Three bullets for Invictus on opening day of RORC Easter Challenge

by James Boyd on 15 Apr 2017 The RORC Easter Challenge, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's domestic season opener and coaching regatta, got off to an ideal start on the Solent today. Three races were held, the first of two windward-leewards off Lee-on-the Solent starting in a relatively benign seven knot southwesterly.

After gently easing the boats into the regatta, the breeze slowly built until it was gusting to 20+, which, combined with a lumpy wind-against-tide sea state, made for a challenging final round the cans race. This featured an America's Cup-style reaching start, eventually taking the 50 competing yachts back towards Cowes.

Star performer of the day was Sir Keith Mills' all-black Ker 40+ Invictus which scored three bullets in the five-strong FAST40+ class, racing within IRC One.

Sir Keith Mills came ashore buzzing: 'It was lovely conditions - we got up to 16-17 knots downwind. It is always fun with a reaching start - some went for kites and we went for a Code Zero. 42 South overtook us right on the mark and we spent the race catching them up, which eventually we did. With these close races, and particularly in the FAST 40+ fleet, you can't afford to make a mistake because you get punished immediately. Crew handling is everything, but fortunately we have a great crew.'

This is Mills' first event on Invictus since early last summer when he badly injured his arm leaving him unable to sail for the rest of the year. However he passed the tiller on to his son Alex, with whom he is sharing helming duties this season. Sailing the powerful Ker40+ is also becoming less daunting: 'It is just like a big dinghy - it is very responsive and can be very tricky. When it's wind against tide you get knocked around a lot but it is great fun to sail.'

Outside of the FAST40+ yachts, it was former RORC Commodore Mike Greville whose well-travelled Ker 39 Erivale III stood out, finishing the day four points clear of Roger Bowden's King 40 Nifty. Nifty is winning her match race with sistership Cobra by just a point, while behind them it is neck and neck between the two new Mark Mills-designed MAT 1180s, German Christian Zugel's Tschuss and Tor McLaren's brand new Gallivanter.

The biggest boat in the RORC Easter Challenge, the Ker 46 Lady Mariposa had a mixed day, winning the second race, but retiring from the final round the cans race.

Racing in IRC Two got off to a less than ideal start when Ian Smyth's eight metre Miss U, didn't manage to live up to her name, severely T-boning Rob Bottomley's First 40 Sailplane during a pre-start port-starboard incident.

Top performer in IRC Two today was David Franks' Strait Dealer with a two – one - two, leaving the Cowes-based JPK 10.10 leading by four points from Ed Fishwick's Sun Fast 3600 Redshift Reloaded, winner of today's first race.

'The more wind, the better we felt,' said Franks. 'It blew out the cobwebs a bit - we made a few crew errors but we weren't alone.' Strait Dealer, a past IRC National Champion, is this year not only sailing in a new twin (rather than single) rudder configuration, but also with many new crew, although led, as ever, by Graeme Sunderland and again with several new recruits from the Cowes Etchells fleet, which Franks supports.

The most diverse group of boats is competing in IRC Three ranging from Sigma 38s to Harry J. Heijst's venerable S&S41 Winsome to the speedy modern J/70s and J/92s, but some of the best racing is between the five Quarter Tonners.

Today it was Aguila of past RORC Easter Challenge winner Sam Laidlaw that was not only top Quarter Tonner but leader of IRC Three after three races after winning today's final two races.

'It was great - fantastic sailing, we all had a good time,' said Laidlaw. Aguila did especially well in the third race starting at the correct end of the line enabling her to fly a kite.

Louise Morton's past Coutts Quarter Ton Cup winner, Bullit, once against sailed by an all-female crew including 2013 Match Racing World Champion and Olympian Lucy Macgregor, suffered from an OCS in race one. However they were back on form for the subsequent races. Of the final race held in 20+ knots and lumpy seas, Morton said: 'It was a bit lively - downwind in these boats is exciting, but getting the angles and gybing right and picking the waves - it's all really good for your sailing.'

