Strong line up for Red Funnell

80 entries confirmed for this weekend's Easter Regatta

With 80 confirmed entries for the Red Funnel Easter Challenge, the opening event of the RORC season looks set to be a real cracker. However, it is not just the number of entries that is impressive, but also the huge variety of yachts.

RORC offers a complete cross section of racing throughout the season and many competitors see the Red Funnel Easter Challenge as the opportunity to identify areas they need to tune up in order to have a successful year.

The changeable weather at this time of the year means a range of differing conditions throughout the weekend, as international tactical weather specialist Mike Broughton explains: “This Easter the Solent will be experiencing a really mixed bag of wind directions. On Friday there will be a weak occluded front south of Cowes. Skies will be overcast with a fair chance of rain and there should be light westerly winds of 8-12 knots.

Saturday should see a change in wind direction to easterlies, but this could change massively if a low pressure system over the Cherbourg Peninsular moves even slightly. Forecast wind speed will be less than 10 knots.

Sunday sees the low pressure system move off to the north east, roughly over Hamburg, with the wind moving to the north west and more of a gusty nature. The predicted wind speed will be in the 9-14 knot range and a weak front may arrive from the north west by the afternoon which could bring some showers.

In general, the competitors at the Red Funnel Easter Challenge should experience milder conditions than of late, with pleasant air temperatures but be warned, the sea temperature is still very cold at this time of year.”

In Class Super Zero there is a mouth-watering battle looming between three yachts of fifty feet or more: Panthera is a second generation carbon fibre Transpac 52 and among the crew is America’s Cup and Round the World sailor, Guy Barron. Panthera has been undergoing an extensive refit on the Isle of Wight by Anthony Haines of Alpha Plus who commented: “We are really excited about her first event. The owner Benny Kelly will be helming her for the Red Funnel Easter Challenge. He has chartered some high performance yachts in the past but it is great for the sport to have a new owner coming onto the scene.”

However Panthera will have stiff opposition, especially from Ger O’Rourke’s canting keel Cookson 50 Chieftain. She won her Class in the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race and their plans for the season include the SevenStar Round Britain and Ireland Race. Also Kit Hobday’s Farr 52 Bear of Britain will be pushing hard on the course and is never easily overcome.

In IRM five Farr 45s are racing including Shaun Frohlich’s Exabyte 4 which currently leads the Raymarine Warsash Big Boat Spring Series; Creative Play the Farr 40 makes six boats racing under IRM.

Also well campaigned yachts such as Nick Lutte’s DK46 Shockwave and RORC Commodore David Aisher’s Yeoman of Hamble will be racing around tight Solent courses over three days. There are also three new boats racing at Easter - Denise and Conor Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice; John Shepherd’s Ker 46 Fair Do’s VII and Mike Greville’s Ker 39 Erivale III.

Approximately 20 boats will be racing in IRC 1 which should make for some very busy start lines and will no doubt feature in Jim Saltonstall’s video debriefing. There are four Prima 38s and three Beneteau 40.7s who will without doubt be mixing it up at mark roundings. But this Class is a real cocktail of designs, ranging from the well campaigned Mumm 30 Asterix, owned by Louis Browne, to John Dean’s Swan 461 Lowly Worm enjoying their second season in the Solent. Edward Broadway’s Max Fun 35 Hooligan V is competing as well as two yachts brand new this year - Ian MacLean will be racing his Ker 36 Software Mistress with a crew consisting of work colleagues and pro-sailors of the ilk of Mike Broughton and top match racing yachtsman Ian Williams and Philip Wood’s Grand Soleil 43 Simply the Best is straight out of the bubble-wrap.

In IRC 2 about half of the fleet will be J/109s, including Andrew Allen’s No Naked Flames. The unusual name is due to the crews affiliation with the gas industry and they were also sporting some very amusing T-shirts last year! Full of fun this crew may be but they are also in line for a Rolex Commodores’ Cup spot for Ireland. The class will also be complimented by a range of other popular cruiser racers including three HOD 35s including veteran campaigner Peter Schofield’s Zarafa.

