Nifty work as RORC Easter Challenge concludes

by James Boyd on 17 Apr 2017 Sailors at the RORC Easter Challenge left Cowes this Easter Sunday sunburned, full of chocolate and brimming with freshly acquired wisdom about their sport.

Across the 50 boat fleet competing at the RORC's three day long domestic season opener, that doubles as its annual training regatta, it was close across most classes, but none more so than IRC One. In this, Mike Greville's sparkling Ker 39, Erivale III managed to lose her three point lead in today's opening round the cans race and the victor was only decided on the final, head down, charge for the finish line in race two.

Ultimately Roger Bowden's King 40, Nifty (ex-Tokoloshe 1), claimed first overall, two points ahead of Erivale with another King 40, Cobra, another point behind. As Nifty's skipper Sam Cox recounted: 'Coming into the finish (of race 2), Zero pipped us and we had Erivale III and Zero II stacked up right behind us. All weekend we've been having really good boat-on-boat racing between us - it was fantastic.'

Three races were scheduled today, but the wind dropped as the new breeze attempted to settle towards the end of the first race, causing the course to be shortened for IRC Two and Three. With the wind shifting dramatically, it took three attempts to get what was to be the second and final race underway.

Within IRC One, there was a match race between the two Mark Mills-designed MAT 1180s. Tor McLaren's two week old Gallivanter got its first taste of glory, winning today's opening race, however sistership, Christian Zugel's Tschuss, finished seven points ahead overall.

McLaren appreciated the coaching laid on by the RORC, spearheaded by Jim Saltonstall and Eddie Warden Owen and supplemented by North Sails UK staff: 'We were very happy with the way we performed. We were together upwind - which we weren't on day one. The groove is very narrow and main and runners have to be trimmed in sync. The crew work at the front is really good and our tactics were great.'

Star performer throughout the regatta was Sir Keith Mills' Invictus in the FAST 40+ class, racing within IRC One. With a one - three today, the black Ker 40+ won the regatta by a mighty 11 points. However it was not easy and all five of the FAST 40+ had their moments with Tony Dickin's Jubilee looking particularly strong today, leading the opening stages of race two, which was eventually won by Mark Rijkse's 42° South.

'The first race was tough,' recounted Mills. 'We were third at the first mark, but managed to climb back and get a comfortable win. Then, in the second race, we didn't get the greatest start but we kept our place all the way round and we had a photo finish - 42° South got it, but there was half a boat length between three boats, which made it really interesting.'

In IRC Two, a late charge from RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine on La Réponse was enough to get his First 40 onto the podium but not enough to make an impression on the race for the lead between David Franks' JPK 10.10 Strait Dealer and Redshift Reloaded, the Sun Fast 3600 belonging to Ed Fishwick.

While La Réponse claimed today's first race and Strait Dealer the second, Redshift Reloaded posted a 2-3 to win overall by three points from Franks' yacht. 'The first race was tricky,' recounted Nick Cherry, with whom Fishwick will be racing doublehanded for the remainder of the season. 'It went light and at one point we were looking pretty bad and La Réponse ditched us. In the last race, we only had to finish five points behind Strait Dealer, although we were worried we were OCS. Also there were some big shifts, but they were reasonably predictable.'

For the Redshift crew, winning on this the boat's first major competitive outing is a big achievement: 'We are very pleased,' summarised Cherry. 'The boat was going quick. The crew did well and it was nice tight racing.'

Fishwick praised the RORC Race Committee: 'It is a well organised regatta and they did a really good job.'

Aside from Invictus, the most consistent performance was from Sam Laidlaw's Quarter Tonner, Aguila. The RORC Easter Challenge defending champion today put in a race win and a 2.5, to reclaim IRC Three by 7.5 points from Ian Braham's MG 346, MS Amlin Enigma.

'It was fantastic conditions - it couldn't have more different to last year when it was very windy,' said Laidlaw. 'This year it was light and puffy and quite difficult. Today was challenging with the wind up and down and in the second race we had a good ding-dong with Bullet - they sail really well. It has been close racing all weekend.'

The regatta wound up with a prizegiving at the RORC's Cowes clubhouse where the winners left laden with trophies and Easter eggs.

2017 RORC Easter Challenge

Fast 40+

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8
1	GBR1851X	Invictus	Ker 40+	Sir Keith Mills	1.269	11	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	3
2	GBR1682R	Tokoloshe II	Gp 42	Michael Bartholomew	1.262	22	2	2	3	3	3	2	2	5
3	GBR1542R	42° South	GP 42	Mark Rijkse	1.264	26	5	4	2	2	4	4	4	1
4	SUI19	Jubilee	Gp 42	Tony Dickin	1.261	29	3	3	4	4	5	5	3	2
5	GBR4242C	Zephyr	Gp 42	Steve Cowie	1.264	32	4	5	5	5	1	3	5	4