The day concluded with the vital debriefing at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse run by head coach Jim Saltonstall and the team from North Sails.

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2017 RORC Easter Challenge -  Results

Fast 40+

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3
1	GBR1851X	Invictus	Ker 40+	Sir Keith Mills	1.269	3	1	1	1
2	GBR1682R	Tokoloshe II	Gp 42	Michael Bartholomew	1.262	7	2	2	3
3	SUI19	Jubilee	Gp 42	Tony Dickin	1.261	10	3	3	4
4	GBR1542R	42° South	GP 42	Mark Rijkse	1.264	11	5	4	2
5	GBR4242C	Zephyr	Gp 42	Steve Cowie	1.264	14	4	5	5

IRC Zero

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	RORC Transatlantic Race 2016 PF1.5	RORC Caribbean 600 PF1.4
1	GBR1R	Leopard	Farr 100	Mike Slade	1.799	203	120	83
2	GBR301	Challenger	Whitbread 60	Christopher Stanmore-major	1.371	170	105	65
3	USA45	Bella Mente	JV 72 Custom	Hap Fauth	1.612	140		140
4	GBR4945R	Maverick	Infiniti 46 R	Oliver Cotterell	1.414	136	126	10
5	NED8313	Aragon	Marten 72	Nicolas Lecarpentier	1.456	135	135
6	USA60722	Proteus	Maxi 72	George Sakellaris	1.614	131.6		131.6
7	USA25555	Rambler 88	Canting Keel Sloop	George David	1.853	126		126
8	FRA1953	SFS II	Vor 70	Lionel Pean	1.689	120.4		120.4
9	GBR8200R	Stay Calm	Swan 82 S	Stuart Robinson	1.386	114	114
10	USA46269	Runaway	Andrews 70 Custom	Thomas Corkett Sr.	1.440	112		112
11	GBR7725R	Path	Baltic 112	Anatoli Karatchinski	1.603	109.5	109.5
12	CAY126	Danneskjold	Dixon 100	Simon Hill	1.479	109.2		109.2
13	MLT4	Trifork/l4	Vor 70	Jens Dolmer	1.668	106.4		106.4
14	GER7007	Black Pearl	Carkeek 47	Stefan Jentzsch	1.338	103.6		103.6
15	GBR11502	Shamanna	Swan	Anders Nordquist	1.611	100.8		100.8
16	GBR72L	Louise	Racoupeau 72 Custom	Grant Gordon	1.349	98		98
17	USA52329	Heartbreaker	Transpac 52	Robert Hughes	1.376	95.2		95.2
18	NED8812	Tulip	Frers Custom 88	Melle Boersma	1.358	92.4		92.4
19	AUT2002	Green Dragon	Volvo Open 70 (2008)	Johannes Schwarz	1.661	89.6		89.6
20	5	Eleonora E	Gaff Rigged Schooner	Peras Ltd.	1.295	10		10
20	CAN8	Esprit De Corps II	Volvo60	Georges Leblanc	1.390	10		10
20	CAY27	Adela	Dijkstra	Adela Ltd	1.431	10		10
20	USA7575	Bella Pita	Tripp 75	Jim Grundy	1.466	10		10

