RORC Cherbourg Race

Mike Greville's Ker 39, Erivale III © Hamo Thornycroft

Domestic season finishes on a High (Jinks)

Started Friday 5 September: Cowes - Cherbourg 75 nm

The penultimate race of the RORC Season's Points Championship, and the last of the domestic season, to Cherbourg was a light winds affair, as RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott explains: "The fleet had just enough pressure to get out of the Solent but the light breeze faded during the night. The breeze did not materialise until the morning and this year's race definitely favoured the smaller yachts. The best performers were those that used the tide to their advantage and although it was a long and at times frustrating race, most of the fleet finished."

Winning the Cherbourg Race overall on corrected time was Blair Forsyth's J/97 High Jinks. "The race conditions were great for our boat, and the other smaller boats in the race," commented Blair Forsyth. "The sail plan was straightforward; we had a 1.5 kite that worked really well and we only had to drop it and get the No. 1 jib back up when what wind there was shifted. I don't think we saw more than 10 knots of breeze, and even that was only fleeting. Thankfully our kite was up for most of the crossing!

"On Saturday night, when the tide shifted, we lost nearly all our apparent wind, but we didn't have to drop anchor, and the rest of the pack seemed to drift with us. Once it picked up we had a good run into Cherbourg, with the smaller boats."

This is High Jinks' first RORC offshore season during which the boat had been principally sailed two-handed. The Cherbourg Race was their first fully crewed RORC race of 2014 and the additional crew played their part in the success as Blair recounted: "This time we had four crew onboard, making the night watches much easier - particularly given the conditions! Altogether a fantastic way to end our first offshore season, made particularly enjoyable by the great welcome form the Cherbourg Yacht Club, and the rest of the fleet."

Throughout the season IRC One has been host to a hotly contested duel between RORC Commodore Mike Greville's Ker 39, Erivale III, and Steven Anderson's Corby 40, Cracklin Rosie. After the last rubber of the domestic season, Mike Greville and his crew onboard Erivale III could celebrate having won the class after correction, and beaten their close rival into second place for both the race and the season. Erivale III and Cracklin Rosie are currently placed second and third in class in the RORC Season's Points Championship, behind Tonnerre de Breskens 3 in first place.

Mike Greville commented after the race: "It has been a great battle with Steven (Anderson) all season, so it was a nice way to end the season. With little wind on the first night, it was a bit of a lottery but you have to play with the cards you are dealt - so to speak. The crucial point in the race was mid-Channel when the wind faded. Looking at the tidal flow and predicting our speed, we decided to stay to the east so we didn't have to put our nose down to the west going tide and just try to keep the boat moving. Unexpectedly around 6 a.m. we got into some new breeze, which the boats to the west didn't seem to benefit from. It was a very slow race but the sailing on Saturday morning was really enjoyable and most of the fleet made it to Cherbourg in time to have a good party before sailing back."

In the Two-Handed Class, Alan Roberts and Rob Bunce from the Artemis Offshore Academy won a tenacious battle after match-racing their Figaro II against a number of boats, including their fellow Artemis Academy competitors. They slipped ahead of seasoned RORC competitor and past winner of RORC Yacht of the year, Nick Martin's J/105, Diablo-J by just 23 seconds after time correction. Renaud Courbon's First Class 10,Shortgood, placed an agonising third; if the French team had won the class then they may have clinched victory in the RORC Season's Points Championship for the Two-Handed Class away from Louis-Marie Dussere's JPK 10.10, Raging Bee which, despite not competing in the Cherbourg Race, retains a slim 6 point lead.

Artemis 21 added the IRC Two class win to their 'swag bag', beating Patrick Ponchelet's X 40, Exception, into second place. Fellow Artemis Offshore Academy competitors, Robin Elsey and Will Harris' Figaro II, Artemis 43, came third. Following the race there is little change to the class results in the RORC Season's Points Championship with Relentless on Jellyfish retaining first place, 9 points ahead of the J/111 sailed by the Army Sailing Association, British Soldier.

British Soldier was one of two boats particularly feeling the pressure as they went into the final domestic race of the season. Azawakh, Vincent Willemart and Eric Van Campenhout's MC34 Patton and British Soldier were both vying for a result that would tilt the balance of the overall leaderboard for the RORC Season's Points Championship in their favour, with British Soldier sitting in first place as they started the race. Finishing 12th and 16th overall respectively meant that Azawakh have snuck into the lead, knocking British Soldier into second place overall for the season, although merely by half a point.

In IRC Three, Eric Mordret's JPK 10.80, Raphaello was the winner by 12 minutes on corrected time from Diablo-J, Nick Martin's J-105, which was followed by Jean-Yves Daden's A-35, Pen Tach, in third place. Frenchman Eric Mordret will be pleased with the result, also finishing second in IRC Overall. Eric, who hails from St Malo, has previously competed with the RORC in his JPK 9.60, Leonardo in several Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Races and this is his first Cherbourg Race. Second place in class has propelled Diablo-J into third place overall in IRC Three of the RORC Season's Points Championship and Nick Martin looks set to continue his feat of not finishing lower than 4th place overall in class since 2010.

As well as winning IRC Overall, High Jinks claimed the win in IRC Four, followed by regular competitor, Noel Racine's JPK 10.10, Foggy Dew, 16 minutes behind on corrected time. In third place was David Cooper skippering the Dehler 38, Longue Pierre. Foggy Dew currently sits at the top of the leaderboard for IRC Four in the RORC Season's Points Championship, 21 points ahead of Peter Ward's MG 38, McGregor IV, with Harry Heijst's S&S 41, Winsome in third.

As ever the winning boats were treated to a warm reception by the Yacht Club de Cherbourg who have been a long time supporter of the race. There was a party atmosphere at the prizegiving at the yacht club enjoyed by many competitors who stayed to cheer their winners.

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