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Ker 46 Lady Mariposa, skippered by Daniel Hardy, has won the 2017 Cherbourg Race, after holding off a strong challenge from James Neville's HH42 Ino XXX. After IRC time correction, 29 seconds was the winning margin, after a high speed blast to Cherbourg across the English Channel. Edward Broadway's Ker 40 Hooligan VII was third, completing the podium for overall honours. The 75 mile race featured a tight reach west out of the Solent, followed by a moon-lit downwind sprint to Cherbourg across the English Channel.
“We were over at the start, as was Ino XXX, so the race didn't start well. We re-started correctly and then went for the island shore, which worked out well for tidal relief. As the last start of the race, we had to work our way through the whole fleet, and after a luffing match with Bob, we were in clear air after the Needles, and put our foot down. The wind speed was up to about 20 knots from the north west, we were surfing towards a rising moon, just classic offshore racing, swapping out grinders and giving it our all. During the night, the wind speed decreased, and with a westerly going tide, we had to be careful not to heat up too much in the quest for speed, and end up too high at the finish. We lost track of Ino XXX but we knew it would be close, so to just get the win, was very satisfying.”
In IRC Zero, Lady Mariposa was the winner, and now leads the class for the season. Ross Hobson's Open 50 Pegasus Of Northumberland, racing Two Handed, was second for the Cherbourg Race, and Stephen Durkin's Farr 52 Bob, sailed by Jonathan Tyrrell, was third. In IRC One, Ino XXX was the winner, and now leads the class for the season. Hooligan VII was second for the Cherbourg Race, and Tor McLaren's MAT 1180 Gallivanter, sailed by Andrew Horrocks, was third.
Skipper of Lisa, RORC Commodore Michael Boyd with Nick and Suzi Jones and the crew of Lisa after winning IRC 2 in the RORC Cherbourg Race - Photo RORC/Louay Habib
In IRC Two, the race winner was Nick & Suzi Jones' First 44.7 Lisa, sailed by RORC Commodore Michael Boyd. Lisa was just seven seconds ahead of Gilles Fournier's J/133 Pintia, after IRC time correction. Christopher Daniel's J/122e Juno was third.
Suzi Jones has competed in all races on Lisa this season, juggling commitments, including bringing up three young children. “You need a really good babysitter, looking after three young boys is a tough job” commented Suzi. “I miss them dearly but it gives me a bit of a rest. On board Lisa, we have quite a young crew, so I can be mother to them too! Above all I love racing with the RORC because I am ultra competitive, and I love winning.”
In IRC Three, Ed Fishwick's Sun Fast 3600 Redshift Reloaded, racing was the winner by less than a minute after IRC time correction. Delamare & Mordret's JPK 1080, Dream Pearls was second, and Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing Two Handed, was third. In IRC Two Handed, Redshift Reloaded was the winner, Bellino second, and Ian Hoddle's Sun Fast 3600 Game On was third. Bellino has retained the lead in IRC Two Handed for the RORC Season's Points Championship.
In IRC Four, Jerome Desvaux's Sprint 108 Jurassic - Captain Corsaire, scored a memorable victory over fellow French competitor Noel Racine, racing JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew. Paul Kavanagh's S&S Swan 44 Pomeroy Swan, was third for the race, and moves up to second, behind Foggy Dew, for the RORC Season's Points Championship.
Prizegiving on the terrace of the Yacht Club de Cherbourg after the RORC Cherbourg Race - Photo RORC/Louay Habib
At the Prize Giving held at the Yacht Club de Cherbourg, RORC Commodore, Michael Boyd, spoke on behalf of the competitors, thanking the club for their generous hospitality. The President of the Yacht Club de Cherbourg, Jean Le Carpentier, and RORC Racing Manager, Nick Elliott, officiated at the awards ceremony. For full results of the Cherbourg Race, and more details about the Royal Ocean Racing Club: www.rorc.org
Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, in association with the Yacht Club de Cherbourg, and the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Start: Friday 1st September 2017. First Warning Signal: 1850
Course: RYS Cowes, to the West. Approx. 75 miles
The RORC Cherbourg Race is the penultimate race of the RORC Season's Points Championship, between the record breaking entry for the Rolex Fastnet Race, and the highly acclaimed Rolex Middle Sea Race. The 75 nautical mile race from Cowes to Cherbourg is the last of the UK-based races for the RORC Season’s Points Championship, and for many teams this will be the swan song for their 2017 racing season.