IRC One

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	RORC Transatlantic Race 2016 PF1.5	RORC Caribbean 600 PF1.4
1	GBR17R	Nemesis	Swan 45	James Heald	1.150	214.2	84	130.2
2	FRA140	Saint Pierre & Miquelon	Class40	Marc Lepesqueux	1.235	204	135	69
3	911882	Taz	Reichel Pugh 37	Bernard Evan-wong	1.156	138.6		138.6
4	GBR4669R	Pata Negra	Lombard Irc 46 2.50	Giles Redpath	1.172	134.6	10	124.6
5	SUI5006	Gordons	Bermudian Sloop	Oliver Heer	1.172	119		119
6	GBR1250	Yellowdrama IV	Swan 57	Stephen Matthews	1.102	114.8		114.8
7	USA42673	Spice	J/44	Kevin McLaughlin	1.105	110.6		110.6
8	USA61266	Bounty	Swan 66	Theodore Kane, Jr.	1.231	107.8		107.8
9	GBR8633R	Jings	J/133	David Ballantyne	1.107	105		105
10	USA2650	Hound	Nielsen Custom	Charles Kineke	1.115	102.2		102.2
11	AUT255	Godspeed	X41	Peter Steinkogler	1.120	99.4		99.4
12	RUS931	Anna	Mobile 53	ZAO "SMM"	1.230	93.8		93.8
13	USA60454	Azura	Swan 56	Jamie Walker	1.168	91		91
14	CAN1213	Hermes	Pogo 12.50	Morgen Watson	1.160	89.6		89.6
15	GBR1372R	Nisida	Gy 51	Carl Wilcock	1.202	88.2		88.2
16	GBR8653R	Spirit of Juno	Farr 65	Ondeck	1.223	86.8		86.8
17	FRA43894	Purple Rain	Pogo 12.50	Jean-marc Calmet	1.169	85.4		85.4
18	GBR905R	Xanadu	X-50	Simon Costain	1.147	10		10
18	IRL7600	Lilla	C.n.b. Briand 76	DP Yachts Ltd	1.207	10		10
20	FRA26	Sensation Class 40	Class40	Marc Lepesqueux	1.206	10	10

IRC Two

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	RORC Caribbean 600 PF1.4
1	USA52902	Redshift on El Ocaso	J122	Robert Hillier	1.089	127.4	127.4
2	GBR1702T	Scarlet Oyster	Oyster 48	Ross Applebey	1.059	119	119
3	GBR970R	Jua Kali	Grand Soleil 43	Dominic Hurndall	1.086	113.4	113.4
4	GBR4778R	EH01	First 47.7	Global Yacht Racing	1.086	107.8	107.8
5	GBR9192R	Eos	Elan 410	Roderick Stuart	1.064	103.6	103.6
6	GBR2215L	Quokka 8	Grand Soleil 43	Global Yacht Racing	1.098	99.4	99.4
7	GBR7408R	Arthur Logic	First 40	Sailing Logic	1.069	96.6	96.6
8	GBR9193T	Piccolo	Dufour 44	Andrew Yates	1.063	93.8	93.8
9	GBR4147L	Joanna of Cowes	First 40	Sailing Logic	1.086	91	91
10	USA28920	Sunset	J120	Global Yacht Racing	1.086	88.2	88.2
11	GBR8405R	Olympia's Tigress	First 40	Susan Glenny / Tigress Sport	1.085	85.4	85.4

IRC Three

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	RORC Caribbean 600 PF1.4
1	GBR486	Sleeper X	Swan 48 (72) Mod (thr)	Jonty and Vicki Layfield	1.027	126	126
2	17	The Blue Peter	Classic	Mathew Barker	1.039	117.6	117.6
3	ITA13880	Blue Magic	First 40.7 2.40	Nikola Popov	1.037	112	112
4	USA14571	Isbjorn	Swan 48	Andy Schell & Mia Karlsson	1.018	106.4	106.4
5	GER5625	Charisma	Swan 441	Constantin Claviez	1.036	102.2	102.2
6	GBR8520R	Hot Stuff	First 40.7	girlsforsail.com	1.034	98	98
7	GBR2080L	El Oro	Auzepy-brenneur 68	Kent King	1.024	95.2	95.2
8	GBR2228L	Gaia	Oyster 485	Andrew Eddy	1.028	10	10

IRC Four

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	RORC Caribbean 600 PF1.4
1	GBR8396	Sam	Sigma 38	Peter Hopps	0.976	126	126
2	USA5341	Freebird	1975 Swan 44	Philip Asche	0.982	117.6	117.6