Royal Western YC "The Centenary Race" on 1925 Fastnet Course & Round Iceland Race '25 Date Change
by Adrian Gray 14 Jan 2025 05:57 PST
Charlene Howard's yacht AJ Wanderlust - winner of the 2H RB&I on corrected time and RIR competitor © Rick Tomlinson
The Centenary Race
The Royal Western Yacht Club is synonymous with the introduction of offshore and oceanic racing, not least with its members forming the Ocean Racing Club following the successful running of the very first Fastnet race in 1925.
The original course took the fleet eastwards through the forts and clockwise around the Isle of Wight. This being the centenary anniversary of that race, the Royal Western Yacht Club invite entries for what will be an historic event, with only the second time that the original Fastnet Racecourse has been sailed.
Starting from the vicinity of Ryde Bank and exiting the Solent due East, the Centenary Race will follow that original course and will finish, as it did in 1925, in Plymouth Sound.
For further information and to enter please go to www.rwyc.org/the-centenary-race
The Round Iceland Race 2025
The Round Iceland Race 25 will now take place on Sunday 1st June 2025, and not as previously advertised as 31st August. This is due to continued monitoring of conditions particularly around the Northern coast of Iceland.
International entries continue to be received, and we are soon to reach double figures for what must be the most challenging 2000-mile offshore yacht race there are on the planet. We have entries who are using this for their qualifying miles for the World Star '26 as well as those who simply want the ultimate challenge within the northern hemisphere.
The Round Iceland Race (RIR) will be in its second edition and will start from Plymouth Sound National Marine Park. The course, quite simply, is to leave the Eddystone Lighthouse to Starboard, Iceland to Starboard and finish on the Royal Western Yacht Club line.
This ORC Cat 1 race will be open to solo, double handed and fully crewed yachts. Classes will be open to multi and monohulls from 27ft to 65ft. IRC, MOCRA and non-rated yachts may enter, along with Open60's pre 2007 and Open40's who will be offered their own class.
The notice of race amendment has been posted along with date changes for all specific qualifying criteria.
For more information on the Round Iceland Race and to enter please go to www.rwyc.org/round-iceland-challenge