Following a week of intense competition in IRC Class 3, Adam Gosling and team on their brand-new JPK 1080+ Yes! have not only won their class at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, but for the fourth year running, have also won Black Group.
Commenting on his impressive win Gosling said: “Cowes Week is everything to us. We always focus our year on this week so, to win Black Group is everything we ever want. It is absolutely fantastic.
“It is a brand-new boat and we’ve only done three regattas with her so far. We are still learning how to make the boat go better so we really didn’t expect to win again for the fourth year in a row. The really positive thing is that because we are still in the learning process with the boat, there is still even more stuff to come in the future, which is always a good thing.
“It was also great to have two others in our class to give us a good run for our money. Having such good competition, naturally made us sail better too.”
Having secured previous wins at this regatta in his string of yachts named Yes! including a Corby 29, and Corby 36, Gosling made the transition to the JPK 1080 just two months ago.
With such a short lead time there was no guarantee as to how team Yes would perform but with a good track record for the boat, including a first and second in the 2015 Fastnet (Géry Trentesaux – Courrier Du Leon, and Arnaud Delamare/Eric Mordret – Dream Pearls, and a second overall for Trentesaux in the Sydney Hobart last Christmas, Gosling was sure he’d made the right decision.
“Although she is six inches shorter overall she is a lot bigger and double the width at the transom. What is really lovely about this boat is you can sail downwind in a breeze as well. Whereas the Corby is a fabulous upwind and downwind boat you couldn’t reach with her. With racing now leaning a bit more towards reaching, we thought it was a good step to make. We also wanted something new to challenge ourselves with this year. Getting a new boat was a great option.”
For earlier news stories, as well as results, videos and photographs from previous years, visit our comprehensive Regatta Archive.