FAST40+: Niklas Zennstrom's Rán has retained the One Ton Cup

Niklas Zennstrom's Rán has retained the One Ton Cup, winning the prestigious trophy in Le Havre for the second time. It was never easy for Rán who won five of the ten races sailed, often by just a few seconds. In the 120-year history of the One Ton Cup, Great Britain, and now Sweden, have been the most successful nations winning the magnificent trophy 14 times. The final day of racing saw a change in conditions with a frontal system bringing unstable wind and rain. Filip Engelbert's all-Swedish team racing Elvis, scored their first race win of the regatta. Peter Morton's Girls on Film finished in fine style taking the gun in the final race.

“It was difficult to win as it was last year, but this time the whole fleet came together and we had to fight hard for it. This is a new venue and it has been fantastic to be in Le Havre. The race course has been really interesting and the yacht club has really taken care of us, it has been a real pleasure to be here. This is a team sport and everybody on the Rán team knows what their job is and everyone else allows each other to do the job without shouting at each other. Clarity is also a key; good communication is important. Last year we introduced young sailors to the team, and it has been a big learning curve for them, this year we are seeing the benefits in our investment in time for them. It is great to help others to be successful and it gives a really good ambience on board, and you get a lot of energy from being with younger people.” Niklas Zennstrom - Rán.

“Today summed up the whole regatta, Elvis scored a 1-7 and we scored a 6-2. In this fleet you can be in the penthouse of the outhouse. This is the fourth year for the class in the One Ton Cup and it is always tough. You have to sail well throughout the week to win it, and the best boat did win so that is all good. I did my first One Ton Cup 39 years ago and I have come second loads of times. The 'ton cups' were a big deal when I was growing up and they are a big deal now. The FAST40+ is a fantastic class, and the boats are good in IRC winning Cowes Week, the boats are exciting and the sailors have a lot of fun.” Peter Morton - Girls on Film.

“We went out this morning and decided to concentrate just on sailing our boat well and not thinking about what other boats were doing and what the points difference was. However, Elvis pulled a bullet out in Race 9 and that really put the pressure on us, we were just half a point ahead of them. It was really tight going into the last race. We knew we had to get ahead of them, which we managed to do. Congratulations to Rán who sailed a really good regatta, they deserved to win, and well done to Morty (Peter Morton) who was always on their heels. The rest of the fleet had a real competition for third, it has been a scrap. In the last race four boats could have got on the podium, and we are delighted that we held on to it.” Tony Dickin - Jubilee