With just under forty days to the start of the Rolex Fastnet on Sunday, 9 August, the 300 registered crews are hard at work completing their qualification miles and other prerequisites. The 608 nautical-mile offshore classic has a fearsome reputation - not always lived up to - but one which deserves respect by all involved; especially in the year marking the thirtieth anniversary of the saddest chapter in the race's illustrious history.

The fleet is in excellent shape. With participants from sixteen different nations on the start-line, it will be an international gathering of the yacht-racing fraternity. The British and French make up the bulk of the fleet, but entries have been received from Hong Kong, Australia and the USA too, proving the lure of the Rolex Fastnet still crosses the oceans as it did in its earliest days.

The Americans are fielding half-dozen entries, including 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner, Rosebud, owned and campaigned by Roger Sturgeon. The STP65 is an out-and-out racing machine with a pro-crew onboard, a far cry from Australia's most famous entry this time around: Alex Whitworth achieved notoriety in the sailing world for undertaking a circumnavigation of the globe with Peter Crozier that coincidentally started with the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart and ended at the finish of the 2006 edition of the race, after taking in the 2005 Rolex Fastnet en-route. All this in the tiny, but robust, Brolga 33, Berrimilla, a different proposition to the carbon machine that Sturgeon has at his command, but certainly an indication of the diverse nature of the competing boats.

Read more on the Rolex Fastnet Race minisite

Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, won their second RORC offshore race in a row winning the Morgan Cup, but Rob Lutener and Martin Elwood's TP52, Cutting Edge, came within a whisker of taking the top prize.

"At about 0600 we contacted the race committee to report that we were approaching the line and we looked to have a race win in the bag but the wind just died on us" commented Rob Lutener. "We anchored about half a mile short of the finish; we could almost smell the croissants! But Tonnerre de Breskens arrived from the west with breeze, that didn't get to us, and it was another five hours before we crossed the line. Although we were disappointed we had a great race with good breeze virtually the whole time until the end. As usual on Cutting Edge the atmosphere on board was superb".

Friday 26th June Start: RYS Cowes to the East; 95 miles to Cherbourg.
First warning signal: 1850.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Thames Yacht Club, the Yacht Club de Cherbourg and the Royal Yacht Squadron.

One hundred and seven yachts have entered the RORC Morgan Cup Race.  This is the third RORC offshore race this season where the number of yachts racing has exceeded a hundred, an unprecedented level of participation in the history of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

A provisional list of entries into the Rolex Fastnet Race has been published.

Click here to view the list on the Rolex Fastnet Race minisite.

A Memorial Service to commemorate the 30^th Anniversary of the 1979 Fastnet Race will be held on WEDNESDAY, 5 August 2009 at Holy Trinity Church, Cowes at 1730.

The church is situated behind the Royal Yacht Squadron.

All sailors, family and friends are welcome. It is anticipated that this Service will attract a number of people and in order for us to make sure that we can accommodate everyone please make your interest known to Janet Grosvenor on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The RORC members' cocktail party on the RYS lawn follows this Service at 1830. For tickets to the cocktail party please contact Siobhan Geraghty on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

2009 Cowes Cocktail Party Reply Form 42.50 Kb 16/06/2009

7th November 2009 at Banqueting House, London

The 2009 RORC racing season is well underway. You're out there, competing, Fastnet-qualifying, chasing the silverware. You may have already had success, but you know there's still a long way to go to the end of the season. You need to motivate your team further.

Set the vision now - to be celebrating on the podium - show your team you mean business by booking them a table for the 2009 RORC Annual Dinner & Prize Giving.

This year's venue, the prestigious Banqueting House, was built in 1622, just 27 years before King Charles I of England was executed on a scaffold in front of it in January 1649. Prior to his death, the King commissioned the beautiful Rubens ceiling, seen below, painted in 1635. It is a stunning location to receive your prize.

Tickets are on sale at £115 for an unlimited pre-dinner drinks reception in the stunning Undercroft (as seen above) and a 3-course dinner, accompanied with unlimited wine.There will be a prize giving, followed by dancing in the Main Hall.

With a limit of just 300 tickets, please contact RORC now on 020 7518 3150 to avoid disappointment. Payment will be required upon booking.

 RORC Annual Dinner Information 1.19 Mb 16/06/2009

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Saturday 13^th June from the RYS Cowes.

When you have been hand steering for six hours through the night, going backwards on the tide, you need a sense of humour and the RORC fleet knows how to make the best of things. This may not have been a high octane, adrenalin pumping yacht race, however the fleet showed tenacity and made the most of the conditions.

Piet Vroon's Ker 46 Tonnerre de Breskens was competing in her maiden offshore race and Vroon was understandably delighted to have won IRC Class Zero and to win the De Guingand Bowl Race overall on corrected time. "We are so very pleased with the boat; it was a good decision to get Jason Ker to design her. Over the years I have known many yacht designers but Jason has done a great job and Tonnerre is showing great promise for the season ahead." Jason was on board and intends to do a lot of events with Tonnerre this year. "To be honest, I have not had the time to do much sailing in recent years. I think the last offshore that I did was on Aera in 2003 but I have the opportunity at the moment and I am really enjoying it," commented Jason.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron

The Royal Ocean Racing Club's offshore season continues to be extremely popular with another bumper entry for the De Guingand Bowl Race. Nearly 90 yachts are expected on the Squadron Line on Saturday morning, ranging from cutting edge custom yachts to traditional cruising yachts.

In IRC Class Super Zero, the RYA Keelboat Programme's TP 52, John Merricks II, is back to defend the overall win in last year's race and will be crewed by some of Britain's emerging talents.

In IRC Class Zero there is a highly diverse field including two brand new yachts. Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, made an impressive winning debut last weekend at the RORC IRC National Championship. The sleek, merlin blue hull is taking her first offshore outing. Sean Hurst & Patrick Fitzgibbon's striking Lutra 42, Seawolf 2, should be in close contention on the water. At the other end of the spectrum the Tall Ships Trust have entered two 72 ft Challenger yachts who will be hoping that the forecast is wrong and there is plenty of wind to get them around the course.

Paul Wyeth, our event photographer for the IRC National Championship, now has a great selection of images online. Check out images of your boat via his gallery: http://www.pwpictures.com/gallery/338

Overall Winner of the RORC IRC Championship Trophy

(IRL) Marinerscove.ie, Mills 39, David Dwyer, (Series Points 9)

Jackdaw Trophy (Second Overall)

(GBR) Quokka, Corby 36, Peter Rutter, (Series Points 11)

RAN all the way home but Irish eyes are smiling

It was blowing half a gale overnight, but by dawn the skies had cleared to provide sparkling conditions for the competitors in the RORC IRC National Championship. Before the end of play, the weather closed in once more to give a variety of conditions for the crews in the eastern Solent, including a 60 degree wind shift on the last beat of the championship.

In Class Super Zero, the cream of British yachting racing Niklas Zennstrom's TP 52, RAN, finished off the regatta in style with a perfect row of eight bullets. The crew included: Ado Stead; Steve Hayles; Andy Hemmings; Guy Reid and Mo Gray who have all competed in the America's Cup.

RAN Skipper, Tim Powell commented: "It will be a while before we are sailing in the Solent again, so we were motivated to go out on a bang and eight straight wins was very satisfying. Heartfelt congratulations to Marinerscove for winning the overall title."

The overall champion is decided with a formula that reflects the size of the classes so despite a perfect score, RAN was beaten by the winners of a larger class.