Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race (with JOG) Preview
by Louay Habib / RORC 1 Sep 16:34 BST
4 September 2026
RORC Fleet © Paul Wyeth / RORC
The 2026 RORC offshore season reaches its final chapter on Friday 4 September with the Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race (with JOG), an intense 75-nautical-mile sprint across the English Channel with three championship storylines running through the fleet.
The race is the final event of the 2026 RORC Season's Points Championship, the seventh and final race of the RORC Cowes Offshore Series and the deciding race of the 2026 IRC Double Handed National Championship. Forty IRC boats are entered, together with two multihulls, for the traditional late-season dash from Cowes to Cherbourg.
The first warning signal is scheduled from 1750 on Friday 4 September with the fleet heading west. Race fans in Cowes can watch the start from The Parade, Cowes. All boats are fitted with Satellite Trackers.
The YB Races player is free to view at: pro.yb.tl/cherbourg2026
After a season that has ranged from the RORC Transatlantic Race to the 100 plus mile Channel races and the Round Britain and Ireland Race, the sprint to Cherbourg provides a different challenge. The short 75nm race often remains open to ranking changes right until the final few miles.
RORC Season's Points Championship Finale
The Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race brings the 2026 RORC Season's Points Championship, the world's largest offshore racing series to a conclusion.
For many teams, the objective is bigger than winning the final race. Championship positions remain the product of campaigns built over months of offshore racing, with Cherbourg providing one last opportunity to strengthen a score or move up the rankings.
Several established championship campaigns are among the entries. Trevor Middleton's JPK 1180 Black Sheep has been one of the leading IRC One performers this season and arrives after fifth overall in the Channel Race. RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare's J/122 Bulldog has also produced an impressive series of results, including second overall in the Myth of Malham Race and victory in IRC Two in the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race.
Three-time RORC Season's Points Championship winner Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing with RORC Commodore Deb Fish, is another team that has accumulated strong results throughout 2026. Bellino won the Myth of Malham Race overall, finished second overall in the North Sea Race and placed third overall in the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race.
Rob Cotterill's J/109 Mojo Risin', Noël Racine's JPK 1030 Foggy Dew, Ross Applebey's Lightwave 48 Scarlet Oyster and the RORC Griffin Pathway team racing the Sun Fast 3600 RORC Griffin are among other familiar campaigns lining up for one last chance to score in 2026.
IRC Double Handed Championship Decider
Sixteen boats are entered in IRC Two-Handed, making the short-handed fleet one of the biggest and most competitive divisions in the race and there is also a national title at stake.
The Cowes Dinard St Malo Race opened the two-race 2026 IRC Double Handed National Championship in July. Bellino, raced by Craigie and Fish, won the opening round, with Nick Martin's Sun Fast 3600 Diablo second. The Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race is the second and deciding race of the championship. Both are entered for Cherbourg, but there is considerable depth behind them.
Jean-Eudes Renier's Pogo RC Midnight Blues arrives after an outstanding Channel Race, winning IRC Two and IRC Two-Handed and finishing third overall under IRC. The powerful design revelled in the strong reaching and downwind conditions during that race and will offer a very different performance profile from the tightly grouped Sun Fast and JPK designs.
Simon Bamford's Sun Fast 3300 Kestrel, Gavin Howe's Sun Fast 3600 Tigris, Mike Moxley's HOD 35 Malice, Simon Farren's A40 RC Warrior and Inka Luhrs and Richard Bretherton's Sun Fast 3200 Zanzibar also return to the championship fleet.
Richard and Sophie Palmer will race the JPK 1010 Jangada, while Phil Stubbs and Sarah Nicholson team up aboard Ed Mockridge's JPK 1010 Elaine Again. The latter won IRC Four in the Channel Race, demonstrating just how potent the smaller boats can be when the conditions fall their way.
The range of boats in the 16-strong double-handed fleet stretches from Jérôme Toutain's X-332 Eskil to Martin Tisdall and Oliver Milton's First 36 Juno, while Pascal Tuffier and Alyssia de Malezieu bring the Figaro II Tuf Tuf Tuf across from Cherbourg Yacht Club.
From 1,805 miles to 75
For a significant group in the fleet, Cherbourg will feel remarkably short. Only weeks have passed since crews completed the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, a non-stop 1,805-nautical-mile marathon that tested boats for days rather than hours. The Army Sailing Association's Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier, Kestrel, Tigris, Zanzibar, Andrew Tseng's Nicholson 55 Quailo III, Swan 44 Astrid and RORC Griffin are among the boats making the rapid transition from offshore marathon to Channel sprint. The emphasis moves from endurance and preservation to sustained intensity.
For the Griffin Pathway sailors, Cherbourg also provides another opportunity to race against some of the most experienced offshore teams in the RORC fleet after a season which has taken the programme from the shorter Cowes Offshore Series races to the extreme challenge of the Round Britain and Ireland Race.
Strong Anglo-French fleet
The race to Normandy traditionally attracts a strong French entry and 2026 is no exception. At the top of the IRC rating range is Géry Trentesaux's Sydney GTS 43 Long Courrier. The highly experienced French RORC member has an exceptional record in offshore racing and Long Courrier will be one of the favourites for the front of the monohull fleet.
IRC One also includes Black Sheep and Thomas Wilson's Mills 39 Zero II. IRC Two features six contrasting designs including Bulldog, Chris Cecil-Wright's Nicholson 55 Eager, Juno, Midnight Blues, Scarlet Oyster and Tuf Tuf Tuf.
The biggest division is IRC Three with 18 boats. Bellino, Diablo, Foggy Dew, Fujitsu British Soldier, Kestrel, RORC Griffin, Tigris and Warrior are among a class packed with proven offshore performers.
IRC Four has 13 entries and demonstrates the diversity that remains one of the strengths of RORC racing. At one end of the design spectrum are Jens Pace's and Federico Da Sie's Contessa 32 Alcyone and Gareth Penn's Contessa 32 Jemima of Farley. They will race alongside the 1972 Swan 44 Astrid, JPK 1010s Elaine Again and Jangada, and the Sun Fast 3200 Zanzibar.
Two multihulls add another dimension, with Didier Bouillard's Dazcat 1295 Minor Swing joined by Jonathan McColl's Shuttleworth 34 Shockwave.
From championship contenders to crews looking for one final offshore result before the autumn, the Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race provides a fitting finale. After thousands of miles of racing in 2026, one fast crossing of the English Channel remains.
More race information and online entry