RORC Morgan Cup After months of waiting the trials to select the England Commodores Cup Team finally got underway on June 7th with the RORCs Morgan Cup Race from Cowes to Dieppe. With a light southerly breeze we had a good start aboard Fandango and headed off towards the Forts flying our new Series 2000 VMG spinnaker. Many of IRC 1 were flying asymmetrics but we still managed to hold our height in the fleet as the wind swung forward and we eventually left the Solent in the front bunch with just two French IMX40s and a J120 ahead. After about half an hour we spotted that the boats behind and to leeward seemed to be gaining rapidly through extra pressure and we bore away slightly to get into the breeze. Although we had lost some ground we were still ahead of most of the fleet. As the wind shifted we tacked at the same time as Jackdaw and Fastwave and slowly pulled away from them both as the light faded. The short night was spent hard on the wind with just and occasional tack to keep the crew awake. As we approached the turning mark A5 we were pleased to see the IMX40 Courier Nord not too far ahead. Unfortunately however two other 40.7s, Royal Blue Addict and Sir Jasper, rounded ahead as well as Jackdaw. At A5 we set our Series 2000 Runner and set off in pursuit of the boats ahead closely followed by a pair of Prima 38s. We gradually pulled away from the Primas and gained on the boats ahead. We overhauled Sir Jasper and as the breeze faded we peeled to the VMG. By now the tide was turning foul and all hope of catching the 18.30 fast ferry from Dieppe faded away. With Dave Scanlan sitting at the chart table concerned about the accuracy of his charts we went seriously inshore outside Fecamp in a bid to catch Royal Blue. Just after Fecamp we dropped the kedge as the died and wind swung forward only to see Royal Blue sail away! For the next two hours we had our own private battle to the finish and we eventually finished about a minute and a half behind them on the water to comfortably be first of the 40.7s on corrected time. In IRC 1 we scored a 4th on corrected from 28 starters. Overall the positions largely reflected boat size in what was undoubtedly a big boat race, we scored a 13th. The trials continue next weekend with two days of inshore racing hosted by the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Roger Cerrato, Banks Sails Back to Fandango minisite homepage