Race Four of the Admiral’s Cup served up a proper Solent riddle

With the wind ghosting in from the north at 5 to 11 knots, and a west-going tide ripping across the course, PRO Stuart Childerley set up a windward-leeward challenge — 1.6nm for AC1 and 1.4nm for AC2 — well off the Hill Head shore. With the breeze flickering and the water still, it was brains over brawn from start to finish.

In AC1, it was Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste (TP52, RHKYC) that led the charge — at least on the water. They found early pace and punched ahead of Black Pearl and Jolt 3. But after IRC correction, it was Peter Harrison’s Jolt 3 (YCM) who snatched the win — by just three seconds. Behind them, Zen surged late for third, with Django WR51 roaring back from an OCS to finish just off the podium.

“We hadn’t seen a northerly in training,” said Beau Geste’s afterguard. “The call was to start hard right — even though the left looked favoured. We had a 50-degree header mid-leg. No warning. Just tack and survive. It was that kind of race — eyes out of the boat, constant decisions, no time to breathe. We sailed well, but Jolt had a blinder.”

Beau Geste’s consistency now puts the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in pole position overall — just one point ahead of Yacht Club de Monaco, with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in third.

In AC2, it was Nola (KSSS) that pulled off the upset. After a textbook pin-end start and early pressure call, tactician Juuso Roihu and navigator Aksel Magdahl rolled the dice — and nailed it. They held their lane, sailed clean, and on corrected time, won by over a minute. Beau Ideal (RHKYC) took line honours and second overall, with AMP-lifi (RORC White) rounding out the top three just seconds ahead of Abracadabra (NYYC).

“We knew it wasn’t a day to play safe,” said Magdahl. “The pressure was left, the call was there, and we committed. In a boat that doesn’t accelerate like some others, we have to out-think, not out-muscle. This crew — Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian — is tight and tuned. Today we executed.”

Further down the fleet, Callisto (RNZYS) made a late surge but couldn’t claw past the frontrunners, while Garm and Edelweiss both struggled after early OCS calls. The front four broke away, but the real race was happening in the details — shifts, tide lines, clean manoeuvres. One poor tack and you were toast.

As the afternoon wore on, the wind faded and the race team stood down any further starts. With four races now in the books, and points from the offshore races carrying extra weight, it’s all to play for at the halfway mark. Hong Kong leads, but Monaco and New Zealand are breathing down their necks. Costa Smeralda isn’t out of it either.

The Solent reminded everyone why it’s such a difficult place to race. Light air doesn’t mean easy. Race 4 was proof that focus, finesse, and a bit of nerve can flip the leaderboard in an instant.