Press Release - 22 April, 2003

A great performance in difficult conditions over the Easter weekend saw John Shepherd’s Fair Do’s V (pictured below) come out on top of the very hard fought IRM Class in the Red Funnel Easter Challenge. This was probably the most exciting and competitive class in the event with three Race1 Ker 11.3s, three Farr 40s and the slightly smaller Ker designed Roaring Meg amongst the ten well sailed boats.

Conditions on the Saturday were particularly testing with a north-easterly wind gusting up to 35 kts creating a nasty Solent chop that combined to cause many boats to wipe out spectacularly. Despite many breakdowns and retirements from all the classes on the day, all three Race1 Ker 11.3s completed both races that were held without serious problems, before the Race Committee decided against holding the scheduled third race. In fact the 11.3s finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in the windiest second race of the day.

This success follows on the continued success of the 11.3s in all the events they participate in, whether under IRM or under IRC. The great performance by seven of the boats in the 2002 Commodore’s Cup held under IRC, including being the top boat in the inshore races, was followed by Nick Hartshorn’s El Gringo (pictured below) winning the IRM Class in the Hamble Winter Series. In the very hard fought Warsash Spring Series, Fair Do’s V is only one point off the lead of the IRM Class, currently held by Roaring Meg and Too Steamy, with one weekend left to go. El Gringo is only 2 points further back.

The tenth Race1 Ker 11.3, Paul Bankowski’s Jaywalker in Hong Kong, has already won its first race there under IRC. The order for the next 11.3 in the UK has now also been confirmed and this will be formally announced shortly.