For our latest Meet the Sailors, we couldn’t resist catching up with Dr Ben Rogers following an extraordinary two weeks aboard his Contessa 32, Solan Goose. Ben sailed Solan Goose across from Jersey to spend part of the summer holidays racing with family and friends, beginning with the Taittinger Regatta before taking on the unique challenge of Cowes Week. And what followed was quite remarkable. Just a day before the Taittinger Regatta, Ben collected two new additions to his Sanders wardrobe: a new SFM racing genoa and S2 spinnaker. With virtually no time to train with the new sails, Solan Goose went straight onto the racecourse and produced a superb 1–2–1 scoreline, winning the highly competitive Contessa 32 class. It was quite a debut for the new sails; but, as it turned out, only the beginning. Cowes Week is a very different challenge. Seven days of racing around the cans of the central Solent, changing tides, shifting breeze, long legs, relentless manoeuvres and some of the closest one-design racing anywhere in the country. It is a true examination of boat speed, sail development, crew work and consistency.
Ben and his crew – made up of family and friends across the generations, were exceptional. Solan Goose produced a phenomenal series, recording five 1st places and a 2nd to dominate the Contessa 32 fleet and win the class by more than seven points. But the scale of their performance becomes even clearer when you look beyond the class results. Their week earned them the Black Group Overall Trophy, the Family Trophy and the Equal Seas Trophy, while they also finished runner-up in the Bicentenary Cup. An extraordinary trophy haul from an extraordinary week.
For Sanders Sails, there was also something particularly satisfying about seeing the result achieved aboard a Contessa 32. It is a class we have worked with, raced in and developed sails for over many years. That depth of accumulated knowledge, combined with the latest developments in our SFM technology, allows us to continually refine the shapes, structures and sail combinations we believe these boats require. For Ben, however, there is another layer to the story. The Rogers name carries enormous significance within the Contessa class. As the nephew of Jeremy Rogers, Ben has grown up with a very special connection to these boats and to achieve a fortnight like this aboard a Contessa 32, surrounded by his own family, makes the story even more fitting. So, after one of the most successful two weeks we have seen from one of our sailors, we sat down with Ben to talk about Solan Goose, family, the Rogers legacy, our new SFM sails and just what it takes to put together a Cowes Week like this.
Ben, what an extraordinary fortnight — winning the Contessa 32 class at both the Taittinger Regatta and Cowes Week, before coming away with the Black Group Overall Trophy, Family Trophy and Equal Seas Trophy as well. When you look back across those two weeks, what stands out as the defining moment for you, and did you ever imagine when you left Jersey that you would be heading home with quite such a collection of silverware?
Chris. Thank you very much for your kind words and help in getting Solan Goose up to speed. It has been a 2-year project with the aim being able to win the Contessa 32 class on the 50th anniversary of the Contessa 32 and the 200th Cowes week with a crew of family and friends. I never thought we would be quite as successful as we have! The defining moment for me was winning the first race of Cowes week. I knew solan Goose was a good boat with a good sail wardrobe. We came second at Taittinger and third at Cowes with a race win the year before so we were going well but with work to do. We were well beaten by Drumbeat as well in Cowes. Over the winter I took the boat out and worked on the bottom and fine-tuned many other aspects. I also bought a new Sanders number one genoa and large 0.75oz S2 spinnaker. We won Taittinger, but it was a windy regatta on our home shores of Lymington and in a fleet a third the size so it was hard to judge how well we were going. The first race of Cowes week was in 10-15 knots of wind and a fair and even course and in this setting boat speed is very important. We won the race and at that point I knew we were fast enough with a boat, sails and crew capable of winning the whole regatta. That’s when the excitement of our potential really ramped up.
You collected your new Sanders SFM genoa and S2 spinnaker just a day before the Taittinger Regatta and immediately went out and won. Having now raced the new SFM genoa through such a wide variety of conditions, what differences did you notice in the boat’s performance? Did the stability and shape retention of the sail allow you to find speeds, pointing angles or modes that you hadn’t previously been able to achieve and how important do you feel that was to your results?