In IRC Two, Gilles Fournier's French J/133 Pintia, has secured class victory for the season, which is decided by the best five results. Nick & Suzi Jones' First 44.7 Lisa, is second in class, but leading the RORC Season's Points Championship overall, which counts all races. Lisa won the championship last year, and has once again been chartered to RORC Commodore Michael Boyd.
Nick & Suzi Jones' First 44.7 Lisa, skippered by RORC Commodore Michael Boyd - Photo Paul Wyeth
“We are in a great position to win overall for the second year, but we must finish the Cherbourg Race, and even then, it depends on the results from the Rolex Middle Sea Race” commented Michael Boyd. “It has been a thoroughly enjoyable season, made all the more so by the close competition with Pintia. We have barely been out of sight of each other, and ashore we have become close friends. Gilles Fournier, his charming daughter, his grandson, and all of the Pintia crew, are wonderful people. Neither Lisa nor Pintia are stripped out racing boats, and I believe it says a lot about racing with the RORC, that anyone is capable of winning the championship. Nick and Suzi Jones have been fantastic to sail with, and Lisa is very well prepared, a big part of the reason for our success.”
Gilles Fournier is also full of praise for their rivals: “Having such close racing with Lisa, has definitely improved our performance, and we have enjoyed every battle in every race. After the Fastnet, we met for lunch, and we both worked out the same mathematics. Pintia wins the class, and Lisa wins overall. So we will have a race of honour to Cherbourg - the final decider!”
In IRC Zero, the class leader for the season is Windward Sailing's, CM 60 Venomous, skippered by Derek Saunders. For the Cherbourg Race that lead will be under pressure from Ker 46 Lady Mariposa, skippered by Daniel Hardy. In IRC One, the class leader is Giles Redpath's Lombard 46 Pata Negra which will be under similar pressure from James Neville's HH42 Ino XXX.
In IRC Three, the season's leader, Delamare & Mordret's fully crewed French JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls, will have one last match with a trio of Two Handed teams. Three British Sunfast 3600s that have provided close competition all year, Rob Craigie's Bellino, Ian Hoddle's Game On, and Ed Fishwick's Redshift Reloaded. Bellino leads the IRC Two Handed Class for the season. Nick Martin's British J/105 Diablo-j will also be racing Two Handed to Cherbourg, and will be looking to better their 2016 Cherbourg Race result; second in class.
Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew - Photo Paul Wyeth
In IRC Four, Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew, has been in scintillating form all season, and has secured the class win with two races to spare. However for the Cherbourg Race, two yachts are vying for a podium finish for the season; French Norlin 37 China Girl, skippered by Marc Noel, and Paul Kavanagh's Swan 44 Pomeroy Swan.
62 yachts are expected to start the race, and as with all RORC offshore races, the participants are an eclectic mix of professionals, experienced Corinthian sailors, and newcomers to the sport. Thus far, 438 yachts have competed in the RORC Season's Points Championship.
France galvanised its reputation as the world’s greatest offshore racing nation by dominating the results across the majority of the classes in the Rolex Fastnet Race for a third consecutive occasion. Of the 11 main prizes, French boats failed to win just three, and of these one (Dongfeng Race Team) was raced by a largely French crew.
The Royal Ocean Racing’s biennial flagship event this year attracted another record-sized fleet of 362 boats, six more than 2015. It continues to be the world’s largest offshore yacht race, and also the most popular – when registration opened, the IRC fleet’s maximum limit of 340 boats was reached in just 4 minutes and 24 seconds!
The start sequence begins with the first warning signal at 10.50 BST. The sequence lasts for two hours from 1100 to 1240.
Setting off from the Solent on 6 August in the 2017 Rolex Fastnet Race will be three of the most prestigious classes in offshore racing.
Significantly it will be the first occasion the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race fleet of VO65 one design will line up on the race’s ‘Leg Zero’. This is the first occasion the VO65s will get to race against one another in anger, in the build up to the start of the race proper from Alicante on 22 October.
