There may only be four new Corby 29s sailing in the UK but if the current form of Adam Gosling's brand-new boat Yes! is anything to go by, with three straight wins at Skandia Cowes Week, this new production yacht could be set to make a big impact on one-design fleet racing on the Solent.
Three wins in a row here at Skandia Cowes Week are not bad for a boat that was launched just over a month ago. Gosling - ex-Etchells World Champion - and his crew aboard Yes! have taken Class 5 IRC by storm and if they retain their sparkling form for the rest of the week they'll be going home with one of the biggest hauls of silverware.
Gosling, who's had a string of yachts named Yes! including an Etchells, First Class Europe and a Swan 651 has decided to downsize and go for the new Corby-designed Corby 29. Built as a production yacht in Gdansk, Poland as a cruiser racer, the Corby 29 has certainly struck a note with Team Yes! who were more than happy with their third win in a row yesterday. Chatting to a jubilant Gosling after the race about why he chose this new design he said: "I think she's the perfect Solent size racing yacht, although you could argue she's a bit small. We mustn't forget that it wasn't that long ago that 30ft yachts were pretty much the normal size in the Solent. I think what's happened is that boats have just got larger and larger and the Solent hasn't got any bigger and I think if you're racing the 50ft type size of boat the Solent is actually too small a place. A fleet of these boats would be fabulous in the Solent, an absolute perfect size."
Since her launch in June Yes! has made a real impact on the racing scene winning her class and division in the recent Round the Island Race, and winning the two-handed Round the Island Race with John Corby. The fun event in lots of breeze was the IRC nationals where it topped 30kts. "This was quite interesting added Gosling, "because this was our first event and we really didn't know what she was like to sail. As it's turned out she's one of the most enjoyable boats I've steered for a long time. She's very nicely balanced, and a joy to sail in anything. Downwind in 25kts she's a bit of a handful. She's a classic style of IRC small boat that needs to be quite heavy so it doesn't really plane."
Her current form with three wins so far indicates the boat is well set up and sailed well by a team of seven expert sailors including Gosling on the helm "Most of the team I've sailed with for many years," added Gosling, "including Andy Clark on the bow, Stig on mast, Rhidian Bridge on halyards, Ben Field and Boris Marlow on trim and David Howlett [professional sailor] on main and tactics."
With a string of top sailors on board and the likes of Howlett calling the shots it's not particularly surprising to find Team Yes! dominating the field in Class 5. "We've been going well this week, we've been lucky with some good breaks but there are few boats we need to keep an eye on including a couple of Bavaria Match 35s, a Figaro and two Sunfast 35s. We're by far the smallest boat in our fleet but conditions have suited us so far."
Sue Pelling/Yachting World, 3 August 2005
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