RACE1 KER 11.3

"Ker's rule in Rocking Chair Trophy"
- Andy Rice. 10th August, 2001.

Designer Jason Ker is a happy man after the storming performance of his 38-foot rocket ships.

The Island Sailing Club set an epic of a course for the Rocking Chair Trophy on Friday. The course took the big boats in Class 0 and 1 up to Bridge, a turning mark beyond the Needles and situated in some of the roughest waters anywhere in this part of the world.

It was here that Jason Ker saw his wunderkind 36-footer Roaring Meg break her rig a year ago at the Rolex Commodore's Cup. But this year the Ker 11.3m one-designs romped home ahead of much larger opposition on a day where the bigger boats were expected to do best .....

..... the big heavies did well ..... but the performance of the lightweight Ker 11.3m boats was a revelation. They took 1,2,4 in Class 1, with only the ever-consistent Nokia of Charles Dunstone spoiling the party. Jarrod Simpson on another brand new 11.3m which only launched a week ago did not fair so well on Fair Do's V, but he still had a blast downwind. "We hit over 18 knots on the run back down."

The first two Kers, I-Site and On a High, finished just a minute apart and over five minutes ahead of third-placed Nokia on corrected time. If ever there was a perfect sales pitch for these boats, and then this was it, and don't be surprised to see a whole load more of these by Skandia Life Cowes Week next year.




		THE ROCKING CHAIR TROPHY, COWES WEEK. "Ker's rule in Rocking Chair Trophy" - Andy Rice. 10th August, 2001. Designer Jason Ker is a happy man after the storming performance of his 38-foot rocket ships. The Island Sailing Club set an epic of a course for the Rocking Chair Trophy on Friday. The course took the big boats in Class 0 and 1 up to Bridge, a turning mark beyond the Needles and situated in some of the roughest waters anywhere in this part of the world. It was here that Jason Ker saw his wunderkind 36-footer Roaring Meg break her rig a year ago at the Rolex Commodore's Cup. But this year the Ker 11.3m one-designs romped home ahead of much larger opposition on a day where the bigger boats were expected to do best ..... ..... the big heavies did well ..... but the performance of the lightweight Ker 11.3m boats was a revelation. They took 1,2,4 in Class 1, with only the ever-consistent Nokia of Charles Dunstone spoiling the party. Jarrod Simpson on another brand new 11.3m which only launched a week ago did not fair so well on Fair Do's V, but he still had a blast downwind. "We hit over 18 knots on the run back down." The first two Kers, I-Site and On a High, finished just a minute apart and over five minutes ahead of third-placed Nokia on corrected time. If ever there was a perfect sales pitch for these boats, and then this was it, and don't be surprised to see a whole load more of these by Skandia Life Cowes Week next year.