The line-up includes three teams which competed in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race: Team Brunel, second last time and again skippered by Bouwe Bekking; Dongfeng Race Team, third last time and fourth placed MAPFRE, the Spanish team hoping to make it fifth time lucky. In one designs, experience is everything, giving these teams the edge, yet crew from the last race have been distributed across all of the new teams too.
George David's American Canting Keel Maxi, Rambler 88 has won the 2017 RORC Channel Race, making it two wins in a row, having also won the RORC Cowes Dinard St Malo Race. Rambler 88 took Line Honours in the 160 nautical mile race, and after IRC time correction, was the overall winner out of 109 entries. Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 51 Tonnerre 4, was second, and Pascal Loison's French JPK 10.10 Night and Day, was third racing Two Handed.
Rambler 88 Crew: George David, David Aisher, Silvio Arrivabene, Dean Barker, William Beavis, Scott Beavis, Josh Belsky, Curtis Blewett, Brad Butterworth, Andrew Cape, Rodney Daniel, Brian Giorgio, Mick Harvey, Nathan Hislop, Will McCarthy, Mark Newbrook, Dean Phipps, Stuart Wilson.
Rambler 88's Project Manager Mick Harvey, spoke about the win: “George (David) is really happy and so is the whole team. We wanted to race in good breeze, and we certainly got that in this race. It was a long leg down to the French coast, and we were fully powered up most of the time, on the leg back to the Isle of Wight, we were sitting at over 20 knots for most of the time, and on occasions, we were sending it faster. This has been a good build up to the Fastnet, which is the big event for us, but we are really enjoying the championship. The RORC race management is excellent, and that is important for the team, as we need to plan well in advance.”
In IRC One, Mark Emerson's British A13 Phosphorus II, was the class winner after a close battle with Jean Pierre Dreau's French Grand Soleil 50 Lady First², and James Neville's British HH42 INO XXX. After over 28 hours on the race course, and after IRC time correction, Phosphorus II was just over a minute ahead of Lady First², and less than four minutes ahead of INO XXX.
In IRC Two, Ross Applebey's Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster, scored an impressive victory against top opposition. Fournier & Migraine's French J/133 Pintia was second, and Nick and Suzi Jones' Beneteau First 44.7 Lisa, sailed by RORC Commodore Michael Boyd, was third. Pintia crossed the line five seconds behind of Lisa, but after IRC time correction, Pintia was second for the race.
“I fully appreciate why Lisa and Pintia are top teams in this year's championship” commented Ross Applebey. “They are really quick, and extremely well sailed. This was a wet and bumpy race, and it was full of snakes and ladders, and I would very much like to thank my crew for putting up with me and for their hard work. The tough moment in the race was watching the opposition accelerate downwind after the virtual mark, as we battled upwind and against the tide to round it. However, at Selsey Bill we could see boats making little headway inshore, and chose to stay in breeze offshore and it paid off, after a tough race, we managed to end it with a 'ladder' rather than a 'snake' to take the win.”
Delamare & Mordret's French JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls winner of IRC Three and now leads the class in the RORC Season Points Championship - photo Paul Wyeth
In IRC Three, Delamare & Mordret's French JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls, crossed the line just under four minutes ahead of Ian Hoddle's Two Handed team, racing British Sun Fast 3600 Game On. Richard Elliott's British A35 Eaujet, was third. Pascal Loison's JPK 10.10 Night and Day, was the winner of IRC Four. After IRC time correction, the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Champion, was over an hour ahead of Noel Racine's JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew. Jonathan Rolls' Swan 38 Xara was third.
In the Class40 Division, Peter Harding's Phor-ty narrowly beat Benoit Charon’s Normandie by just over 17 minutes following over 25 hours of duelling with each other.
The Channel Race is the eleventh race of the RORC Season's Points Championship. The 14 race series attracts an international and varied fleet. For the serious offshore sailor, trying to win the championship is a real challenge. The 2017 RORC Season's Points Championship continues with The Rolex Fastnet Race, which starts on Sunday 6th August.
Follow the RORC Channel Race on YB's AIS Tracking as the boats race from Cowes, around waypoints and marks in the English Channel, before finishing in the Eastern Solent.
