#CowesWeek - It’s third place overall for the Irish crew on Christian Zugel’s MAT 1180 Tschüss in the IRC Zero fleet at Cowes Week.
Maurice O’Connell, Ross Monson, Johnny Mordant and Simon Johnson only moved one place down the table after discards, when they scored a tremendous second on corrected behind the TP52 Gladiator in the final outing of the six-race series yesterday (Thursday 3 August).
However, Gladiator had to take second place themselves behind last year’s IRC Zero winning Lady Mariposa, whose crew did enough over the week to lift the inaugural Sevenstar Triple Crown.
IRC Zero was the only class to sail on the breeziest day yet for what’s been a windblown 2017 regatta, and they had a two-and-a-half-hour course in the easter Solent all to themselves.
Mainsheet trimmer Maurice O’Connell said it was the windiest Cowes Week day he had ever sailed.
“The breeze rarely went below 30 knots for the second half of the race,” he added. “We even goose-winged down the last run doing 15 knots. Crazy but fun!”
The Triple Crown series saw a number of records smashed earlier in the week, with Volvo Ocean 65 MAPFRE setting a world-beating 3:13:11 for both monohull — and a monohull without power assistance — around the Isle of Wight.
Fellow Volvo Ocean Race competitors Team Brunel, Team Akzonobel and Dongfeng Race Team also set new record times on Wednesday (2 August) as they prepare for the next stage of Leg Zero this weekend in the formidable Rolex Fastnet Race.