IRC One

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8
1	GBR5940R	Nifty	King 40	Roger Bowden	1.116	27	1	6	4	2	5	1	5	3
2	GBR236R	Erivale III	Ker 39	Michael Greville	1.116	29	2	3	2	1	2	6	9	4
3	GBR8888N	Cobra	King 40	Stephen Beckett	1.117	30	4	2	6	4	3	2	4	5
4	USA61180	Tschuss	Mat 1180	Christian Zugel	1.187	33	7	7	1	5	1	5	6	1
5	GBR6255N	Lady Mariposa	Ker 46	Daniel Hardy	1.296	38	5	1	10	3	7	3	3	6
6	GBR1180X	Gallivanter	Mat 1180	Tor McLaren	1.196	40	8	4	3	8	4	4	1	8
7	IRL39000	Zero II	Mills 39	Cowes Race School	1.114	41	3	5	10	6	6	7	2	2
8	GBR759R	Eclectic	Azuree 46	Colin Campbell	1.131	60	6	8	5	7	10	10	7	7
9	GER11	Hotspot	M34	Soenke Bruhns	1.138	67	9	9	7	9	8	8	8	9

IRC Two

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8
1	GBR419	Redshift Reloaded	Sun Fast 3600	Ed Fishwick	1.052	19	1	2	5	2	1	3	2	3
2	GBR1250N	Strait Dealer	JPK 10.10	David Franks	1.014	22	2	1	1	4	3	4	6	1
3	GBR42N	La Réponse	First 40	Andrew McIrvine	1.080	32	14	3	6	1	2	1	1	4
4	GBR3213L	Dusty P	First 40	Richard Patrick	1.076	33.5	3.5	4	2	5	4	5	4	6
5	GBR1111X	Jitterbug	J/111	Cornel Riklin	1.095	40	16	5	4	3	5	2	3	2
6	GBR888X	Sunrise	JPK 10.80	Thomas Kneen	1.046	53	5	6	7	6	6	8	10	5
7	GBR979R	Malice	HOD 35	Mike Moxley	1.022	62.5	3.5	8	8	7	7	6	13	10
8	GBR8611R	Kestrel	J/111	Simon Bamford	1.099	73	6	14	11	8	8	9	8	9
9	FRA76	Pegasus	Farr 30	Malcolm Wootton	1.047	73	9	7	9	9	14	11	7	7
10	GBR011	Pandemonium	Farr 280	Jamie Rankin	1.093	80	11	10	10	12	13	7	5	12
11	GBR8541R	Jolly Jack Tar	J/109	RNSA	1.011	87	7	11	16	11	10	10	14	8
12	GBR2688R	Jenga	J 88	Mark Richmond	1.031	96	8	9	3	10	9	19	19	19
13	GBR7005R	Trojan	J/109	REYC Offshore Racing	1.010	102	13	12	14	13	11	13	12	14
14	GBR9235R	Mad Max	Max Fun 35	Andy Williams	1.083	103	10	19	12	14	12	12	11	13
15	GBR8809R	Mojo Risin'	J/109	J/109 Racing Limited	1.009	110	12	15	15	15	19	14	9	11
16	GBR3234L	Rocket Dog II	First 40	Sailing Logic	1.068	117	15	13	13	16	15	15	15	15
17	GBR007	Miss U	8mr	Ian Smyth	1.098	152	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19
17	GBR4013R	Sailplane	First 40	Rob Bottomley	1.083	152	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19

IRC Three

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8
1	GBR8414R	Aguila	Quarter Tonner	Sam Laidlaw	0.906	19.5	4	1	1	3	2	5	1	2.5
2	GBR4365T	MS Amlin Enigma	Mg 346	Ian Braham	0.950	27	1	2.5	4	2	6	6	3	2.5
3	FRA7891	Bullit	Quarter Ton	Louise Morton	0.910	29	8	4	5	4	1	4	2	1
4	NED118	Winsome	S&S 41	Harry J. Heijst	0.987	36	2	7	3	5	3	3	8	5
5	ESP3090	Bullet	Quarter Ton	Oliver Ophaus	0.911	48.5	6	2.5	2	8	5	1	5	19
6	GBR8185	Quokka 9	Half Tonner	Peter Rutter	0.951	58	9	6	6	9	7	8	6	7
7	IRL1392	Cobh Pirate	Quarter Ton	Ben Daly	0.910	68	3	5	10	6	4	2	19	19
8	GBR8274	MacHismo II	Sigma 38	Tim Levett	0.982	73	11	14	9	1	11	11	12	4
9	GBR3965R	Jumblesail 2	J 97 1.92	Rachel & Robert Hunt	0.975	78	7	10	19	7	10	12	7	6
10	GBR97L	Jaywalker	J/97	Robert Baker	0.976	81	10	8	19	13	9	10	4	8
11	GBR7557	Innuendo	1/4 Tonner	Julian Metherell	0.911	84	5	9	7	10	8	7	19	19
12	GBR9202R	Nightjar	J/92	Richard Searle	0.975	88	14	11	8	11	13	13	9	9
13	GBR2097R	Jackaroo	J/97	Robert Orr	0.959	90.5	12	13	12	12	12	9	10.5	10
14	GBR137	Jackal	J70	Simon Spraggs	0.966	99.5	13	12	11	14	14	14	10.5	11
15	GBR3200N	All Or Nothing	Sun Fast 3200 1.90	Chris Blackburn	0.995	121	15	16	14	16	17	17	13	13
16	GBR7	Ilex of Upnor	X 332	REYC	0.965	123	17	15	13	18	15	16	15	14
17	GBR6687T	Skywave	Elan 333	Royal Signals Yacht Club	0.963	133	18	17	15	17	18	15	14	19
18	GBR8351	Rumour Of Boss	Sigma 38	Peter Ellis	0.982	135	16	19	19	15	16	19	19	12