2026 RORC Nelson's Cup - Day 1
by Louay Habib / RORC 17 Feb 16:55 PST
17-20 February 2026
Leopard 3, sailed by Joost Schuijff - 2026 RORC Nelson's Cup © Tim Wright / RORC
Day 1 of the RORC Nelson's Cup delivered two contrasting windward leeward contests off Fort Charlotte, Race 1 began under a heavy rain squall that destabilised the easterly breeze and reduced pressure, while Race 2 was sailed in classic Antiguan sunshine with around 14 knots before the wind softened later in the afternoon.
Courses were scaled by class, with the Maxis stretching to approximately 14 nautical miles and IRC Two racing shorter configurations.
IRC Maxi - Momentum Swings
Race 1 turned at the leeward gate when Karel Komarek's Maxi V, leading, faltered in unstable breeze ripping their spinnaker, this opened the door for Chris Flowers' Galateia to take full advantage and the corrected-time win.
Race 2 saw Leopard 3, sailed by Joost Schuijff, respond decisively, claiming victory from Galateia, with V just 13 seconds behind Galateia on IRC corrected time. The breeze easing towards the end of the second race placed a premium on changing gears through the final run and beat.
"We certainly didn't expect to get that wet in the first race," smiled Leopard 3 tactician Chris Nicholson. "That squall dictated everything. We had a J2 on that was already out of its comfort zone, so straight away it became about looking after the boat. You're watching the radar, trying to read the cloud, but once the rain hits that hard you can't even see the breeze. There was a 70-degree shift at one point. We didn't nail the start and we were on the back foot from there."
Race 2 was a different challenge. "It went light and at 50 tonnes we're not built for drifting contests against those lighter boats. But being in front helped. We could play the percentages and control the race and maybe the two Centos slowed each other down. If they were ahead, it might be a different story."
After the final race of the day, Galateia was provisionally leading by two points from Leopard with Filip Balcaen at the helm of Baltasar in third on countback from Wendy Schmidt's Deep Blue. However, a protest by V, resulted in Galateia being disqualified from Race 2. Leopard is the class leader from Balthasar and Deep Blue.
IRC Zero - Trading Blows
Race 1 produced the tightest finish of the day, with Niklas Zennstrom's Rán edging James Neville's Ino Noir by just nine seconds on IRC corrected time, and Frederic Puzin's Daguet 5 only just over a minute behind.
Niklas Zennstrom pointed to a defining moment and decision in Race 1. "In the big squall, the first top mark was crucial," said Zennstrom. "We gybe set and that had us laying the bottom mark. The beat back was also very one sided so there were not many tactical options there. The first mark was probably where we made enough time to win by such a small margin."
In Race 2, Daguet 5 reversed the script, winning from Rán, with Ino Noir third. Across both races, the class has been defined by razor-thin margins. After two races, Rán leads by a single point from Daguet 5 with Ino Noir just two points behind Rán in third.
IRC One - Consistency at the Front
Bruce Chafee's Rikki set the benchmark in Race 1 and doubled down in Race 2, winning again. Behind her, Jim Voss' Warthog and Woody Cullen's WaveWalker traded podium places across the two races, separated by small IRC corrected-time margins as pressure shifted and softened.
Two races in, IRC One is being shaped by consistency and clean manoeuvres rather than outright dominance. Rikki has two straight bullets at the top of the leaderboard with Warthog in second on countback from WaveWalker.
IRC Two - Commanding Performance
In Race 1, strong starters found better breeze early and extended. Sam & Andrew Hall's Jackknife revelled in the conditions to secure a convincing win.
Race 2 followed a similar pattern. Over 12nm, Jackknife once again controlled the fleet, winning by nearly nine minutes on corrected time ahead of Cox & Dunlop's Mojito, with Pol Hoj-Jensen's Danish Blue third. Jackknife leads the class after a perfect score after two races. Danish Blue is a point ahead of Mojito.
"We went out this morning with a simple plan," said Jackknife's Sam Hall. "Sail fast, have fun, look after the boat and look after each other. The squall at the start was a proper level playing field. I don't think anyone really won or lost from it; it was about getting into your lane and sailing your race.
"We've got to take the two wins with a pinch of salt. Mojito had issues and would have put us under more pressure. We had one broach that slowed us briefly, but we dealt with it and got going again. More of the same tomorrow please."
Day 1 of the Nelson's Cup showcased the full Antiguan weather spectrum: squally instability in the morning and softening trade winds in the afternoon. Across both races, the common thread has been execution: sharp starts and making the best of the weather, as the pressure and direction fluctuated. The opening day of the RORC Nelson's Cup has set up an intriguing battle for the days ahead.
RORC Nelsons Cup Results available here.
Racing at the RORC Nelson's Cup Series continues on Wednesday 18 February with more short course action off the South Coast of Antigua: caribbean600.rorc.org.