70 boats expected

A preview to this weekend's MeesPierson Yachting IRC Championship

Around 70 yachts are expected to take part in the MeesPierson Yachting IRC Championship - the inshore series organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC). Starting in Cowes, Isle of Wight on Friday 18 June, the series will consist of eight inshore races finishing on Sunday 20 June.

The Championship attracts the very best of the IRC racing fleet, and this year it has the added spice of being one of the events being watched by the selectors for the GBR teams for the forthcoming Rolex Commodores’ Cup. Amongst those trying to catch the selector’s eye are Kit Hobday’s Farr 52 Bear of Britain which was top boat in the inshore trials and Nick Jones’ First 40.7 Tarka which was the overall winner of the recent Myth of Malham Trophy - the offshore trial event. Other boats to watch who are hoping for a place in the GBR teams include Peter Rutter’s Elan 37 Quokka, Shaun Frohlich’s IMX 45 Exabyte III, and Jerry Otter’s IMX40 Exabyte II, all of which did well in last week’s Myth of Malham Race.

In Class Zero, up to six Ker 11.3s will be battling it out, including Nick Hartshorn in El Gringo and Robbie Cameron-Davies in I-Site, along with Adam Gosling’s First 44.7 Yes!, Mike Greville’s DK46 Erivale and Richard Matthews’s Corby 50 Flirt. In IRC Class 1, Nick Jones’ Tarka is racing 3 other 40.7s with Pete Newlands' Anticipation, Paul and Joanna Dentskevich’s Euphorix and Nick Lutte’s Shockwave. The Seaquest 36 Tundra owned by Donald Sharp and Kathleen McCormac and sailing in Class 1, has probably travelled the furthest to the Championships as her base port is on the Clyde. A numerically strong Class 2 includes three HOD 35s and four J/109s. Class 3 has two notable overseas entries with the French X312 Exile owned by Nicolas de la Fourniere and Giovanni Belgrano in his 1939 Laurent Giles design Whooper.

Two of the strong Irish Rolex Commodores’ Cup team, Colm Barrington’s new Ker 39 Flying Glove and Eamon Crosbie’s Ker 32 Voodoo Chile will be measuring themselves up against the GBR hopefuls.

Alex McBarnet Yacht Manager of MeesPierson Yachting commented: "MeesPierson Yachting are delighted to be sponsoring the IRC Championship and working alongside the RORC again for the second year running following the success of the 2003 event. We look forward to some competitive and exciting racing but most of all hope that everyone involved, whether racing, organising or simply spectating, have a great time."

“We are very grateful for MeesPierson Yachting’s sponsorship of the 2004 IRC Championships which has attracted a very strong fleet of many of the top IRC boats and crews.” said Peter Wykeham-Martin, RORC General Manager.

Yachts will be competing for the RORC IRC Championship Trophy, as well as Class prizes and RORC Medallions. A Final prizegiving ceremony will be held after racing on Sunday afternoon in Cowes Yacht Haven. There will also be a Pimms Party at the Royal Yacht Squadron Pavilion on Saturday with complimentary Pimms provided by MeesPierson Yachting, followed by the day’s prizegiving.

