The outcome of last week’s Dragon Edinburgh Cup at Cowes went down to the wire in the final race of the Series last Friday.

Mathematically four boats could have taken the overall championship but the smart money was on either Martin Payne sailing Excalibur or Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen sailing Danish Blue.

A south-westerly wind greeted the fleet for the final day and at the start Ted Sawyer, Andrew Craig and Richard Jordan got away well at the pin end of the line on starboard tack – the majority of the fleet opting for the left-hand side to take advantage of the ebb westerly flowing tidal stream. However, 80 per cent of the fleet overlaid the windward mark with the exception of Ted Sawyer crewed by Vincent Hoesch and Will Willetts who either, through skill or luck, got round with a monumental lead and from there were never challenged for the lead. Hoj-Jensen, crewed by Chris Brittain and Noddy Nordon had a bit of work to do but crucially led Payne round the course to finish second and with it, the Edinburgh Cup.

In third place Andrew Craig with Shanksy and Elmo had a blinding result to also take third overall.

Payne was the comeback kid of the day – at the first mark he was dead and buried rounding in the mid 20s, but he held his nerve, his crew, Ruddy Jurg and Paul Pattenall trimming him out of trouble all the way home to take sixth place and with it the runners-up spot overall.

As for the other leaders in the overall standings, American Ted Sawyer with his brilliant win on the final day moved up the rankings to take fourth place overall. Rory Bowman and his crew, Duncan Grindley and Chris Pank, didn’t have the best day but still did well enough for a top five finish overall. There was also popular result for local Cowes man Richard Jordan, who took sixth overall.

Overall it was a great result for Hoj-Jensen, who sailed solidly all week for the win despite being pushed throughout by Payne sailing an older plastic boat.

In the classics, Ken Freivokh in Spitfire took the honours, however a special mention must go to Ian Luscombe sailing Moonbeam who had a superb regatta with some very impressive results.

A new trophy presented by the Jordan family in memory of Richard Jordan Senior was presented and raced for this year. This proved to be a very popular prize, the Jordan Bell was awarded for the best placed boat overall without a top five finish in an individual race. By a quirk of fate, Richard Jordan junior was looking good for the Bell until he put a fourth place in on the Thursday and blew his chances. The worthy winner was Jonathon Bourke sailing Puca from Ireland.

Overall Results

1 Danish Blue (Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen)

2 Excalibur (Martin Payne)

3 Chimaera (Andrew Craig)