The Guingand Bowl Race, a Royal Ocean Racing Club offshore classic, started off Cowes on May 30 and sent the fleet around marks across the Solent and into the English Channel. It’s a short, sharp test of seamanship, sail handling, and tactics, with boats sailing under IRC and competing either fully crewed or doublehanded.
This year’s overall winner was UK Sailmakers Netherlands customer Harry Heijst, sailing his S&S 41 Winsome to victory in IRC Division 4 and overall on corrected time, holding off a strong fleet of modern French JPK 1010s. Winsome carries an inventory of primarily UK Sailmakers sails, including several Kevlar membrane sails still performing incredibly well for their age and against boats with updated inventories. That an older boat could outsail the latest designs says as much about her sails and her crew as it does about the course.
Heijst was quick to credit the team. “We didn’t make a single mistake the whole race,” he said. “On a boat like Winsome, if you get something wrong, it takes forever to get back up to speed, so the crew work mattered enormously. We had two crew over 80 on board, and they steered like tigers practically the whole way.”
A handful of key maneuvers stood out, according to Heijst, including a clean double gybe rounding one of the buoys and a well-timed tack into the building breeze. “We’ve been doing these maneuvers for years. If you prepare properly, you don’t lose a second.”
The breeze filled in after sunset, and Winsome was ready for it. “We’d already made our calls, we knew how to use that wind. Coming into the marks, experience counted for a lot. You have to think ahead of the boat, not behind it.” Heijst didn’t sugarcoat how demanding the race felt. “It seemed like it would never end, but that’s what made it a real race. Winsome is an old boat, but with good crew, good sails, and experience, she can still win.”
