Cherbourg Race Preview
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Cherbourg Race is the penultimate race of the RORC Season's Points Championship with next month's Rolex Middle Sea Race bringing the championship to a conclusion. The sprint from Cowes to Cherbourg will be the last race across the English Channel and for many competing yachts it will mark the end of the nine month series which started in February.
The overall winner of the RORC Season's Points Championship will have accumulated the most number of points over the season. Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3, is the current overall leader and is likely to win the Championship for the third time in four years. Edward Broadway's Ker 40, Hooligan VII, is in second place but only just ahead of Andrew Pearce's Ker 40, Magnum III, which closed the gap after scoring well in the Rolex Fastnet Race.
Whilst Tonnerre de Breskens 3 looks to have won the RORC Season's Points Championship overall, the IRC Class results are yet to be decided. A boat's best five races are to count with only one carrying a points factor. Due to the discard rule, the Dutch flyer is currently third in IRC One. Magnum III is sitting in pole position for class honours with last year's class champion and 2012 RORC Yacht of the Year, Laurent Gouy's Ker 39, Inis Mor, lying second, just 16 points behind.
Sam Marsaudon and Géry Trentesaux's MC34 Patton, Courrier Vintage, will be racing this weekend. The French team won their class in last month's Rolex Fastnet Race to secure the IRC Two class win for the season with two races to spare. Ross Applebey's Oyster 48, Scarlet Logic, will be racing to Cherbourg as well, hoping to pile on the points to secure the runner up position. Seated in 3rd and 4th respectively, RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine's First 40, La Réponse, and Peter Rutter and Deep Blue Racing's Grand Soleil 43, Trustmarque Quokka, will both be finishing their season at the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Whilst La Réponse has already departed the UK on her way to the Mediterranean, Trustmarque Quokka will be squeezing in the Cherbourg Race before heading off to take part as well.
The star of the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race will also be racing to Cherbourg. Pascal Loison's JPK 10.10, Night And Day, has had an astonishing season racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The Cherbourg Race will be their fifth of the season and the French team is looking to secure first place in both IRC Three and the Two-Handed Class for the RORC Season's Points Championship.
"Cherbourg is my home town," smiled Pascal. "I will be racing with Nicolas Pasternak, as my son Alexis is racing on another yacht. Our attitude is the same as all of the other yachts racing to Cherbourg, we race to win! Regardless of the season so far, we really want to win the last race, especially because it is back to my home. I can assure all of the competitors and the RORC Racing Team, there will be a fantastic reception for everyone in Cherbourg."
Article by Louay Habib
