Bellino Makes It Four | 2026 RORC Season’s Points Championship

RORC Season's Points Championship 2026 © Martin Allen/RORC

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Season’s Points Championship is the world’s largest offshore racing series. Few sporting championships can match its geographical reach. In 2026, the RORC Season’s Points Championship took competitors across eight major bodies of water—from the Mediterranean and Atlantic to the Caribbean, English Channel, Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, North Sea and Baltic Sea.

In 2026, a non-Fastnet year, an impressive 341 boats took part crewed by sailors from six continents took. The fleet ranged from supermaxis, multihulls and Class40s to classics and a huge variety of IRC offshore-capable performance cruisers. A fleet of over 300 boats raced under IRC. The multihulls competed under MOCRA, while the Class40s raced under their class rules. Crews faced everything from light-air tactical battles and complex tidal gates to heavy weather and thousands of miles of open-ocean racing.

Sun Fast 3600 Bellino © Paul Wyeth/RORC

At the end of a season that began with the 2025 Rolex Middle Sea Race and finished with September’s Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race, Rob Craigie’s Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing with RORC Commodore Deb Fish as co-skipper, retained the Jazz Trophy as IRC Overall champion.

It was a remarkable fourth consecutive RORC Season’s Points Championship victory for Bellino. Ian Hoddle’s Sun Fast 3300 Sky Business - Game On, racing two-handed with Willow Bland, finished second overall, with Fujitsu British Soldier, owned by the Army Sailing Association, completing the podium.

Full Results

Mach 50 Palanad 4 © James Tomlinson/RORC

RORC Season Race Highlights

The long-distance programme provided an emphatic start to 2026 with the 3,000nm RORC Transatlantic Race from Lanzarote to Antigua. Olivier Magré’s Mach 50 Palanad 4, skippered by son Antoine, won overall under IRC after an impressive Atlantic crossing, laying the foundation for a campaign that would eventually deliver the IRC Zero title. James Neville’s Carkeek 45 Ino Noir also scored heavily finishing runner-up and would finish third in IRC Zero at the end of the season. Third for the RORC Transatlantic Race was Sam and Andrew Hall racing J/125 Jacknife.

Farr 100 Leopard 3 © Tim Wright/RORC

Six weeks after the start of the RORC Transatlantic Race, the championship moved to Antigua for the RORC Caribbean 600, one of the world’s most distinctive offshore races, threading its way around 11 Caribbean islands. The Farr 100 Leopard 3 with Joost Schuijff at the helm, claimed overall victory under IRC, while the race again demonstrated the extraordinary range of boats competing for RORC honours, from 100-footers and high-performance multihulls to Class40s and a huge range of offshore racers.

The Myth of Malham Race produced one of the defining results of Bellino’s season. In exceptionally light and tactically demanding conditions on the course from Cowes to Eddystone and back, Craigie and RORC Commodore Deb Fish, racing double-handed won IRC Overall. RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare’s J/122 Bulldog was second overall, with Rob Cotterill’s J/109 Mojo Risin third.

The 230nm Myth of Malham rewarded patience and concentration as much as outright boat speed. For Bellino, it was another demonstration of the consistency that has underpinned four consecutive championship victories. Bulldog and Mojo Risin would also convert strong performances during the season into class podiums.

Botin 56 Khumbu © Paul Wyeth

The 704nm Round Ireland Race presented an entirely different challenge. Guy Gillon’s Botin 56 Khumbu secured Line Honours and overall IRC victory in an edition dominated by unusually light conditions. With large sections of the fleet struggling against calms and tides around the Irish coast, simply keeping the boat moving became a major tactical exercise.

J/133 Sun Hill IV © Paul Wyeth/RORC

The Cowes Dinard St Malo Race brought one of the biggest fleets of the season to the Royal Yacht Squadron start line. François Charles’ J/133 Sun Hill IV claimed the King Edward VII Challenge Cup for IRC Overall, with James Neville’s Botin 52 Ino Veritas second and winner of IRC Zero.

Bellino finished third overall, won IRC Three and took IRC Two-Handed honours, adding another major result to its championship campaign. Bulldog won IRC Two, while Didier Bouillard’s Dazcat 1295 Minor Swing took the MOCRA victory. By this stage of the season, many of the eventual class winners were firmly established among the leading contenders.

Swan 53 Bedouin © Pepe Korteniemi

The third RORC Baltic Sea Race then delivered some of the toughest conditions of the championship. Linda Goddard’s Australian Swan 53 Bedouin won IRC Overall, IRC One and Monohull Line Honours after more than 600nm from Helsinki around Gotland and back.

While Bedouin claimed the major IRC honours for the 2026 RORC Baltic Sea Race, the fastest boat around the course was the German catamaran Nica. Skippered by Gorm Iver Gondesen and Steffen Mueller, the Roger Hill-designed 57ft performance catamaran crossed the Helsinki finish after 3 days 1 hour 28 minutes 56 seconds at sea. In doing so, Nica established a new RORC Baltic Sea Race multihull record.

