RORC Morgan Cup Race – Erivale III puts in superb performance in IRC 1

by Louay Habib on 12 Jun 2016 Past RORC Commodore, Mile Greville racing his British Ker 39 Erivale III, is the overall winner of the 2016 Morgan Cup Race after IRC time correction. Erivale III put in a superb performance in IRC One, finishing the 108 mile race over an hour ahead of any boat in their class after time correction. This year's race was a light air reach across the English Channel, with patchy breeze and numerous wind shifts, to test the teams.

“This is the first time I have won the Morgan Cup, it is now ticked off the list.” smiled Mike Greville. “We came in with the girls on the Class40, so we knew we had done well but we really made a big gain in the last five miles. After we finished, the breeze seemed to die out for a stack of boats behind us. To get into that position the boys did really well,especially during the night when the breeze was really patchy and shifting up to 50 degrees. The team were changing headsails every 20 minutes or so, we had everything up from the spinnaker, the Code Zero and the jib. There were two big wind shifts and we got on the right side of both, which really worked out for us, as we pulled away from the pack. It all fell into place, as it does sometimes.”

Tony Lawson's MOD70 Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, took Multihull Line Honours for the Morgan Cup, enjoying light reaching conditions across the English Channel to Dieppe, Completing the race in under ten hours at an average speed of over 10 knots, Concise 10 was travelling at twice the wind speed. Concise 10s next race in the RORC Season's Points Championship will be the Volvo Round Ireland Race, where the British flyer will take on two MOD70s, Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo3 and Oman Sail's Musandam-Oman Sail.

“We had a very pleasant race across to Dieppe, it was a pity that we were on our own and I have to say I felt very sorry for the boats that we passed on the delivery home, who were struggling to make the finish. We had a few of the younger less experienced members of the team on board, which is a great way to give them miles to build up their abilities. We didn't have any time to call into Dieppe as we have lots to do before the Volvo Round Ireland Race, including getting Concise 10 across the Celtic Sea. The next race will see three MOD70s line up and we are all pretty evenly matched, so it should be a cracking race.”

In the IRC Canting Keel Class, IMOCA 60 Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by Mikey Ferguson, took Monohull Line Honours for the Morgan Cup in an elapsed time of 18 hours 32 mins 06 seconds. In IRC One, Erivale III was the winner, Steven Anderson's British Corby 40, Cracklin Rosie was second and Michel Peretie's French JND 39 Stamina was third.

In IRC Two, Gilles Fournier's French J/133 continued their impressive form for the season by winning class for a third race in a row and placing third overall for the Morgan Cup Race. Christopher Daniel's British J/122e Juno was second in class, with Ross Applebey's Oyster 48, Scarlet Oyster returning to RORC racing, and the podium for the class with third place.

In IRC Three, Arnaud Delamare and Eric Mordre's JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls was the victor, taking their third class win of the season and placing second overall for the Morgan Cup Race. RORC Commodore Michael Boyd, racing his JPK 10.80, Audrey was second in class, just under half an hour behind Dream Pearls on corrected time. Audrey was also fourth overall, in an unusual tie after time correction, with Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew. Noel Racine's Foggy Dew was the class winner for IRC Four, ahead of Rob Nelson's J/105 Bigfoot and Harry Heijst's Dutch S&S 41, Winsome.

In the special classes, nine yachts competed in the IRC Two-Handed Class. Jean-Eudes Renier's French JPK 10.80 Shaitan scored their second class win of the season just ahead of Louis-Marie Dussere's French JPK 10.10 Raging Bee. Ian Hoddle's British Sun Fast 3600 Game On scored their third podium finish of the season, in third place for the class in the Morgan Cup Race. A close battle in the Class40 Division was won by Tony Lawson's Concise 2. The all girls team, skippered by Joy Fitzgerald, won the class from Christophe Coatnoan's Partouche by just over ten minutes.

The RORC Season's Points Championship continues with Volvo Round Ireland Race, which starts on Saturday 18 June. Organised by Wicklow Sailing Club in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Irish Yacht Club.