RORC Channel Race 2016 - Preview

Artemis Ocean Racing take monohull line honours, and winner of class, in the RORC Channel Race 2015 © Rich Tomlinson / www.rick-tomlinson.com

The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship continues this weekend with the Channel Race. The 10th race of the series features a flexi-course starting and finishing in The Solent. 38 yachts from four different countries will be taking part, including some of the fastest racing yachts in Europe, as well as a variety of cruiser-racers. Racing in seven IRC Classes and a Class 40 Division, the Channel Race will last approximately 24 hours.

IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by Mikey Ferguson, will be racing in IRC Canting Keel Class and will continue to provide training for young skippers with aspirations for the Vendee Globe in 2020. Having competed in all the RORC Offshore races that have started in the Solent they lead the class by a huge margin.

IRC Zero has a tri-nations battle; Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 51 Tonnerre de Breskens will be racing against Stephen Durkin's British Farr 52 Bob and Avenarius & Gondesen's German Ker 46 Shakti. The Channel Race will be the first RORC outing for Bob this season. Shakti and Tonnerre 4 met in the Myth of Malham Race in May, with Shakti winning the encounter to snatch the class lead from Tonnerre 4 by just over five points.

"Both Shakti and Bob are difficult to beat in light winds, the forecast for this weekend is looking like we will get some good breeze, which will suit us" commented Tonnerre 4's Frank Gerber. "The Channel Race is one of my personal favourites, as the course is designed to suit the conditions, which usually makes it more strategic and tactical, finishing the race where we started helps with the logistics as well."

Nick Jones First 44.7 Lisa currently leads the RORC Season's Points Championship from Alan Hannon's RP45 Katsu. Both teams will be racing in IRC One this weekend. They will be joined Mike Greville's Ker 39 Erivale III, and Edward Broadway's Ker 40 Hooligan VII, who will both be hoping to climb the class leaderboard in the absence of third place Stamina, which is competing in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup. Andrew Pearce's Ker 40+ Magnum4 will be making its RORC offshore debut.

In IRC Two, J/111 British Soldier, crewed by the Army Sailing Association, has the chance to extend their class lead but Sailing Logic's Arthur Logic and Nunatak both looking to leapfrog Scarlet Oyster and Pintia in their absence. Louis-Marie Dussere's JPK 10.10 will be looking to score well this weekend to climb to second for the season in IRC Three and to challenge Delamare & Mordret's Dream Pearls for the class lead. In IRC Four, class leader Noel Racine's Foggy Dew is on Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup duty therefore Robert Nelson's J/105 Bigfoot and Keith Thompson Sun Fast 3200 Nirvana will both be racing and with the hope to take the class lead. Bigfoot and Raging Bee will continue their battle in the IRC Two Handed Class and a good result from either team will secure pole position.

The RORC Channel Race, one of the oldest in the RORC Season's Points Championship will be another opportunity to experiment with setting longer courses for the faster boats. "During the De Guingand Bowl the Race Committee designed two courses along the same lines with the IRC Classes down to Class Two sailing the longer course. Class results are calculated as normal however an average speed calculation is used for the overall result under IRC" explain Nick Elliott, RORC Racing Manager. "On the whole this was a great success with the boats finishing largely together; we did learn a lot however and will use that to continue development of the concept."

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Start: 10:00 30 July 2016
Course: Cowes - Round Marks - Solent Finish
Distance: 100-140nm