RORC Easter Challenge – Tokoloshe to lead the charge

by James Boyd on 17 Apr 2014 The RORC's UK season commences on the Solent this Good Friday with the three day long Easter Challenge.

As an indication that Britain is slowly extricating itself from recession, there are a few new boats in the Solent this year. Leading the charge in the RORC Easter Challenge fleet will be one of the most prominent: South African Mike Bartholomew's latest Tokoloshe. The familiar King 40, Tokoloshe, was replaced over the winter by a GP 42, previously Madrid, the Botin and Carkeek design that won the GP 42 class' final season on the Audi MedCup in 2010.

Under her new owner the boat has undergone substantial turboing with the addition of a 2.3m bowsprit, general enlarging of the sail plan and increased draft. However Bartholomew admits: 'We are still busy optimising it for IRC. It is quite a learning curve.'

This will be the Tokoloshe team's sixth RORC Easter Challenge, as Bartholomew puts it: 'It is a lovely regatta, although sometimes it is bloody freezing. We've always enjoyed it.' In fact this weekend's forecast looks bright, rain-free, with light to moderate northeasterlies forecast and a spring tide.

Another familiar boat in new hands is Peter Morton's latest Salvo, racing in IRC Two. The trusty Corby 33 has been traded in for the JND 35, formerly Frenchman Bernard Moreau's successful Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup and Rolex Fastnet Race entry, Gaia.

Overseas entries will also be evident with Yvon Haquet's Grand Soleil 39, Clezio 3, and Benoit D'Halluin's A 35, Dunkerque Plaisance - Gill Racing Team, making the voyage from across the Channel and the De Graaf family's Ker 40, Baraka GP, a 2012 Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup entry, coming across from the Netherlands.

In addition to the racing, many competitors take part in the RORC Easter Challenge because it offers valuable pre-season coaching, available to all for free. Crews taking part are able to seek the advice of British uber-coach Jim Saltonstall, who has previously nurtured so many of today's Olympic sailing greats, and a team including RORC CEO Eddie Warden Owen, previously coach to four America's Cup challengers.

'This event is the ideal opportunity for people to come along and use it as a training seminar over a three day period,' states Saltonstall. 'To that end what the coaching team will do, and have been doing now for the last 10 years, will be to put across as much information as possible about all 10 aspects of the most challenging sport in the world: yacht racing.'

He points out that this is useful not just for new teams or teams with new boats or new crew, but a chance for trimmers and sail makers to get taken off their boats - mid-race even - to see if there are improvements to be made to rig set-up, sail shape, trim, etc.

Saltonstall continues: 'In my amateur opinion, anybody - I don't care how good they think they are - can use this three day session. Even the good guys need to use this sort of event to get themselves cranked up for whatever event they are targeting later in the summer.'

Coaching for this year's RORC Easter Challenge is being supplemented by the North U Regatta Services with sailmaker/coaches Chuck Allen and Andreas Josenhans flying across from the USA especially. Allen is a former two time college all-American champion and now a one design specialist for North Sails while Josenhans is a two time Soling and Star World Champion, was a trimmer on Bill Koch's America's Cup winner, America3, and has a CV as long as you could imagine.

North U Regatta Services has been running for three years and is now a regular feature of regattas in the USA, including the NOOD series and Key West, but this is its first regatta in Europe. Joining Allen and Josenhans are nine sailmakers from North Sails UK including old hands such as David Lenz, John Brinkers and Neil Mackley.

North U Regatta Services will also be taking photos and video across the fleet and according to Josenhans they will be out on the water for an hour and a half or so before racing starts each day if any crews want some dedicated coaching. Those attending the post-race briefing held each evening in Cowes Yacht Haven Events Centre will also be able to take away flash drives showing the racing in their class. North Sails is also offering daily forecasts to competitors - sign up by emailing samr@gb.northsails.com.

A team that pitches up frequently for the coaching at RORC Easter Challenge is that of James Gair and his Cowes Race School crew on the Mills 39 Zero II.

'Easter Challenge we have done many times before,' says Gair. 'This time we are focussing on our Commodores' Cup team. The Easter Challenge is a great opportunity for the guys to jump in and jump out of RIBs to analyse the boat from outside and to take video. Then once you get ashore and you've got Jim Saltonstall - who is an absolute legend - and you sit there and watch the video 'ease the main sheet there, a little bit of Cunningham off', etc.'

The RORC also welcomes a new Principal Race Officer to the Easter Challenge (and also to the IRC National Championship and Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup) in Olympic Finn sailor and double Etchells World Champion, Stuart Childerley, who brings with him a wealth of race management, coaching and sailing experience to the events.

'It's a great opportunity to be involved with the RORC,' says Childerley. 'Obviously I've been on the other side of the fence for a good number of years. I am passionate about providing good racing and I think what I am trying to do is to take the good bits that Jamie (Wilkinson) and the team historically have done and build upon that. We are going to test a few different things at Easter. There's a couple of things that I want to try and work through with the competitors during the regatta.

'I have pulled together a good team; a mixture of a few new faces as well as the tried and tested regulars, so competitors can be assured of excellent racing for the first race of the season.'
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