The Royal Yacht Squadron were set and ready to host the very first edition of the David Franks Cup, to commemorate all the fantastic work achieved by David Franks for the Cowes Etchells Fleet, and it was great to see David present at the regatta to celebrate this great work. The lineup consisted of 16 boats with an even mix of corinthian, youth, and professional teams, the stage was set for a great weekend of racing!
Day 1 of the regatta had the forecast set for delayed start to the regatta, the PRO Rob Brown making the call to delay the first warning signal for 2 hours. After a short postponement, the wind filled in from the South West at around 8-12 knots, and the fleet headed towards Bramble’s Bank for three races.
Race 1 saw consistent season performers Louise Racing, skippered by Tommy Hough, take an early advantage to win the first race, followed by No Dramas in second, led by Andrew Lawson and with stand-in helm Michael Beckett, fresh back from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and an impressive 3rd from youth team Mano, led by Harry Blythe. The second race of the day saw a small increase of breeze and another mix up in results. Ted Blowers’ team on Audrey took the win after Shaun Frohlich’s Exabyte crossed the line first, but unfortunately was already OCS at the start. Youth team, Ziggy, picked up a great 2nd place, followed by class captain David Maclean in 3rd. The last race of the first day was finished with a WA3 course to finish at the top of the third upwind to get the most out of racing as possible, so another great job by the Royal Yacht Squadron. Tommy Hough bagged his second win of the day to lead overnight with a 1, 8, 1, followed by David Franks in 2nd to sit 3rd overall after day 1, Ted Blowers’ Audrey finished 3rd in the final race of the day to sit 2nd at the end of day 1, just 1 point behind Louise Racing and Tommy Hough.
The evening social was held at the host club that was the Royal Yacht Squadron for a jacket and tie dinner, with a few key members of the fleet showing some excellent memories and sharing the great work that David Franks has achieved over his long standing commitment to the Etchells class. The evening was a great reminder, and the perfect occasion to celebrate this.
Day 2 of racing had an identical forecast to Saturday, with a short 1 hour postponement before the fleet was called to the starting area. There was slightly more breeze of around 12-14 knots for most of the day from the South West. Race 1 saw the Greig City Academy in Palaver dominate the fleet to take the win, followed by Audrey, and Exabyte, who were looking to bounce back after a tricky first day. The second race of the Sunday initially was called for a general recall, after the fleet pushed the line with teams eager to get as much as an advantage as possible towards the end of the regatta. A U-flag was then raised, and after the re-start, Jolly Roger and Audrey were called over the line, leaving Exabyte, No Dramas, and Astrid to fill the top 3 respectively. Going into the last race, the points were close with Audrey and Louise Racing on joint points at the top, but with the fleet clipping at their heels. With a clean start in race 3, PRO Rob Brown did well to get the third race of the day underway before the 2pm cut off time. Shaun Frohlich bagged his second win of the day to finish with a 3, 1, 1 scoreline on day 2, an amazing improvement from day 1 to climb up the leaderboard. No Dramas also had an impressive day to finish 2nd in the last race, followed by Ada in 3rd. The battle of first was too close to call, with Audrey getting the better start towards the pin end and leading Louise Racing round the course. Tommy Hough and Louise didn’t have the best of starts, but were picking their way through the fleet extremely well to pull through straight behind Audrey. The final upwind to the finish between the two turned into a match racing, with Audrey having to match Louise tack for tack, Audrey kept their heads and just managed to pip Louise Racing at the line to win overall.
The prize giving was held at the Royal Yacht Squadron on the platform, with first corinthian overall going to Rob Goddard, with his team of Tom Blowers, and Jack Muldoon, who finished 7th overall. The top 3 at the International David Franks Cup were made up of No Dramas, made up of Andrew Lawson, Michael Beckett, and Billy Russel in 3rd place. 2nd were Louise Racing, with Tommy Hough on the podium again, with his team of Alex Barone, Anna Watkins, and Tom Ballantine. 1st overall was Audrey, made up of Ted Blowers, Oli Aldridge, and kite foiling Olympic gold medalist from Paris 2024, Ellie Aldridge, and Paris 2024 Olympic and 470 helm, Vita Heathcote, who steered the team to the win, and also the overall youth title. In the Champions of Champions series, Tango and Exbayte were leap frogged by Louise Racing to take the overall season win only by count back to Exabyte and Shaun Frohlich! The prize giving for the Champions of Champions series will take place at the European Championships, which is on the 11th-13th of October, the next event in the calendar.
Thank you to the Royal Yacht Squadron for hosting a great regatta, with some World Class race courses and race management, to the Pontoon View for this post-racing socials as always, and also to David Franks for his endless contributions to the class, the first edition of the trophy was one to remember, and the fleet looks forwards to many editions of the competition moving forwards!