RORC Cherbourg Race – A31 Columbus Circle declared overall winner

by Louay Habib on 5 Sep 2016 Hugo Tardivel's French A31 Columbus Circle is the overall winner of the RORC Cherbourg Race. The crew will be celebrating with hundreds of sailors from the RORC fleet at the Yacht Club de Cherbourg. Gilles Fournier's J/133 Pintia was second, just five seconds ahead of Nick Jones' First British 44.7 Lisa, after IRC time correction.

However Lisa's result virtually assures the team of the overall win in the 2016 RORC Season's Points Championship, with a race to spare.

“This is the first time we have won a RORC race overall so we are so happy” commented Hugo Tardivel. “Although I raced in a Laser when I was younger, we only started sailing in Columbus Circle three years ago and this is our second season racing. We have gradually been increasing our level of performance, so to win with our last race of the season is a real joy. Foggy Dew was with us all the way, until we decided to go to the east in the middle of the Channel because of the change in the tide. We carried our Code Zero for most of the race, until right at the end when our spinnaker allowed us to make up some time. We will be celebrating in Cherbourg with Champagne tonight!”

“Our goal at the start of the year was to win the RORC Season's Point Championship and it was a two stage plan. The first part was up to the Volvo Round Ireland Race, and our third overall was the crucial score of the season, which meant we would carry on with the plan at full pace. All of the crew who have raced on Lisa this season have done so for love not money. It has been a huge commitment and my long suffering wife Suzi has been just amazing. I am looking forward to getting home and spending some time with Suzi, Charlie, Freddie and Toby. Racing Lisa has been a joint effort with RORC Commodore Michael Boyd, and during the nine races, 75 sailors have been on board, so we will have a huge table at the RORC Dinner in November” enthused Nick Jones, owner of Benneteau 44.7, Lisa.

British IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by Mikey Ferguson, took line honours and the win in IRC Canting Keel. Avenarius and Gondesen German Ker 46 was the winner in IRC Zero. Lisa and Pintia were the winners in IRC One and IRC Two respectively.

In IRC Three, Louis-Marie Dussere's Raging Bee will be leading the celebrations in Cherbourg. The team from Cherbourg have scored the double-double winning both IRC Three and IRC Two-Handed for the Cherbourg Race and the RORC Season's Points Championship.

In IRC Four, Colombus Circle was the winner after IRC time correction. Noel Racine's JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew was second, less than a minute ahead after time correction from Courbon and Winsback's First Class 10 Shortgood.

Three Class40's enjoyed a fast and extremely close race to Cherbourg. Averaging close to ten knots for the race, the four flyers finished within 7 minutes of each other. Marc Lepesqueux's Sensation won the class. Adriaan van Oord's Moonpalace was second and Christophe Coatnoan's Partouche was third.

The final race of the 2016 RORC Season's Points Championship will be the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, the race will start in Malta's spectacular Grand Harbour on Saturday 22nd October 2016. Well over 100 yachts are expected to be racing the 608 nautical miles race, starting and finishing in Malta.