The opening round for the Harmsworth Trophy, hosted by the Royal Motor YC at Poole on Sunday, August 17, was won by Hannes Bohinc from Austria
The opening round for the Harmsworth Trophy, hosted by the Royal Motor YC at Poole on Sunday, August 17, was won by Hannes Bohinc from Austria driving the diesel powered Wett.Punkt.Com. He covered the course at a somewhat low average of 59mph
Competition was extremely close despite rough sea conditions over 110nm double circuit between Poole and Weymouth with Bohinc running bow to bow for the finishing line against the diesel powered Rib Eraser 2 driven by Andy Mackateer.
The re-engined Premier Crew driven by the Earl of Normanton and David Allenby held a close third slot for much of the way until its navigator, Chris Allenby, was knocked unconscious when the boat struck a heavy sea. Although Premier Crew was slowed while he recovered, by then the fleet was well and truly spread out allowing it to maintain third place finishing 19 minutes behind the winner.
Another close battle took place between Hot Lemon, driven by Mike Deacon, and Ocean Dragon of Martin Laif vying for fourth place. It was a battle eventually won by Mike Deacon who collected 169 valuable points in his quest for the trophy.
The second round of this centennial Harmsworth contest will take competitors on a double circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight from Cowes on Thursday (August 21) with the final round forming a part of the Honda Classic Cowes-Torquay-Cowes on Saturday (August 23).
