Skip to content

Royal Ocean Racing Club

Site Tools
Narrow screen resolution Wide screen resolution Auto adjust screen size Increase font size Decrease font size Default font size
You are here: Home arrow Solent springs to life
Red Funnel Easter Challenge - Press Releases Print E-mail

Solent springs to life 

 Red Funnel Easter Challenge

21st-23rd March 2008 organised by The Royal Ocean Racing Club

In the yachting world there are few names bigger than Ben Ainslie and fresh from his record 5th triumph in the Finn Gold Cup in Australia, the double Olympic Gold medallist will be racing this Easter in the Red Funnel Easter Challenge on board the TP52 Henri Lloyd Cutting Edge.

The Solent springs to life this weekend for the first big regatta of the season; The Red Funnel Easter Challenge has attracted a large and diverse fleet of racing and cruising yachts and some of the finest sailing talent will be competing on tight Solent courses.

Sixty-five entries are now confirmed for the 17th Red Funnel Easter Challenge and the Royal Ocean Racing Club expect more to follow. The large fleet shows that the event has not lost any of its popularity with the competitors. There are over 20 different designers or brand of yachts which will make for some interesting comparisons, especially this being a Rolex Commodores’ Cup trial event.

The background of the competitors is just as varied with top professional and Olympic sailors rubbing shoulders with amateurs in the sport.

“The Solent is always a great venue for racing.” Commented Ben Ainslie. “This regatta sees a lot of new teams coming together for the first time and getting back on the helm of a big boat will be a refreshing change for me. The Henri Lloyd Cutting Edge crew are a great bunch of guys who are full of enthusiasm and I am really looking forward to the experience.”

This year’s Red Funnel Easter Challenge looks set to be as competitive as ever and the on-the-water tuition also provides an ideal opportunity for owners and crew to sharpen up for the season ahead.

Jim Saltonstall will be leading the coaching team on the water and conducting the video debriefs after racing each day; Jim sums up his thoughts for the Red Funnel Easter Challenge; “When it comes to sailing you never know everything. The process is continuous whatever level of sailing you participate in. I sincerely hope that everybody thoroughly enjoys the Red Funnel Easter Challenge. We are only on this planet once so it is important to enjoy every minute of it!”

Weather for the Solent is always difficult to predict but last year’s light airs looks unlikely. At present the conditions are forecast to give a wide variety of conditions, ideal for teams looking to test themselves and their equipment across a broad range of wind strengths. Seven races are scheduled, concentrating a lot of sailing time into just one weekend. Add to that, the world class coaching and the competitors have a recipe to learn a huge amount at the start of the season.

For more information, please contact: – RORC Tel. 020 7493 2248, E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

All competitors will be welcome at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, the Island Sailing Club, the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club and the Royal London Yacht Club.

For information on Isle of Wight Ferries and Hi-speed Timetables Tel: 0844 844 9988, Website:http://www.redfunnel.co.uk

Press: Trish Jenkins – J2 Communications & Events
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mb: 07880 518689 / 01983 248070

Race Reports: Louay Habib
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mb: 07801800521

Photography: (A selection of copyright free images will be available) Rick Tomlinson will be out on the water during the Red Funnel Easter Challenge as the event photographer.
http://www.rick-tomlinson.com/
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mb: 07785 317198

 

Previous Press Releases

Over 6,000 miles of RORC organized racing kicks off this Easter with the 17th edition of the Red Funnel Easter Challenge. There is a mouth-watering prospect of a huge variety of yachts scheduled for seven races in just three days from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd of March. Competitors take note; that it is fully two weeks earlier than last year. The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s new CEO, Eddie Warden-Owen is looking forward to his first regatta at the helm of the Club. “I have sailed at this regatta for many years and it has always been a great curtain-raiser for the Solent season, even more so in this, a Rolex Commodore’s Cup year. We are expecting an impressive turn out of UK based boats, together with some top quality overseas yachts. The growing fleet of IRC optimized 52s are expected in numbers which should make for an exciting spectacle.” The Red Funnel Easter Regatta is particularly noted for its relaxed rules on outside assistance and the world class coaching provided by Jim Saltonstall, Barry Dunning and Cathy Foster who will be giving free, on the water tuition and full and frank video debriefings after racing each day. The Red Funnel Easter Challenge organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club attracts a wide spectrum of entries; including production yachts and custom built designs. The impressive fleet of Farr 45s is expected to turn out in numbers, the fleet enjoy close racing and relish the tight Solent courses but this year, the growing number of modified TP52s will be the fastest fleet on the course. America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race veteran, Steve Hayles will be navigating on board Rán, for the Red Funnel Easter Challenge. Rán an IRC optimized TP 52, owned by Swedish born Niklas Zennström boasts an all star crew of America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Racers. There will be as many as ten of these carbon fibre flyers ripping up the Solent this year and at least five are expected to be competing at Easter for the first time including, Serguei Shevtsov’s Russian entry, Valars and Stuart Robinson’s, Stay Calm. Whilst the big boat line up looks impressive indeed, there will be some great racing and interesting boats in all of the classes especially as the RYA have announced that they will be using the Red Funnel Easter Challenge, as a trial event, for selecting teams for this year’s Rolex Commodore’s Cup. In 2007, there were 71 boats competing at Easter, the largest class was IRC 2 and Nick Jones’ Beneteau 34.7, Astarte, won it by a single point. “The Red Funnel Easter Challenge is seen as the season opener for the Solent.” Commented Nick Jones. “I have done it for many years and it has always been good fun and very rewarding. The close battle we had last year with the Irish J/109, No Naked Flames, was a great way to tune up for the season.” There will definitely be some well sailed Irish yachts competing at Easter; Eamonn Rohan’s brand new Mills 40, Blondie IV is entered for her maiden event and Colm Barrington’s new Ker 39, Silk Glove is also expected. Conor and Denise Phelan’s Ker 37, Jump Juice and Eamon Crosbie’s Ker 32, Voodoo Chile should be racing, making a very competitive Irish line up. There will also be a large contingent of J/109s racing under IRC at the Red Funnel Easter Challenge, including RORC Commodore, David Aisher, who will be racing Yeoman XXX at Easter for the first time. The Red Funnel Easter Challenge is not restricted to RORC yachts, any yacht with a valid IRC certificate is most welcome and the owners and their crew will benefit from the superb coaching and the friendly atmosphere.

 

 

RORC Photos

     

     

     

Search RORC.org

Translate