Start - 1000 BST Saturday 22nd July
Course: Cowes - Round Marks - Solent Finish
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship continues this weekend with the Channel Race. The 10th race of the series, and the last RORC offshore race before the 2017 Rolex Fastnet Race. For those teams vying for class honours for the championship, starting the Rolex Fastnet Race in pole position, is highly desirable, and with most of the RORC season now completed, favourites are emerging for the 2017 RORC Season's Points Championship, the world's largest participation offshore racing series.
Over 100 yachts have entered the Channel Race, which features a flexi-course starting and finishing in The Solent, lasting approximately 24 hours. The entry list features the world's fastest ocean-going yachts, a vast variety of cruiser/racers, Two Handed teams, and well-maintained yachts from previous decades. Racing under the IRC Rating system, the fleet is divided into five IRC Classes.
In IRC Zero, George David's American Canting Keel Maxi, Rambler 88, will be looking to build on their overall win in the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race. A solid result for the Channel Race will put the American Maxi on top of the class leaderboard for the season, but there is tough competition. Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 51, Tonnerre 4 is a proven winner, as is Quentin Stewart's British Infiniti 46 Maverick. The Volvo 70 Monster Project has set numerous records in the Caribbean, and is skippered by Polish Olympic Gold Medallist, Mateusz Kusznierewicz and given the right conditions, Stephen Durkin's British Farr 52 Bob, should not be under-estimated.
In IRC One, James Neville's British HH42 INO XXX, will be looking for a hatrick of wins in the Channel Race, having won class in the Myth of Malham and Cowes Dinard St Malo Race. A win will not put INO XXX on top of the leaderboard, but in a great position for the season overall. Four teams racing in IRC One are vying for the class lead, and all of them are in action this weekend. Edward Broadway's British Ker 40 Hooligan VII leads the class for the season by just 5.8 points from Jack Pringle's British First 50 Avatar. Past RORC Commodore, Michael Greville, racing British Ker 39 Erivale III, and Giles Redpath's British Lombard IRC 46 Pata Negra, are both capable of taking the class lead for the season.
IRC Two, Nick & Suzi Jones British Beneteau 44.7 Lisa, skippered by RORC Commodore Michael Boyd, leads the class for the season, having scored consistently well over five races. Fournier & Migraine's French J/133 Pintia are likely to go to the top of the class with a good result in the Channel Race.
IRC 3 and IRC 4 working their way down the Western Solent in light summer breezes - photo Paul Wyeth
In IRC Three, four teams have emerged as favourites for the class title in the RORC Season's Points Championship. Rob Craigie's British Sun Fast 3600, Bellino, leads by 24 points from Tom Kneen's British JPK 1080, Sunrise. Delamare & Mordret's French JPK 1080, Dream Pearls, is in third place, but could move to the top of the leaderboard, with a good result from the Channel Race.
With 28 teams competing, IRC Four is the largest class in the Channel Race. Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew is leading the class for the season, just 10.2 points ahead of Robert Nelson's British J/105 Bigfoot. Chris Choules's British Sigma 38 With Alacrity, is third. Paul Kavanagh's Swan 44 Pomeroy Swan, will also be racing, fresh from their class win in the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race.
In IRC Two Handed, nineteen teams will be taking on the challenge. There are three British Sunfast 3600 at the top of the class, all vying for glory. Rob Craigie's Bellino leads by a big margin, but that is likely to be eroded after The Channel Race. Ian Hoddle's Game On, is currently in second place, and looking to discard a low score, and Ed Fishwick's Redshift Reloaded is third, with a race in hand. Last year's winner for the season, Robert Nelson's J/105 Bigfoot, needs a big result in the Channel Race to stay in touch with the leaders.
The first warning signal will be at 09:50 BST from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line. The best vantage points will be along Cowes Green and Egypt Esplanade on the Isle of Wight. Watch the race online with the fleet tracker. YB AIS tracking will again be used so you can see each boat's position along the course. View by class or select your favourites to follow friends and family, check out their boat speed and weather conditions in real time. http://yb.tl/channel2017
While the Judel-Vrolijk 115 Nikata will be the largest yacht competing among the 350 or so yachts starting the Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday 6 August, the battle for line honours glory looks set to be between two titans of the grand prix racing world.
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.
