GBR Red celebrate Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup 2012 glory  

Team GBR Red claim the prestigious Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup 2012

RYA Team GBR Team Manager Nigel King hailed the team spirit of 2012 Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup winners GBR Red before admitting he was delighted the prestigious trophy was back in British hands.

Having laid down the gauntlet to their closest rivals going into the final race, courtesy of an impressive performance by all three boats in the penultimate day Round The Island Race, GBR Red’s three boats – Dignity (Mills 39), Eaujet (Archambault 35) and Keronimo (Ker 40) - held their nerve in the last double-points inshore (race eight) of the 2012 event today (Saturday 28 July) to secure a 63-point Championship victory over second-placed GBR White.  

“It has been a strange week with the biggest element being the conditions, there has been very little wind”, said King. “It has been a really, really light wind regatta, with changeable conditions across all the races with some good breeze and then no breeze at all.  At points the teams were sat fighting currents and using anchors, with results changing non-stop throughout the week.  

“The key factors to GBR Red’s success has this week been that if one of their boats had a bad day, then the two other boats would have a really good day, so they always had one boat at the front, one boat not too far behind which meant if the other boat had a bad day then the other two made up for it. It wasn’t always the same boat at the front either, they were continually mixing things up. The Round the Isle of Wight Race is what I think clinched it. All three boats had an excellent day giving them the final advantage with consistency being the key to their success.”  

With the final race of the regatta today being postponed three-quarters of the way through due to lack of breeze, with one boat 200 yards from the finish line, King admitted his charges had to keep their minds on getting the job finished while they waited for the re-start. But once racing got underway again, the team kept their composure to claim the crown.  

“With the last race being double points the team certainly hadn’t won the event going into today, but with a 60 point lead it certainly would have been hard to have lost it. In the end they came out comfortable winners after a very frustrating and tough week of racing, we are all very happy and pleased that the Cup is back in British hands after narrowly missing out in 2010.”  

King was also quick to pay tribute to the other three British teams, many of whose boats were taking their Commodores’ Cup bows.  

“I think even though it’s been tough, all four of the GBR Teams have enjoyed the event and certainly some of the younger sailors and the guys from the British Keelboat Academy have learnt a lot, standing them in good stead for their future sailing careers. Each boat has had good and bad races, but I have been really impressed with the standard of racing and the enthusiasm across all boats.”  

King concluded: “The sailors will now go and enjoy what they call ‘fun’ regattas after some tough training in the build-up to this event. Im sure they will take some time off and then start preparing for next year and what they want to focus on. I would like to think the same group of sailors will be back in two years’ time to represent RYA Team GBR and more importantly to defend the Commodores’ Cup title.”  

For full results from the Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup 2012 please visit the event website.