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17:34 Saturday 15 Aug 2015 Sue Pelling/CWLYes! wins Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week

Yes! on her way to winning Class 2, Black Group and the Aberdeen Asset Management Overall Winner Trophy – photo Rick Tomlinson

After a week of intense competition in IRC Class 2 Adam Gosling and team on their 1999-built Corby 36 Yes! have not only won their class, but have also won Black Group for the third year running, and the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week Overall Winner Trophy.

Gosling, proud to have completed his 26^th consecutive Cowes Week and delighted to have won overall for the first time ever, said: “Winning Black Group is always a bit of luck because you can only concentrate on racing your own class with the intention of winning. If you are lucky enough to win Black Group as well, fabulous, but to win overall is the ultimate.”

Ben Field, tactician for last three years, added: “The whole team is thrilled to bits. There is a lot of hard work and team work that goes into preparing the boat, and training before the event to make sure the boat is up to speed, so I have no doubt that our win this week was down to great team work.”

As a tactician Field says Cowes Week is particularly challenging: “The Solent is one of the harder places to sail but we are quite lucky in that we have a number of talented sailors on the boat. Nicholas O’Leary who does the mainsheet is a very talented tactician in his own right so together we bounce ideas off each other, and use Adam [Gosling] to help keep us going the right way, because he has a lot of local knowledge.”

Gosling purchased Yes! (Ex-Mustang Sally) in 2013 and commissioned Corby Yachts to carry out a total refurbishment on her including up grading to a new Axxon carbon rig, and updated sailplan. Most of her deck gear was replaced too, but her original rudder and 2005 keel, remain.

Gosling and his team have sailed her successfully ever since winning not only Black Group overall in 2013 and 2014, but numerous other events including in 2014 Dartmouth Week, Little Britain Challenge Cup (as Stone & Ceramic Warehouse), and the Corby Cup. They also won this year’s Royal Yacht Squadron members’ invitation Bicentenary event and were top IRC boat.

They were however, pushed hard throughout the week, and believe that was the reason that gave them the edge. Gosling concluded: “Our closest rival in the  class was Zephyr, a very well-sailed Beneteau First 40 from Scotland. They are a particularly good team of talented sailors who pushed us all week. What was interesting is because they pushed us so hard we definitely sailed better. The other boats that normally give us difficulty on the water were further back. I can only assume that is because we had to raise our game to beat Zephyr.”