Peter Rutter’s Elan 37 Quokka and Jim McGregor’s Elan 40 Flair IV will add another chapter to their on-going duel and Chris and Anna Neve will be racing No Doubt, a First 34.7 which is a Rolex Commodores’ Cup trialist.

The strength of IRC racing is exemplified by a huge variety of boats racing this Easter, from new high performance yachts to traditionally built boats and the competition will be just as hard in IRC 3. An interesting duel will be between Robin Holland’s Corafin and John Cowden’s Fresh Herring, both are Contessa 32s, a design that has been racing since 1971 and still extremely popular.

The Red Funnel Easter Challenge is set to be a fascinating event with some really eye catching new boats and a wide spectrum of yachts. The entries have eclipsed those of last year and something approaching 800 people will be competing at the event based in Cowes.

The stage is set for a great start to a busy year of RORC racing. To all competitors and spectators a very happy Easter from the Royal Ocean Racing Club!

Entries:

IRM
GBR745R	Werewolf	IRM	A	1.23	E		Jerry Otter	Farr 45
GBR98R	Creative Play	X	A	0.00			H2O Yachting	Farr 40
GBR1445R	Audacious	X	A	0.00			Jon Pegg	Farr 45
GBR8448R	Rebel	X	A	1.24	E		David Franks	Farr 45
GBR5955T	John Merricks	X	A	1.23	E		Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme	Farr 45
	Exabyte 4	X	A				Shaun Frohlich	Farr 45
IRC
GBR521R	Bear of Britain	SZ	C	1.32	E	18	Kit Hobday	Farr 52
GBR46L	Shockwave	Z	C	1.21	E	15	Nick Lutte	DK46
GBR3935R	Hooligan V	1	C	1.10	E	9	Edward Broadway	Max Fun 35
GBR2740R	Mankie	1	C	1.09	E	12	Jack Pringle	IMX 40
GBR4639R	Lowly Worm	1	C	1.09	E	15	John Dean	Swan 461
GBR1381R	Mostly Harmless	1	C	1.08	E	10	Tom Hayhoe	Prima
GBR6510N	Serendip	1	C	1.08	E	10	Paul King	Prima 38
GBR9863	In X Celsis	1	C	1.07	E	12	Peter Jones	X 119
GBR9389R	Tiger	1	C	1.07		10	Steven Winstanley	Reflex 38
GBR7003T	First Crusader	1	C	1.07	E	12	Ric Searle	First 40.7
GBR7386R	Lynx	1	C	1.06		10	Anna Rockall	Reflex 38
GBR7207T	Playing Around	1	C	1.06		12	Peter Robson	Beneteau First 40.7
GBR7080T	Tarka	1	C	1.06	E	12	Guy Prest	First 40.7
GBR7031T	Sanguma	2	C	1.04	E	8	Chris Walmsley/Thoms	Ker 31
GBR9694T	J2eau	2	C	1.04		9	Steve Maine	J 109
GBR1037L	Quokka	2	C	1.04		9	Peter Rutter	Elan 37
IRL1090	Blondie	2	C	1.04	E	9	David Whitehouse	J 109
GBR979R	Malice	2	C	1.03		9	Mike Moxley	HOD 35
GBR7714R	White Knight of Wessex	2	C	1.03	E	9	Mark Neville	HOD 35
GBR4709R	Jambo	2	C	1.03		9	Nick Fry/Kate Buckingham	J 109
GBR5203R	La Bayadere	2	C	1.03		9	Muller von Blumencron	First 36.7
GBR4909R	High Tension	2	C	1.03	E	9	John Cronk	J 109
GBR4809R	Jacob's Ladder	2	C	1.03		9	David Hunt	J 109
GBR6909R	Jugular	2	C	1.03		9	John Pickles	J 109
