IRC National Championship 2011
Amendment No.1 to the Sailing Instructions

2.0 Communications
SI 2.5 - Class start sequence order is changed.
Add the sentence: IRC Zero and IRC 1 Classes will start together.

4.0 Course Instructions
SI 4.4 is changed by adding:
The courses for IRC Zero & IRC 1 will be read separately, and may be announced before the "F" Flag is displayed.

The waiting is nearly over: the 44^th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the great ocean challenges, is exactly a month away. With a staggering 350 entrants at the ready, 1979's record-breaking tally of 303 participating yachts will almost certainly be surpassed. The sheer size of the fleet is impressive, its quality and diversity quite breathtaking. Inspiring and exhilarating in equal measure, there is every reason to believe that the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race will maintain the event's pioneering and prestigious tradition.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with UNCL, Yacht Club de Dinard, Société Nautique de la Baie de St. Malo and the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Start: Friday 8th July from the RYS, to the West.

The 164-mile race to St Malo from Cowes is one of the most popular races in the RORC Season's Points Championship and this year 177 yachts entered the race. It was a spectacular start from the Squadron Line. The impressive RORC fleet got off to a flying start reaching across the line in an awesome display of power. The Race Committee elected to start the fleet to the East to avoid sending the fleet through Hurst Narrows where 30 knots of wind over tide and congestion may well have proved hazardous for the racing yachts. The wind persisted in direction and strength as the fleet sailed down the Eastern Solent to turn to the west and out into the English Channel.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with UNCL, Yacht Club de Dinard, Société Nautique de la Baie de St. Malo and the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Start: Friday 8th July from the RYS, to the West.

First warning signal: 1450.

Course: Cowes - Casquets - Les Hanois - St Malo.

The race to St. Malo from Cowes has always been a popular event and this weekend 177 yachts will race across the English Channel to the famous port. The race dates back to before the formation of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The overall winner will win the King Edward VII Cup, which was presented by the British Monarch to the Club Nautique de la Rance at Dinard in 1906.

This year, the race will finish just outside St Malo; the medieval walled port will have well over 200,000 residents and visitors this weekend. RORC Racing manager Ian Loffhagen explained why the race will finish in the heart of the ancient town.

"After careful discussions with the French authorities and local experts, it was decided that we would bring the race to the French public. Yacht racing is incredibly popular in France and as the race will finish at the weekend and during peak holiday time, the competitors should receive a fantastic welcome. The route into the finish has been designed to avoid cross-tidal influences and has been used for the Quebec St Malo race, which involved large multihulls, so there should be no cause for concern with the RORC fleet. The St. Malo race should provide a real spectacle for thousands of people. We also hope that more of the competitors will come ashore and enjoy St Malo."

Tonnerre de Breskens (NED)

Piet Vroon has been racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club since the 1950's and at 81 years young, he is probably the oldest competitor in the race. As skipper of Tonnerre de Breskens, Piet has enjoyed tremendous success. However, the Fastnet Trophy eluded him for nearly half a century before he finally won it in 2001. Since 1955, Piet has only failed to go around the Fastnet Rock on two occasions, once when the yacht was dismasted and secondly to attend his mother's funeral:

"It is a very hard race to win overall," commented Piet. "First of all you have to have a good boat and crew but also you need to have the same wind as everybody else. Often the bigger boats get different weather to the rest, so it makes it much harder to win with a smaller boat. If we all get the same weather, then everybody has a chance. Last time was the first Rolex Fastnet with the new boat and we were second in our class. However, we would like to do better than that this year, we know the boat a lot more, we have better sails and a good crew, so I have high hopes for the race. At my age, I am old enough to be the grandfather of all of the competitors but there comes a time when I have to stop, so I will enjoy this one as if it is my last."

Complete Article: Rolex Fastnet Race minisite [Rolex Fastnet Race: Past winners Return]

Two-Handed racing has seen a rise in popularity in offshore racing and the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race certainly reflects this with 31 entries this year. Nick Martin, RORC Rear Commodore will compete in his 5th Fastnet with his J/105, Diablo-J, four of which have been Two-Handed. Diablo-J is currently at the top of the RORC Season's Points Championship leaderboard in this class:

"We've all been inspired by the great solo sailors of our time and RORC's Two-Handed Class continues to support and provide the opportunity for many of us, typically corinthian sailors with full-time careers, to experience challenging and adventurous competitive racing. An extensive program allows us to pitch ourselves against IRC boats of all classes, both Two-Handed and fully crewed alike. It's highly rewarding, especially when you finish ahead of fully-crewed boats," explains Nick. "It is the dream of many sailors to qualify & compete in the Rolex Fastnet Race, so to achieve this in arguably the most challenging class, can be regarded as a pinnacle for many. It's fantastic that we have attracted a large fleet this year and in my opinion, this has become the most competitive of all fleets."

The First Start of the Transatlantic Race 2011 is underway, 6 of the smaller boats in the fleet started on Sunday June 26th from Newport RI on their way across the Atlantic to the Lizard in Cornwall UK.

The Second and Third Starts for the bigger boats will be on Wednesday 29th June and Sunday 1st July respectively.

Visit the Transatlantic Race website for news on the boats, tracking, blogs and much more!

18^th June 2011
It is with great regret that the Royal Ocean Racing Club has to report a tragic loss of life during the RORC Morgan Cup race from Cowes to Cherbourg. A 46-year-old British sailor lost his life after falling overboard during the race, which started in Cowes at 1900 on Friday night. It is understood that the accident took place approximately 17 miles South East of the Isle of Wight. The Coastguard and Lifeboat services were called to assist the crew who recovered the man but were unable to revive him. The boat returned to port in the UK overnight.

The yacht was one of seventy-two experienced offshore race boats taking part in the race.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the family, who have been informed.

Ian Loffhagen
Racing Manager
Royal Ocean Racing Club

The Morgan Cup Race course has now been published.
Click here to download the course
17/06/2011, 13:30 Morgan Cup Race Entry List

The RORC Season's Points Championship continues this weekend with what looks like a tough race to Cherbourg. Over 100 yachts will be competing and hoping to lift the Morgan Cup. Dating back to 1929, the solid silver trophy is one of the oldest and most prestigious prizes. But the fleet may have to battle against strong winds to reach Cherbourg.

Weather models are predicting a wet beat to Cherbourg; it could well suit those yachts and crew that can best handle the tough conditions. Tactical weather expert Mike Broughton will be in the afterguard of pocket rocket Keronimo for the race.

"A large area of low pressure has been stationary 200 miles west of Ireland all week. By Friday morning it looks like a secondary low pressure system will be riding around its southern flank, moving like a slingshot towards the south western approaches. There will be gales in the western channel with Force 6/7 in the central channel from the westerly quadrant. However, it all depends on the final track of this system; even a little change in its direction will make a big change in the conditions for the race. It certainly looks like being windy on Saturday morning with potentially 25 to 30 knots from the west at dawn. If the low pressure system tracks south or intensifies, we could see significantly more wind and a difficult sea state," commented Broughton.