British Dragon Association please visit www.britishdragons.org or contact BDA Press Officer Fiona Brown on e-mail fiona.brown@fionabrown.com, Skype fpbrown, Mobile +44 (0)7711 718470.
For further information about Aberdeen Asset Management please contact Jill Maxwell, PR Manager - WSM Sponsorship, Tel +44 (0)207 590 7520, e-mail Jill.maxwell@wsmsponsorship.com or visit www.aberdeen-asset.co.uk
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For further information about the British Dragon Association please contact:-
BDA Chairman
Patrick Gifford
E-mail Patrick Gifford
Mobile 07930 558737
BDA Vice Chairman
Martin Makey
E-mail Martin Makey
Mobile 07860 729804
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