Contessa 32’s live off their number 1 genoa and large spinnakers and I felt our new SFM genoa and S2 spinnaker were absolutely crucial to our win and probably the main factor for our slight, but crucial increase in boat speed from the year before. Contessa 32’s only have 2 headsails and two spinnakers and you often end up hanging onto your number 1 genoa and large spinnaker well above their intended wind speeds so they get heavy wear and tear. The new SFM genoa held its shape brilliantly through this large range of wind speeds and kept us high and fast throughout and allowed us to go through the gears very effectively. We were certainly one of the fastest boats upwind and at times had blistering boat speed. Our fastest point of sail though was downwind in light to medium winds and I am sure the new large spinnaker played a big part in this.
The Contessa 32 is a boat where relatively small differences in sail shape and set-up can translate into significant gains on the racecourse. Sanders has spent many years developing sails specifically for the class rather than simply adapting generic designs. From your experience with us and with the latest wardrobe on Solan Goose, how important is that depth of Contessa-specific knowledge, and where do you feel it gives Sanders sails an advantage on the racecourse?
Sanders have been making Contessa 32 sails since the very beginning and I remember going with my father to see your Grandfather ‘Joe the Tent’ and the endless discussions about sails, tuning and boat speed. The Contessa 32 like a lot of one designs has its own peculiarities and Sanders has been there right from the beginning and knows them all. I think this depth in knowledge is crucial and is why Sanders makes the fastest Contessa 32 sails. The fastest!
There can’t be many Cowes Week victories made more special by having children, nephews, nieces, cousins and friends sharing the boat with you. Added to that is the significance of the Rogers name within the Contessa story and your own connection as Jeremy Rogers’ nephew. What did it mean to achieve all of this together as a family, and do you feel a particular sense of pride, or perhaps even a little pressure, whenever you step aboard a Contessa 32 carrying the Rogers name?
It is very hard to put into words how much this week meant to me. My father and uncle were my heroes and I always feel pride and a duty to do my best when I get onto any boat, but in particular a Contessa 32. We are a very close family and all love our sailing and this year on Solan Goose really was a tribute to them and all they have achieved and the legacy they have left us. Jeremy and my father’s two big things were sailing and family. It really felt like they were looking down on us and would have loved seeing their children and grandchildren racing Solan Goose and Assent (Kit and Simon’s Contessa 32). Holding the tiller made by Jeremy; I quite often talk to them whilst racing! I was also very proud to have Sanders Sails as you have also been a big part of the Contessa story and have always looked after us so well.
After a fortnight like this, where do you go next? What have you and the crew learnt about Solan Goose through the Taittinger Regatta and Cowes Week, are there still areas of the boat or sail wardrobe you believe you can develop further, and what would you most like to achieve with her over the remainder of this season and beyond?
Good question. Where to go from here! The long-term plan was to buy a Contessa 32 that introduces the kids into big boat racing and cruising and to pass on the family sailing heritage down the generations. My children are really getting into it now and my goal is for them to use it more and more. They already enjoy cruising around the Channel Islands and I am developing, with Sanders, some fast-cruising sails that can be used for club racing and look pretty in white. The carbon sails are going to be put away until next summer when we will back to defend our titles!The main lessons I have learnt is that you have to keep it fun and when the young are enthused, they can achieve great things, but you have to hold their attention! Also, that racing Contessa 32’s aggressively can be very hard wearing on equipment and you get breakages so you need to nurture your boat through and keep up the maintenance. My son and nephew have delivered Solan Goose back to Jersey after a very meandering cruise through the Channel Islands in gorgeous weather. Next is the Jersey regatta and some local racing and cruising before she is put to bed for the winter and a well-deserved rest and some Tender Loving Care.