Brisk conditions for this weekend’s IRC Nationals

With the wind forecast to be gusting into the mid-20s, the fleet out on the Solent this weekend for the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s IRC National Championship is due for some lively racing.
With the wind forecast to be gusting into the mid-20s, the fleet out on the Solent this weekend for the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s IRC National Championship is due for some lively racing.
The overall winner racing under IRC for the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Myth of Malham Race was the British HH42 INO XXX, raced by the RORC Commodore James Neville.
70 teams from eight different nations have entered the Royal Ocean Racing Club Myth of Malham Race, with the first start at 1300 BST from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line on Thursday 02 June.
The North Sea Race has been a long-standing race in the RORC Season’s Points Championship, dating back to 1945.
A 50-strong entry will contest RORC’s Vice Admiral’s Cup this weekend, with up to eight short, sharp races scheduled across three days for the six classes competing.
Since the pandemic there has been a boost in numbers of people getting afloat - mostly sailors relatively new to the sport - and the RYA and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) are keen to encourage as many keelboat and cruiser-racer sailors as possible to enjoy racing at their clubs or local regattas.
With the wind speed varying from zephyrs to over 20 knots, the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s De Guingand Bowl Race tested the international fleet right through the spectrum of skill sets.
The fifth race of the RORC Season’s Points Championship is the De Guingand Bowl Race, scheduled to start at 09:30 BST on Saturday 14th May to the west, from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes.
Having previously straddled Europe, visiting other major yachting hubs such as Cowes, Cork, Marseille and Sanremo, the seventh edition of the prestigious IRC European Championship this year will take place over 25-28 August in the Netherlands, alongside Damen Breskens Sailing Weekend.
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.