Entries

Yacht	Class	TCC	Crew	Owner	Type
Bear of Britain	SZ	1.315	18	Kit Hobday & Tim Louis	Farr 52
Erivale	Z	1.207	15	Mike Greville	DK 46
Swantastic	Z	1.188	15	Grant Gordon/Klaus Diederichs	Swan 45
Minx	Z	1.171	13	Andrew Ritchie & Alex Thomson	Corby 41
I-Site	Z	1.158	10	Robbie Cameron-Davies	Ker 11.3
Exabyte III	Z	1.156	15	Shaun Frohlich	IMX 45
El Gringo	Z	1.156	10	Nick Hartshorn	Ker 11.3
Kerisma	Z	1.156	10	Stephen Bromley	Ker 11.3
Blue Belle	Z	1.154	10	Michael Cover	Ker 11.3
Eclipse VII	Z	1.111	12	Doug Hassell	Humphreys 12m
Charley J	1	1.088	12	Charles Ivill	J 120
Freckles	1	1.085	12	Mike & Ann Riley	J 120
Bare Knuckles	1	1.083	10	Robert Gateshill	Prima 38
Tundra	1	1.079	9	Sharp & McCormac	Seaquest 36
Magnum II	1	1.077	12	Andrew Pearce	IMX 40
Anticipation	1	1.075	12	Peter Newlands	First 40.7
Euphorix	1	1.073	12	Paul & Joanna Dentskevich	First 40.7
Salvo	1	1.073	9	Peter Morton	Sydney 36
Shockwave	1	1.071	12	Nick Lutte	First 40.7
Tarka	1	1.069	12	Nick Jones	First 40.7
Deuce	2	1.054	12	Martin Gee	Elan 40
Sanguma	2	1.047	8	Chris Walmsley	Ker 31
Barking Mad	2	1.045	12	Stuart Greenfield	Swan 40
Voodoo Chile	2	1.044	8	Eamon Crosbie	Ker 32
Malice	2	1.04	9	Michael J Moxley	HOD 35
Quokka	2	1.039	9	Peter Rutter	Elan 37
Jeronimo	2	1.038	9	Jonathan & Lisa Goring	J 109
Capitali$m	2	1.037	9	Tim Harrington	HOD 35
Carpetbagger	2	1.036	9	Michael Ronson	HOD 35
Civils with Flair	2	1.032	9	Jim Macgregor	Elan 37
Jumunu	2	1.028	9	Alistair Ray	J 109
Timberland One Life	2	0.999	9	Jeremy Baker	SunFast 37
Glide-X	2	0.999	8	I M Dawson	X 332
Scarlet Jester	2	0.997	8	Jamie Muir	SJ 320
Gauntlet of Tamar	2	0.995	10	Royal Naval Sailing Association	Sigma 38
Leo Lady	3	0.961	9	Graham Nixon	Sigma 362
Software Mistress	3	0.956	9	Ian Maclean	Sigma 362
Exile	3	0.924	8	Nicolas de la Fourniere	X 312
Whooper	3	0.909	12	Giovanni Belgrano	One off
Sareema	3	0.898	8	Robert McLeod	Fulmar
White Mischief	3	0.888	8	Andy Hind & Mark Harris	Hanse 291
Too Steamy	X	1.175	12	Nick & Anne Haigh	Farr 40
Highlife	X	1.158	10	Peter John Rogers	Ker 11.3
Minnie The Moocher	X	1.158	10	Anthony Richards	Ker 11.3
El Syd	X	1.141	12	Ian McKinney	Sydney 41
Yes!	X	1.107	14	Adam Gosling	First 44.7
Panther	X	1.102	9	James Stableford	Mumm 36
Maverick 2	X	1.095	12	Dominic Chappell	IMX 40
Exabyte 2	X	1.094	12	Jerry Otter	IMX 40
White Knuckles	X	1.085	10	Mervyn Hughes	Prima 38
Closing Time	X	1.08	10	David Riley	Prima 38
Leopard	X	1.067	10	Philippe Falle	Reflex 38
Eximius	X	1.054	12	Paul Fuller	X 412
Steady Barker	X	1.034	10	Michael Brough	Bavaria 38
Beth of Fivestar	X	1.032	9	Guy Knight	J 109
High Tension	X	1.032	9	A Greenwood	J 109
Reckless Rat	X	1.001	8	Tom Peters	X 332
Scarlett O'Hara	X	0.993	9	David and Michael Rider	Sun Fast 37
Zebedee	X	0.993	9	Bill Howard	Sunfast 37
Great Scot II	X	0.986	8	Eurof Phillips & Barbara Mackay	Adams 10
Tsunami	X	0.87	7	Roger Patrick Swinney	Bolero T/R
Flirt	X	0	0	Richard Matthews	Corby 50
Passion	X	0	0	Paul Jones	Elan 40
Disco Inferno	X	0	0	Matt Abbiss	First 47.7
Flying Glove	X	0	0	Colm Barrington	Ker 39
Skip Jack	X	0		Fenton Burgin	Kerr 11.3