While the GBR Red team started the final day of the Rolex Commodores' Cup with a comfortable lead, a double points scoring final race combined with a front passing over the Solent bringing with it solid 30 knot winds, even stronger gusts, rain and terrible visibility maintained the tension until the very last moments of the  competition.

In the end John Shepherd's big boat, Fair Do's VII made it around the race course cleanly to post a second place behind Anthony O'Leary's Antix Eile in Ireland White, while the two smaller GBR Red boats, Jerry Otter's Erivale III and Peter Rutter's Quokka 7 had a much harder time in their classes, the mid-boat finishing ninth and the small boat coming home fourth. But overall the results were good enough for GBR Red to win the 2008 Rolex Commodores' Cup comfortably, on 122 points with the two Irish teams White and Green on 144 and 161 respectively, pulling ahead of France Blue today, the defending champions dropping to fourth on 166.5.

Strong winds at the Rolex Commodores' Cup led to a change of course from the planned round the island race to a 35 mile course down the Solent and around Hayling Bay, keeping the fleet out of the worst of the winds. GBR Red took the opportunity to post their most impressive performance of the Rolex Commodores' Cup with all three of their boats winning their respective classes. Having led by ten points going into today's race, GBR Red have delivered a near terminal blow over the other teams, and now hold a 32.5 point lead over defending champions France Blue going into tomorrow's final race.

"Obviously we are all very very pleased. It's been a lot of hard work," commented Peter Rutter, skipper of GBR Red's Class Three boat Quokka 7.

Today's race was scheduled to be a clockwise lap of the Isle of Wight. However,  with near gale force winds blowing on the south side of the island and the potential for severe wave conditions off the island's southernmost tip, St Catherines Point, the Rolex Commodores' Cup race committee chose to instead send the 45 boat fleet eastward down the Solent and in the lee of the island.

Day five of the Rolex Commodores' Cup 2008 and the 45 competitors and their 15 teams found themselves challenged by a new course format. Today's single race was around a variety of marks in the central and eastern Solent, sailed in an awkward southeasterly breeze of around 12 knots.

In Class One John Shepherd's Fair Do's VII led around the race course as usual, but behind her at the weather mark was the surprising sight of John Dean's Poppy of Portland Marina, one of the slower of the big boats, hot on her heels in second place.

"We made a reasonable start and went off towards the island shore and that seemed to be the thing to do," recounted Dean modestly. "We reckoned there was a tidal advantage and the wind was a bit better that way."

Poppy of Portland Marina is a new boat for Dean this year and a sistership to Rolex Commodores' Cup defending champion Géry Trentesaux's highly successful  Lady Courrier. Having earned herself such a good place so early on in the race, Dean and his Poole-based team defended well and it was only around two thirds of the way into the race that they were passed. "We didn't make too many mistakes today. We were ahead of Dark & Steamy which pleased us," continued Dean, referring to Nick and Anne Haigh's big boat in GBR Black. The unusual name of the boat relates to the new marina (next door to the 2012 Olympic sailing venue) which Dean's company is developing.

Slightly stronger breeze and more reaching than was anticipated resulted in the offshore race of the Rolex Commodores' Cup, providing the 45 yachts taking part with a most complete test.

For the small boats in Class 3, the bigger conditions also made for a shorter race with the leaders arriving home unexpectedly early, at breakfast time this morning, with the Hong Kong boat, Yeoman of Wight, skippered by Jamie McWilliam winning by a substantial margin of 17 minutes ahead of Radboud Crul's Netherland Red yacht Rosetta from the Rocks and 25 minutes ahead of France White's Felix, skippered by Samuel Prietz.

With a race that started off the Royal Yacht Squadron yesterday in drifting conditions, to the conclusion of the race for some in more than 20 knots, and with the wind shifting between the southeast and southwest on the multiple leg course, the boats were subject to a whole gamut of conditions. "The only sails we didn't use were the storm jib and the storm trysail," reported John Greenland, helmsman on John Shepherd's GBR Red big boat, Fair Do's VII, which after leading out of the Solent posted a disappointing sixth place at the finish.

The Rolex Commodores' Cup took on a different complexion today both in terms of the racing and the weather. The offshore race set sail at 10.30 from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes, but rather than the welcome sunny 10-20 knot conditions of the past two days was in three to five knots of southwesterly breeze under a grey sky. The start coincided with a building ebb tide to take the boats west out of the Solent.

Under the Rolex Commodores' Cup rules, the offshore race is aimed to be of 24-36 hours duration. The course for the three classes is mostly in Poole Bay and to the south of this, initially with 20 mile long legs out to marks in the English Channel. After this the boats must sail west and here there is variation between the courses the three classes take: the big boats sailing two legs, the first towards Portland Bill, the other to a mark off St Alban's Head (a total of 191 miles), Class 2 sailing two laps to St Alban's Head (a total of 173 miles) and the small boats in Class 3 sailing just once to St Alban's Head (a total of 137 miles). All classes finish at the North Head mark at the western entrance to the Solent.

If yesterday conditions allowed crews to ease gently into the 2008 Rolex Commodores' Cup, today's conditions proved that much more testing. With the wind having backed around to the southeast overnight, racing was held off Hill Head, in the Central Solent, in more breeze, occasionally gusting to more than 20 knots and a short chop making for a wet ride.

Once again two windward-leeward courses were held with different teams moving into the lead after each one. After the first race it was the turn of Ireland Green to move ahead with a comfortable 4.5 point margin over GBR Red, Monday's leaders France Blue relegated to third place after all three boats in Gery Trentesaux's team posted fifth placed finishes.