Hill 57 Nica © Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Heavy seas, persistent headwinds and the Baltic’s short, steep waves produced a severe test of crews and equipment. The contrast with the light-air Round Ireland Race only weeks earlier summed up the breadth of the Season’s Points Championship: there is no single type of boat, weather pattern or racing style that guarantees success under IRC.

Start of the Round Britain and Ireland Race 2026 © James Tomlinson/RORC

For scale and adventure, however, nothing in the 2026 championship matched the 50th anniversary RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race. Thirty-two boats started the 1,805nm non-stop race from Cowes, heading around Britain and Ireland via the west coast of Ireland, St Kilda and the northern extremity of the course at Muckle Flugga before returning through the North Sea.

Volvo 70 Pace © Paul Wyeth/RORC

Johnny Vincent’s Volvo 70 Pace produced the outstanding performance, winning Monohull Line Honours and IRC Overall. Further down the fleet, results carried major championship significance. Sam Hall’s Lombard 46 Pata Negra claimed IRC One, Game On secured IRC Two and IRC Two-Handed, Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack won IRC Three and Greg Leonard’s Swift was the Class40 champion. Fujitsu British Soldier completed the course for a fifth time for skipper Will Naylor. The Army Sailing Association-owned boat’s points from the race contributed to a season-long campaign that ultimately placed it third overall in the season’s championship.

The 2026 Champions

Behind Bellino, Game On and Fujitsu British Soldier in the overall standings, the class championships produced several close battles.

IRC Zero went to Olivier Magré’s Mach 50 Palanad 4, just 3.7 points ahead of Graeme Lewis’ Carroll Marine 60 Venomous. James Neville’s Carkeek 45 Ino Noir was third.

JPK 1180 Black Sheep © Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Trevor Middleton’s newly acquired JPK 1180 Black Sheep won IRC One. Jacques Pelletier’s L’Ange de Milon was second, just 0.8 points ahead of Nick and Jacquetta Edmonds’ J/45 Stickleback.

J/122 Bulldog © Paul Wyeth/RORC

RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare’s J/122 Bulldog topped IRC Two. Jean-Eudes Renier’s Pogo RC Midnight Blues was second, ahead of Géry Trentesaux’s Pogo RC Courrier Pogo.

Bellino added the IRC Three title to its overall victory, ahead of Game On and Fujitsu British Soldier.

Sun Fast 3200 Zanzibar © Paul Wyeth/RORC

IRC Four produced another close finish, with Inka Luhrs and Richard Bretherton’s Sun Fast 3200 Zanzibar beating Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack by just 2.7 points. Rob Cotterill’s J/109 Mojo Risin was third.

Bellino also won IRC Two-Handed, with Game On second and Gavin Howe’s Sun Fast 3600 Tigris third.

In MOCRA, Peter Coote’s Dazcat 1295 Slinky Malinki won by just 6.3 points from Didier Bouillard’s Dazcat 1295 Minor Swing. Dave Summers’ Dazcat 1495 DMS Vinyl was third.

Greg Leonard’s Swift won the Class40 championship, ahead of Robin Follin’s Solano and Daniel Jones’ Gambit.

Rolex Fastnet Race start @ PW Pictures/RORC

A Landmark Season Ahead

The next RORC Season’s Points Championship begins with the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October 2026 and builds towards a particularly significant 2027 programme.

The Rolex Fastnet Race returns to the championship, while 2027 will also mark the 25th edition of the Admiral’s Cup, 70 years after the competition was first contested in 1957. The international team competition will again bring two-boat yacht club teams from around the world to Cowes, with the Rolex Fastnet Race forming the climax of the Admiral’s Cup.

For the campaigns chasing the Jazz Trophy, the challenge remains the same: perform repeatedly across very different races, conditions and distances. After four consecutive overall victories, Bellino has set an exceptional benchmark. The pursuit starts again in Malta.

Celebrate the Winners in London

Before attention turns fully to 2027, the RORC racing community will come together in London for the glittering RORC Annual Dinner and Prize-Giving on Saturday 14 November 2026 at the Institute of Directors, Pall Mall.

The evening is the Club’s major end-of-season celebration, bringing together race winners, series champions, crews, members and friends. Alongside the Season’s Points Championship trophies, historic trophies and special awards will also be presented.

Among the most anticipated announcements will be the 2026 RORC Yacht of the Year. The winner receives the Somerset Memorial Trophy, RORC’s premier annual prize. Its roll of honour predates the Jazz Trophy by five decades, making the announcement one of the highlights of the Club’s annual awards ceremony. Alongside the Season’s Points Championship trophies, the RORC Annual Dinner and Prize-Giving will also recognise outstanding achievement across the year with a range of historic and special awards, including trophies for seamanship, Corinthian achievement, youth sailing, overseas competitors and exceptional performance.

Whether you are collecting a trophy, supporting your crew or simply want to celebrate another remarkable season with fellow RORC members and competitors, make sure you are there.

RORC Annual Dinner and Prize-Giving Saturday 14 November 2026 Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, London BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW

Event information here: RORC Annual Dinner and Prize-Giving 2026