GBR9487R	Jumunu	2	C	1.03	E	10	Iain Fenna	J 109
GBR1347R	No Doubt	2	C	1.02	E	8	Chris and Hannah Neve	First 34.7
GBR7707T	Fay-J	2	C	1.02		9	Paul Griffiths	J 105
GBR7341R	Eilidh	2	C	1.00	E	8	Chris Bowles	Grand Soleil 34.1
GBR9395R	Elusive	3	C	0.98	E	8	Jackie Welch and Robert Dobson	Elan 333
GBR9887	Electra	3	C	0.96		8	Michael Tattersall	X-99 MOD
GBR4365T	Dean and Dyball Enigma	3	C	0.95		9	Ian Braham	MG 346
GBR9563R	Sonic Boom	3	C	0.95		8	Simon Brady	First 31.7
GBR4503	Shadowfax	3	C	0.93	E	8	Andy Johns	Sigma 33
GBR2958	Corafin	3	C	0.87	E	8	Robin Holland	Contessa 32
GBR3278	Fresh Herring	3	C	0.87	E	8	John Corden	Contessa 32
GBR1997L	Panthera	X	C	1.33		18	Benny Kelly	TP 52
IRL5005	Chieftain	X	C	1.32	E	18	Ger O Rourke	Sloop
GBR2R	Fidessa Fastwave	X	C	1.21	E	15	Chris Brown/Peter Harding	DK 46
GBR4601L	Fair Do's VII	X	C	1.19	E	15	John Shepherd	Ker 46
GBR124	Yeoman of Hamble	X	C	1.17	E	14	David Aisher	JV 44
GBR236R	Erivale III	X	C	1.12	E		Mike Greville	Ker 39
IRL2007	Jump Juice	X	C	1.11		10	Conor & Denise Phelan	Ker 37
GBR560	Simply the Best	X	C	1.10	E	13	Philip Wood	Grand Soleil 43
GBR1540R	Maverick 2	X	C	1.09	E		Dominic Chappell	IMX 40
GBR79R	Software Mistress	X	C	1.09	E	10	Ian Maclean	Ker 36
GBR3093R	Joules Asterix	X	C	1.09	E	8	Louis Browne	Mumm 30
IRL3008	Blondie	X	C	1.08	E	9	Eamonn Rohan	Corby One
GBR6513N	Longbow	X	C	1.08	E	10	ASA	Prima 38
GBR6690R	Panther	X	C	1.08	E	10	James Stableford	Mumm 36
GBR38R	Bornslippy 2	X	C	1.08	E	10	Julian Bates	Prima 38
GBR9308T	Seaquest	X	C	1.08		10	Hamish Mackay	Seaquest 36
NED332	Heart of Gold	X	C	1.07		8	Gary Shaffer	Mumm 30
GBR7383R	Puma Logic	X	C	1.07		10	Sailing Logic	Reflex 38
GBR4811R	Leo Lady	X	C	1.04		12	Graham Nixon	Elan 40
GBR1404R	Flair IV	X	C	1.04	E	12	Jim Macgregor	Elan 40
GBR7712R	Zarafa	X	C	1.04	E	9	Peter Scholfield	HOD 35
GBR9040T	Eye2Eye	X	C	1.03		9	Ian Hayes/Christine Simpson	Dehler 36
GBR9129T	Tigger 2	X	C	1.03		9	Adrian Ross	First 36.7
GBR6895T	Xcitable	X	C	1.03	E	9	Peter Hodgkinson / Sarah Bailey	X 362
GBR709R	Jo Jo Gunne	X	C	1.01	E	9	Richard Creer	J 109
GBR3782R	Zebedee	X	C	1.00	E	9	Bill Howard	Sunfast 37
GBR5678T	Scarlet Jester	X	C	1.00		8	Jamie Muir	SJ320
GBR8500R	Brightwork	X	C	1.00	E	8	Bob Baker	X332
GBR9648R	X Ploiter	X	C	0.99	E	8	Steve Blake	X 332
GBR2912R	No Retreat	X	C	0.99	E	7	David Riley	Corby 29
GBR982R	Bombardier	X	C	0.98		8	Andrew Pickersgill	Elan 333
GBR1622T	Tangent Minus 1	X	C	0.95	E	9	Paul Aisher	MG 335
GBR9140	Nazca II	X	C	0.95	E	9	Mike Wilkinson	OOD 34
GBR9205R	Diablo J	X	C	0.00		0	Nick Martin/Cressida Robson	J 105
GBR8797T	Dragon of Hamble	X	C			17	Gwilym Evans	First 44.7
GBR2L	Beth	X	C			9	James George	J 109
IRL11109	No Naked flames	X	C			9	Andrew Allen	J 109