Rolex Commodores' Cup too close to call says GBR team boss
25th June 2008Great Britain’s Rolex Commodores’ Cup team manager David Atkinson expects racing to go down to the final day wire as he predicts one of the closest Cup contests in recent memory.
A total of 15 teams, totalling 45 boats, from six nations will do battle for the 2008 Rolex Commodores’ Cup crown when the prestigious week-long event gets underway in Cowes on Sunday (29 June).
Great Britain and defending champions France head the entry list with four teams apiece while the Netherlands are sending three teams and Ireland two.
But having had first-hand experience of the scale of the challenge the RYA Team GBR teams are likely to face in order to win back the trophy Britain last claimed in 2004, Atkinson admits he expects the outcome still to be in the balance going into the last double points race on Sunday 6 July.
He said: “I really think it is going to be a very, very close run event and it will end up being between us, France and Ireland. The IRC Nationals earlier this month proved to us just how much all the teams want it, every race was so competitive, and I really can see it all going down to the last day.”
Two years ago, the French team France Bleu, headed by Gery Trentesaux, claimed the title against all the odds, edging the much-fancied Ireland Green into second courtesy of an emphatic show in the final race of the regatta, the offshore.
Meanwhile, having admitted a certain amount of complacency from the Brits when defending their title in 2006, Atkinson insists both Great Britain and Ireland will feel they have something to prove this time out.
“The Irish are very strong and have a lot of experience in their teams. There are certain elements in which the French are very strong but what we have seen so far would lead us to think the Irish are stronger. They will undoubtedly feel a sense of unfinished business after 2006 and you only have to look at the amount of time our guys have spent on the water to see how much they want Britain to win it back.”
A tough mix of inshore and offshore racing, the biennial Rolex Commodores’ Cup is an intense seven-day programme that pits teams comprising one boat in three specified class bands against one another to accrue overall team points. The team with the lowest overall points total is crowned champions.
For the first time this year, there will be a Round the Island Race on the penultimate day while Atkinson anticipates the two-and-half points weighted offshore, which commences on Wednesday (2 July), will play a major role in deciding the final event winners.
Full RYA Team GBR line-ups for 2008 Rolex Commodores’ Cup (29 June – 6 July):
GBR Red: Fair Dos VII, Erivale, Quokka
GBR Black: Dark and Steamy, British Soldier, Prime Suspect
GBR White: Poppy of Portland, Premier Flair, Jaguar of Burnham
GBR Blue: Novus Arca, Magnum, Vortex
2008 Rolex Commodores’ Cup competing nations (number of entered teams in brackets): France (4) Hong Kong (1) Ireland (2) Spain (1) The Netherlands (3) Great Britain (4)
Schedule of events (points weighting in brackets):
Sunday 29 June – Registration/Skippers and Navigators’ briefing Monday 30 June – 2 x Solent inshore races (1 each)
Tuesday 1 July - 2 x Solent inshore races (1 each)
Wednesday 2 July – Offshore race (2.5)
Thursday 3 July – Offshore continues
Friday 4 July - Solent inshore race (1)
Saturday 5 July – Round the Island Race (1.5)
Sunday 6 July - Solent inshore race (2)