Dubois Cup Press Release

The 2011
DUBOIS CUP
Timoneer wins light-airs gybing duel at Dubois Cup 2011
Luck, judgement and light airs conspired to create classic competition during Race 2 of the 2011 Dubois Cup today. Veteran cruising
yacht Timoneer took full advantage of contrary conditions and fickle breezes that ought not to have favoured the heavier boats, and
took both line honours and the overall prize.
“You’ve got to be either clever or lucky to do what we did, and today we were both,” said her jubilant skipper and helmsman, Phil
Wade.
Off to a prompt midday start off Sardinia’s Yacht Club Costa Smeralda,
the eight-yacht fleet of Dubois-designed superyachts made an aweinspiring spectacle as they set off on the pursuit event at three-minute
intervals. In a seven- to eight-knot northerly breeze, the first leg was a
five-mile westward reach to the Secca di Tre Monti beacon, followed by
an upwind beat to the rocky outcrop of the Monaci lighthouse.
Competition to windward was intense. Nostromo, second to start,
was first to round the light, followed by the swift-sailing Zefira, making
up five places. Third round was Ganesha, up from fifth, followed by
Inmocean and Timoneer. Twizzle, final starter as the largest yacht in
the fleet, hoisted her light downwind asymmetric two places up on her
start, trailed by Drumbeat and Tenaz.
As the 30-metre Nostromo stretched out a seemingly unassailable lead on the downwind leg, the wind began to fail and tacticians
had crucial decisions to make. The 310-tonne Timoneer gybed and took an inshore southerly course that was to prove decisive as
the rest of the superyacht fleet, wearing a variety of vast and colourful lightweight headsails, continued to stand well out to sea as
the wind began to falter.
“We were lucky after the windward mark - we gybed and came inshore as the wind shifted in our favour - just as we hoped it would!”
says Timoneer’s Phil Wade. “And then at the end we were lucky again - I was sure Nostromo was going to beat us across the line,
and Zefira was also close. So we chose to split with them again - and again we got the breeze.”
Nostromo’s owner, Andrew Cook, admitted he was disappointed with the outcome. “We should have won this race,” he said.
“Conditions favoured the lighter boats. But we sailed her impeccably, there were no disagreements over tactics, and we were in the
lead at the windward mark. But Timoneer came from nowhere after going inshore - and she has a knot on us downwind, so once
she caught up she just had to keep going.”
The elegant 41-metre sloop Inmocean, first to
start, held off Nostromo tenaciously until the
windward mark. But then the lighter sails and
displacement of the 30-metre sloop quickly
told, and Zefira and Ganesha also rapidly made
ground.
“We had a good upwind race,” said Inmocean’s
skipper Richard Hollis. “We know how well this
boat can sail - we’ve done 46,000 miles in less
than three years. But we’re a cruising boat - we
don’t have a spinnaker or an asymmetric, so
once we’re off the wind, fair game - we get out
of the way and crack open the beers. We have
to - the boss owns a brewery!”
With 19 extra race crew on board for the
regatta, the 57-metre ketch Twizzle made up
several places and gave her regular crew a good workout, to be rewarded with fifth overall. “With hindsight, we might have made
a few tactical errors,” her captain, Gordon Percy, conceded with a rueful smile. “ The boss is disappointed. But this is only our third
regatta - we’re still learning.”
Meanwhile, the ultra-competitive 39-metre Ganesha, 2009 Dubois Cup winner, sustained a five-minute penalty for crossing the start
a few seconds early. “Even allowing for that, we calculated we were well ahead on handicap at the windward mark,” said tactician
Matt Humphries. “We put in ten gybes on the downwind leg, and missed third place by two minutes, including the penalty. So we
learned a lot today. It’s our first race of the season, and gives us a clearer picture for the next regatta.”
Lady B
“Events like this can be very educational and useful for the crew, as well as fun,” commented Michel Personnic, captain of sixthplaced Drumbeat. “With the race crew on board we do things we wouldn’t do while cruising, like gybing with the spinnaker. These
are not our conditions - she’s a big boat, and likes it best in 20 or 25 knots of wind. But everybody wanted to beat Timoneer today,”
the Frenchman added. “And nobody did”.
A glittering poolside prizegiving and dinner dance, complete with live jazz band, brought the curtain down on the 2011 Dubois Cup.
Hailed as the most successful Cup so far, the superyacht regatta was hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
Presenting the trophies to participants - 14 magnificent craft, including two Dubois-designed motor yachts - Ed Dubois paid tribute to
owners and crew for taking part and making the event one of the most relaxed, stylish and friendly on the superyacht circuit.
Every yacht received a hand-engraved black crystal bowl as a memento of the third Dubois Cup, in the superb sailing waters off
Sardinia’s yachting capital, Porto Cervo. Those placed first, second and third in the racing were also presented with trophies from
the YCCS. Overall winner and 2011 Cup holder was Timoneer, who received the Dubois Cup, a sculpted carbon-fibre sail designed
by Dubois Naval Architects. The beautifully-sailed Nostromo was second while the sleek and powerful Zefira took third place.
The competitive sloop Ganesha was awarded for her participation in all three Dubois Cups so far, and after inviting all owners and
captains aboard to an impromptu cocktail party after the first race was abandoned, Twizzle was recognised for her hospitality. The
new motor yacht Turquoise, easily the largest spectator craft, was singled out for being the latest addition to the Dubois fleet.
The 2011 Dubois Cup was also the launch platform for the Dubois Child Cancer Fund, a charity set up with the support of yacht
owners in recognition of Minna Dubois, now aged ten and doing well, who was diagnosed in 2005 with neuroblastoma, a rare but
invariably serious type of childhood cancer.
The fourth Dubois Cup will take place at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in 2013.
For further information or photographic enquiries, please contact
[email protected]
www.DuboisCup.com
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