DATE: Saturday 27th – Sunday 28th July
COURSE: Solent
DISTANCE (nm): N/A
The RORC Telegraph Bowl will see the gathering of the XOD fleets from Cowes, Hamble, Itchenor, Lymington, Parkstone and Yarmouth for two days of extremely close racing, 106 years after they first raced as a class, the XOD, at 21ft, is one of the smaller keelboats to sail in the Solent, but was designed to specifically cope with these waters’ short, steep chop.
DATE: Friday 5th – Sunday 7th July
COURSE: N/A
DISTANCE (nm): N/A
From modern lightweight planing yachts to evergreen designs of the 1970s and 80s, the IRC rule brings them all together for three days of intense racing. With courses varying from windward-leewards to round the cans and the possibility of reaching or downwind starts, any boat can have its day.
DATE: Friday 6th September
COURSE: Cowes – Cherbourg
DISTANCE (nm): 80
The Cherbourg Race is the last of the UK-based races of the RORC Season’s Points Championship and is very often the decider for the class winners. The race can be won and lost in the escape from the Solent, in the strong tides on the approach to Cherbourg and finally on the last mile along the inside of the breakwater of the Grande Rade.
DATE: Saturday 27th July
COURSE: Cowes – Solent finish, around marks
DISTANCE (nm): 24-36 hours
Often forgotten is that the Channel Race is one of the Club’s oldest events, designed by the Ocean Racing Club (as it was then) in 1928 to be the second ‘ocean race’ after the Fastnet.
DATE: Friday 12th July
COURSE: Cowes – Casquets – Les Hanois - St Malo
DISTANCE (nm): 151
One of the oldest races in the RORC calendar, the Cowes-Dinard-St Malo has its origins in a pre World War I race from Cowes to St Malo bay and the winner still receives, the original trophy – the magnificent King Edward VII Cup, which dates from 1906.
DATE: Saturday 8th June
COURSE: Cowes – Marks - Solent
DISTANCE (nm): 110-160
Presented to the club by ‘Buster’ (Vice Commodore 1957-1959) and Mrs De Guingand, the Bowl goes to the winner of the annual race bearing their name. This will head out from the Royal Yacht Squadron line, rounding marks and waypoints, and taking in the headlands of the central English Channel, before returning to the Solent to finish.
DATE: Friday 31st May
COURSE: Harwich – Scheveningen via marks
DISTANCE (nm): 181
Hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club in their fabulous new clubhouse, the North Sea Race starts outside Harwich and meanders around the Galloper wind farm before heading north to Smith’s Knoll Buoy and across to the famous sailing city of the Hague and the Scheveningen Yacht Club.
DATE: Saturday 25th May
COURSE: Cowes – Eddystone Lighthouse – Solent finish
DISTANCE (nm): 230 - 256
The race around Eddystone Lighthouse is typically the most popular in Rolex Fastnet years, mirroring the first 130nm miles of the season's main event.
DATE: Saturday 5th May
COURSE: Cowes – Le Havre via marks
DISTANCE (nm): 110-160
The first offshore race of the domestic season is a cross-Channel dash to Le Havre. Depending on the weather conditions, the race may include various marks along the way.
The RORC was founded in 1925 to encourage long distance yacht racing and the design, building and navigation of sailing vessels in which speed and seaworthiness are combined. Today the club encourages ocean, long distance and other forms of yacht racing and yachting activity.
