Cervantes Trophy Race - Drift to Drag Race
by Louay Habib / RORC 5 May 15:38 BST
3-4 May 2025
RORC Cervantes Trophy Race - Sun Fast 3300 Orbit © Rick Tomlinson / RORC
- Start: Saturday May 3rd, 2025
- Course: Cowes - Le Havre
- Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron
The RORC Cervantes Trophy Race delivered a dramatic shift in conditions that tested skill and strategy from the very start, followed by raw pace for a spectacular finish. The fleet ghosted off the Royal Yacht Squadron line in barely a whisper of breeze, but any thoughts of a slow passage to Le Havre were soon blown away.
Mid-Channel, the race ignited as a powerful north-easterly filled in, sending boats surging downwind at top speeds. As the 128nm race unfolded, the action intensified with the tightly packed RORC fleet locked in a fierce battle for IRC supremacy—dozens of boats, seconds apart, all chasing the coveted trophy and vital points for the world's largest offshore racing series: the RORC Season's Points Championship.
In IRC Three, four Sun Fast 3300s—each racing double-handed—excelled in the downwind conditions, taking command of the leaderboard. Orbit, sailed by the father-and-son team of Dan and Zeb Fellows, delivered an impressive performance to correct out and claim overall IRC victory, lifting the Cervantes Trophy.
Kestrel, with Simon Bamford and crew Ollie Grogono onboard, secured second place, while Game On, skippered by Ian Hoddle and crewed by Nikki Curwen, rounded out the podium in third. Zephyr, raced by Simon Toms with Josh Dawson, missed the podium by just 88 seconds on corrected time to finish fourth.
Orbit's Zeb Fellows, only 18 years of age, was thrilled to start the offshore season racing double-handed with his dad, Dan. Winning overall under IRC in a large, competitive fleet was an achievement to savour.
"The win is pretty amazing, really—it's a massive confidence boost to win against the tough competition in this race," commented Zeb. "We saw that the conditions would really suit our boat when the wind got up, and we knew we would have to send it! To win out of 100 boats is an amazing start to the season. I'm going to continue sailing as much as I can this year by taking every opportunity—I just love racing."
Greg Leonard's Class40 Swift claimed Monohull Line Honours with an impressive, elapsed time of 17 hours, 18 minutes, and 32 seconds. The high-performance crew included Rolex Fastnet Race winner Tom Kneen and offshore talent Jack Trigger.
In IRC Zero, the win went to Venomous, the sleek CM60 owned by Graeme Lewis and skippered by Gregory Pachany, delivering a strong performance in just over 19 hours.
In the Multihull Class, it was a head-to-head duel between two Dazcat 1295s. Didier Bouillard's Minor Swing emerged victorious in a match race against Peter Coote's Slinky Malinki.
IRC One delivered one of the closest contests of the race, with numerous boats taking turns at the top during the 128nm passage. While Gery Trentesaux's Sydney 43 Long Courrier took line honours for the class, it was Dawn Treader—Ed Bell's JPK 1180, co-skippered by Mark Spearman—that claimed the win after a thrilling tactical battle. Second place went to Sun Hill IV, the J/133 skippered by François Charles, with Michael O'Donnell's J/121 Darkwood in third. Long Courrier rounded out the top four on corrected time.
"Snakes and ladders," summed up Dawn Treader's Ed Bell. "We made a clean start, but like many others, we found the wind hole at Owers and could only watch as the fleet sailed back into us. The wind picked up and we were going well. However, during the night, we saw a light gaining on us. It was Orbit, and they must have been absolutely flying. For Dawn Treader, it was great to be back racing, and we are delighted with winning our class. We enjoyed some great hospitality at the yacht club in Le Havre and are looking forward to a fantastic season of racing."
In IRC Two, Figaro II Mefie Te, skippered by Guillaume Fleuriat, delivered a fast and furious downwind run to take both Class Line Honours and the win on IRC time correction. Second place went to Corazon, a J/133 owned by Robin Herbert and skippered by his son Lawrence, with brother Will among a tight-knit crew of family and friends. Revive, the Prima 38 co-skippered by Paul Farrand and Peter Allen, took third.
In IRC Four, Mark Brown's JPK 1010 Jetpack was untouchable—taking Line Honours and securing a commanding IRC win by over 20 minutes ahead of Philippe Benaben's Sun Fast 3200 Platypus. Third place went to Richard Palmer's JPK 1010 Jangada, racing double-handed with his daughter Sophie.
The under 30 Griffin25 team completed their first RORC race of the season racing on Sun Fast 3600 RORC Griffin. The eight crew on board are all RORC Members, co-skippered by Alex Barone and Will Jarman. RORC Griffin crossed the finish line at the same time as Griffin Chair Jim Driver racing double-handed on Nick Martin's Sun Fast 3600 Diablo.
Full results can be found here.