2025 RORC Easter Challenge - Overall
by Louay Habib / RORC 22 Apr 00:23 HKT
18-20 April 2025
2025 RORC Easter Challenge © Paul Wyeth / RORC
The RORC Easter Challenge wrapped upon the 20th April with two final races in the Solent for all four IRC Classes. With no discard to the scoring in the six race series, all class winners were decided in the final race.
After two days of intensive coaching on and off the water, the final day was all about putting into practice what had been learnt and ultimately getting into the Easter chocolates to boost team morale for a big season of racing with the RORC.
The competitors experienced a full range of wind conditions over the regatta. On the final day, with a light north easterly breeze, PRO Stuart Childerley and the RORC Race Team delivered a windward leeward race course with pin-point accuracy for two races for all classes.
2025 RORC Easter Challenge Class winners
IRC One - Peter Harrison's TP52 IRC Jolt 3
IRC Two - Per Roman's JPK 1180 Garm
IRC Three - Alain Waha & Matt Waite's J/99 Further West
IRC Four - Boardman Kelly & O'Leary's Half Tonner 2 Farr
Congratulations to the final day race winners including Peter Rutter's Half Tonner Quokka 9, Ian Atkins' Western Solent One Design Arrow, Derek Shakespeare's J/122 Bulldog, and David Frank's J/112 Leon.
2025 Easter Challenge Results
IRC One
Peter Harrison's TP52 Jolt 3 delivered an impressive performance, scoring four bullets and two second-place finishes to win the big boat class. Second place went to Max Klink's Botin 52 Caro. Carkeek 40+ Jolt 6, with Nick Cherry on the helm, was third.
Notably, all three podium finishers Jolt 3, Caro, and Jolt 6, will be competing in the 2025 Admiral's Cup this July. ROST Van Uden (Ker 46) and Baraka GP (Ker 43), which placed fourth and fifth respectively, also gained valuable knowledge for the forthcoming Admiral's Cup.
Jolt Team Project Manager Matt Adams explained why the team chose to race in the RORC Easter Challenge as part of their build-up to the Admiral's Cup.
"Several members of the squad and I have done the Easter Challenge before, and we knew it was an excellent event for the early stages of our programme," said Adams. "We've been focusing on sail design and adapting to the Solent's tidal conditions. Racing against strong competition like Caro has helped us validate some of the modifications we made over the winter. It's been a really worthwhile weekend—especially for our crew from Australia and the USA, who now have a much better understanding of the local conditions."
IRC Two
Per Roman's JPK 1180 Garm, which will be competing in the 2025 Admiral's Cup for the RORC Red Team, scored four race wins to win the class. Runner-up was Dave Cullen's Irish First 50 Checkmate XX, with Shirley Robertson driving. Checkmate gave Garm a serious race all regatta. The Dutch Landmark 43 Olympix made the podium in four races to claim third for the regatta.
Over the winter, Per Roman has implemented rig and rudder changes to Garm. The team organised a few days training before the RORC Easter Challenge and then into the regatta itself. "First and foremost, we wanted to see if the new modifications to the mast and rudders have worked, essentially we are racing a 'new boat'," explained Per Roman. "Despite initial trepidation, we found the rig and mast improvements significant. For the regatta we raced against bigger and more powerful boats like Checkmate. For the Admiral's Cup we will also have bigger faster boats in our class, so racing against a 50-footer with Shirley Robertson driving was a good example of what we will be up against this July. We also gained more knowledge about the tide and wave state, which gave great learnings into how to adapt to the complexities of racing in the Solent."
IRC Three
Alain Waha & Matt Waite's J/99 Further West improved with every day of racing to win the class with a 1-2 on the final day. Max Walker's Sun Fast 3600 Elysium IV, which had led the class for the first two days finished second. The Army Sailing Association's Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier, skippered by Lt Col Will Naylor, won the battle for third. British Soldier tied on points with Ian & Imogen Watkins' FarEast 28 Mako, but the British Army team took the podium spot on countback. David Frank's J/112 Leon had gear failure on the first day but showed their pedigree, winning three of the six races to finish fifth.
Alan Waha explained that the Further West team's ultimate goal this year will be to perform well in the Rolex Fastnet Race with two of his sons among the crew. The RORC Easter Regatta was used as a platform to try out and refine several areas.
"We wanted to continue to progress on moving across the range settings and identify what works and what doesn't," commented Alan. "Offshore we cannot just have crew in single roles, this weekend we tried to ensure that everyone on the team knows how to handle the jib and the main, so we swapped around crew positions to get everyone familiar with different roles. This has been a very well organised weekend with exceptionally well laid courses, a big thank you to the RORC and the coaches for their professionalism."
IRC Four
Boardman, Kelly & O'Leary's Irish Half Tonner 2 Farr scored four bullets to dominate IRC Four. Olly & Sam Love's J/109 Frank 4 was runner up. Rob Cotterrill's J/109 Mojo Risin' was third.
2 Farr's Rob O'Leary has been competing at the Easter Challenge since he was a teenager, often alongside his father Anthony and brothers Peter and Nicholas O'Leary. However, for much of the 2 Farr crew from Rush SC, including co-owners Patrick Boardman and David Kelly, this was a new experience.
"The Easter Challenge is always a good shakedown; good racing at an early stage of the season," commented Rob O'Leary. "Also we have a new kite and it was good to get that up against good competition, but you are always learning and trying to get stronger. This year the fleet was more competitive with an increase in numbers, it's good to see IRC racing so strong in the early part of the season, we definitely plan to be back next year.
The Easter Challenge Prize Giving was held at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse, which had been the central hub for the daily video debriefs for hundreds of sailors. Crew suppers and the Fastnet Bar had been well-attended for the weekend with sailors discussing their performance and looking forward to the season ahead.
Awarding the top teams at the RORC Easter Regatta was RORC Racing Manager Steve Cole, joined by North Sails Ben Saxton, who had been racing on Jolt 6 and RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare, who had been racing on his J/122 Bulldog. Derek kept up the tradition of the Easter Egg Toss into the packed crowd!
North Sails UK General Manager Ian Walker, who had been coaching all weekend, alongside top trainers and professionals commented: "North Sails have been supporting the regatta for many years, it is the first Cowes event of the season, it's a regatta designed for teams to really brush away the cobwebs that have maybe gathered over the winter. The coaching team try to help as much as possible with better starts, boat speed and boat handling." Summarised Ian. "Certainly over these three days, we've had some really challenging conditions, so it's been a really tough test at the start of the season, but hopefully something that should set up everybody well for a big season of racing this year."
The RORC racing season continues with the Cervantes Trophy Race from Cowes to Le Havre starting on May 03 with about 100 teams expected. The Cervantes Trophy Race is part of the RORC Season's Points Championship which is the world's largest offshore racing series. The Cervantes Trophy Race is also the first race of the new RORC Cowes Offshore Series.
The 2026 RORC Easter Challenge is scheduled for the Bank Holiday weekend 3-5 April, 2026. More details will be available when the 2026 Notice of Race is published.
For more information about the Royal Ocean Racing Club: www.rorc.org