Over 100 boats set for RORC's Cowes Dinard St Malo Race 2022
by Louay Habib / RORC 5 Jul 2022 14:14 BST
8 July 2022
105 boats entered for the RORC Cowes Dinard St Malo Race © Paul Wyeth / RORC
Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with UNCL, Yacht Club de Dinard, Société Nautique de la Baie de St. Malo and the Royal Yacht Squadron.
The RORC Season's Points Championship continues this weekend with over 100 boats competing in Cowes Dinard St Malo Race.
The Cowes Dinard St Malo Race pre-dates the Royal Ocean Racing Club by almost 20 years, with the overall winner awarded the impressive, gold plated, King Edward VII Cup. Presented by the British Monarch to the Club Nautique de la Rance at Dinard in 1906. Most of the top teams from the 2022 RORC Season's Points Championship will be in action racing under IRC, as well as Class 40 and MOCRA Rules.
Teams from Belgium, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Poland will be competing. From the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, the RORC fleet will race out of the Solent to the west, then across the English Channel to the west of Casquets, Alderney and Les Hanois, Guernsey. Then the fleet will head south to the finish, outside the famous granite-walled port of St Malo in Brittany, France.
IRC Super Zero
Lance Shepherd's Volvo 70 is entered and will secure pole position for the season in IRC Super Zero by simply completing the race. Other rivals such as I Love Poland, Ambersail and HYPR are all missing the race to St Malo, as they are in the Baltic Sea preparing for the Roschier Baltic Sea Race later this month.
IRC Zero
A solid performance from Mark Emerson's A13 Phosphorus II may secure pole position in IRC Zero. The current season leader, RORC Commodore's HH42 INO XXX, was damaged and retired from the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race. Consequently, INO XXX will not be ready to defend their overall win in the 2021 Cowes Dinard St Malo Race. Eric de Turckheim's NMYD54 Teasing Machine is racing and is currently third in class for the season.
IRC One
Derek Shakespeare's J/122 Bulldog is set for St Malo, as is Jacques Pelletier's Milon 41 L'Ange de Milon. Bulldog is second in class for the season and L'Ange de Milon third. Both teams could leap-frog over class leader; Michael O'Donnell's J/121 Darkwood, which is in Ireland for Volvo Cork Week.
IRC Two
The largest class in the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race is IRC Two, which contains most of the teams racing IRC Two-Handed. 42 teams in total, with the top three teams in IRC Two all in action: Nick Martin's Sun Fast 3600 Diablo racing with Calanach Finlayson, Peter Bacon's 3300 Sea Bear racing with Antonio Martinez, and Gavin Howe's Sun Fast 3600 Tigris raced by Mike O'Donovan and Saoirse Reynolds.
IRC Three
24 teams will be racing in IRC Three. The overall leader for the 2022 RORC Season's Points Championship, Richard Palmer's JPK 1010 Jangada will be racing to St Malo Two-Handed with Jeremy Waitt. Jangada is also leading IRC Three, but also racing to St Malo will be Rob Cotterill's J/109 Mojo Risin', with seven on board. Mojo Risin' will be hoping to close the points gap on Jangada for IRC Three.
IRC Four
Stuart Greenfield's S&S 34 Morning After is the class leader for the season and will be racing double-handed with Louise Clayton. IRC Four has an impressive turnout including proven race winners; Francois Charles' Dehler 33 Sun Hill 3, Cooper & England's Dehler 38 Longue Pierre, and Jonathan Rolls' Swan 38 Xara.
MOCRA
Just one multihull is currently entered for the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race. Loic Escoffier's ORC 50 Lodi Group, which is from St Malo. Lodi Group is exceptionally quick but is unlikely to challenge the Cowes Dinard St Malo Multihull Race Record. Set in 2015 by Tony Lawson's MOD70 Concise 10, and skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, Concise 10 completed the 151-mile course in just 9 hours 12 minutes and 35 seconds.
Class40
Six Class40s from France will be in action, including Antoine Magre's Sam Manuard designed Palanad 3, which is on great form this season. For the race Magre will sail with two Irishmen, James Crampton and James Murphy and will also be racing under IRC. Palanad 3 can expect strong competition from Cédric Chateau's Verdier designed SOGESTRAN - SEAFRIGO. Marc Lepesqueux's Sabrosa designed Sensation Class40 Extreme, raced by Antoine Jomier, will make its return to RORC racing.
With over 100 hundred boats set for the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race, there will be a fantastic view for spectators on the Isle of Wight. Boats will start to gather off Cowes Parade from around 0700 BST on Friday 8th of July.
From the start, the RORC fleet can be tracked using the YB App for smartphones and tablets, when the boats are in AIS range.
For more information including the full entry list, visit here.
Results will be available with live updates at rorc.org