Lendy Cowes Week: Ladies day a success on the Solent | City A.M.

Today was a testing day for the sailors at Lendy Cowes Week as fluctuating winds and even squally rain playing havoc on the Solent.

After a quiet morning with barely a breeze in sight, gusts came and went unpredictably, meaning the wind varied from a few knots right up to 20.

Read more: Lendy Cowes Week: Lack of wind doesn’t spoil dramatic racing

But on ladies day there were over 100 women helms out on the water to take on the elements, with winners including Winsome in the IRC Class 5, Banter in the IRC Class 7 and Baby X in Cruiser Division A.

There was fierce competition in the IRC Class 6 as Amanda Marino’s Chimp attempted to defend the Royal Southern YC’s Ariel trophy for the best placed woman helm.

However, a fourth-place finish saw the crew slip behind the winner, Whooper, Stan The Boat and Icom Cool Blue.

Lendy CEO Liam Brooke entertained The Princess Royal on Monday (source: Paul Wyeth)

“We drove her like we stole her and they didn’t catch us,” joked Whooper’s Giovanni Belgrano.

In the J/80 category MockingJay benefited from a penalty infringement incurred by Betty to jump into first place, with Checkmate in third.

Yesterday had been a challenging day for Team Lendy, with a lack of wind making the Sunsail F40 race tricky. But skipper Chris and his brilliant team of corporate guests battled hard and managed to finish second in their class.

At the evening cocktail reception, Lendy’s chief executive Liam Brooke and operations director Pamela Guillamon then had the pleasure of meeting The Princess Royal, an avid sailing enthusiast.

Lendy Wealth is a new brand providing high income investment products to HNW investors. Lendy Wealth is part of Lendy Ltd, a fully FCA authorised investment platform and one of the largest in Europe. Lendy is title Sponsor of Lendy Cowes Week 2018.