2015 RORC Channel Race preview

by Louay Habib on 30 Jul 2015 The Royal Ocean Racing Club Season's Points Championship continues this weekend with the Channel Race, the tenth race of the series, and the last RORC race before the Rolex Fastnet Race. 92 yachts are expected, starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, around marks in the English Channel, with a Solent finish.

Andrew Budgen's Volvo 70, Monster Project and Mikey Ferguson's IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing are favourites for monohull Line Honours. However, neither of these canting keel flyers is likely to keep up with one of the world's fastest multihulls. Tony Lawson's MOD 70, Concise 10 is skippered by RORC member, Ned Collier Wakefield.

18 yachts will be racing in a highly competitive IRC One division including the 2015 season's top three contenders for the class; Steven Anderson's Cracklin Rosie, David Ballantyne's Jings and Edward Broadway's Hooligan VII.

24 yachts are expected to be racing in IRC Two, including the class leader, Peter Newlands' First 40.7, Anticipation. Adrian Lower and David Smith's Swan 48, Snatch will be competing, fresh from winning class at the Swan European Championship earlier this month. Adrian Lower is the Commodore of the Royal Burnham YC and Rear Commodore of the RORC.

“We have been racing in heavy weather for most of the season but this weekend looks like a lighter airs race, so it will be interesting to see how we go, especially as we are now the top rated boat in IRC 2” commented Adrian Lower.

“The crew are mainly from the Royal Burnham YC, including five younger sailors who have not competed in the Fastnet before. Jarrod Simpson, International 14 sailor and Chairman of the RYA Olympic Steering Group, will also be on board.”

The largest class racing will be IRC Three with 26 yachts entered, including the top three contenders for the class: Louis-Marie Dussere's Raging Bee, Géry Trentesaux's Courrier Du Leon and Nick Martin's Diablo J. Eight J/109s will be racing, including Chris Palmer's J-T'Aime, which is the leading J/109 for the season.

“The J\109s have really turned out this year and it has been a great competition; the boats are incredibly well-matched and it has also been lot of fun” commented Chris Palmer. “More often than not, we meet up at the finish and share a few drinks and stories from the race, so it has been really friendly but serious at the same time. IRC Three has very competitive newer designs racing, and hats off to Géry Trentesaux and Louis-Marie Dussere, who sail their boats so well and Nick Martin who is having an outstanding season. However, the J/109s are capable of getting on the podium and we are pushing each other very hard all the time, which is upping our game. We are sailing out of our socks this year and loving it. It is easier to get crew for RORC offshore races because they are so well organised and enjoyable and that is a big part of the battle when you are a crew of amateur sailors – we are having a blast.”

In IRC Four, 17 yachts are expected to enjoy a close battle, Ludovic Melnyk's Sous Mama Boulé, Noel Racine's Foggy Dew occupy the top two places for the season and will both resume battle this weekend. Seven identical Sigma 38s will enjoy a close match within the class, including Persephone of London, which RORC Member Nigel Goodhew will be racing Two Handed with his son Tim.

“The Sigma 38 Class Association uses the RORC Season's Points Championship as part of our Sigma 38 offshore championship and by racing with the RORC, we are also completing our Fastnet qualifiers as well” commented Tim Goodhew. “Essentially we have two races within a single race; the Sigma 38 rates quite well under IRC especially in breeze and as a Sigma 38 fleet, we often finish within minutes of each other. In the Round Eddystone Race this year, we were the first Sigma 38 by just 16 seconds from MacHismo II after 48 hours of racing. Often in the Fastnet race, boats are just a few minutes apart after five days of racing. The one design rule is very strict, right down to the number of gas bottles you must take. The boats all go the same speed, which makes the racing very close and extremely tactical. We will have a crew of eight for the Fastnet but for the Channel Race, it will be just me and dad, we did the 2013 Fastnet double handed and it was a lot of fun.”

An experimental tracking system using AIS transmissions from the boats will be available via the RORC web site subject to transmission range and other factors, race fans will be able to follow the progress of the yachts. For more information about the Royal Ocean Racing Club, visit the website.