Surviving the big breeze

25 knots gusting to 35 provided a lively day of racing at RORC' IRC Championship

Leaden skies and viscous squalls on the first day of the RORC IRC Championship held in the Solent, brought some really testing conditions. The mean wind speed was 25 knots from the southwest, gusting up to 35 knots and staying under control was a crucial factor. For some, failing to master the tricky conditions caused an unscheduled early return to Cowes. There was a whole host of retirements for the second race which was the last race of a grueling day. Race 3 was cancelled, with conditions such, that it was becoming hazardous for the Race Officers on the committee boats, let alone the competitors.

PRO Jamie Wilkinson commented: "Due to the Etchells fleet planning to race on the Hill Head plato, we used a race area slightly to the East, between Fastnet Insurance and as far up as Prince Consort for the larger faster boats. With such a huge difference in the boat speeds across the fleet, it would have been dangerous to race all the boats in the same area, so a cascade course, factoring in the tide was the best option."

IRC Super Zero

Race 1: The TP 52s were an impressive sight in the rough conditions, with Benny Kelly’s Panthera taking the first race by a healthy margin from Charles Dunstone helming Cockburns Red. Peter Winklemann’s Island Fling was in third place. Panthera sailed a great race and won by virtue of keeping the carbon flyer under control, to a better extent, than her rivals. Island Fling had the best start, but a torn spinnaker on leg three halted her progress. Colm Barrington’s Flash Glove, had more bad luck. The TP52 was racing with a borrowed rudder after snapping it during practice yesterday and things went from bad to worse, with a broken boom on the first race today.

Race 2: The team on Charles Dunstone’s TP52, Cockburns Red, will have enjoyed getting the better of Benny Kelly’s Panthera, winning by two minutes. They were the only two boats in the class to race and enjoyed a full-on foam-up, hitting downwind speeds of over 20 knots! A rough calculation, gives the boats an average speed over the ground of nearly 13 knots for the race.

After two races, Cockburns Red and Panthera are tied on overall points with Peter Winklemann’s Island Fling in third.

Swan 45 Class

Race 1: Glynn Williams, helming WISC, scored a well deserved win leading from start to finish. Nailing the pin end of the line, in clear air, WISC were able to head off down the favoured left hand side of the course with a clear advantage over their one design rivals. Bowman, Andy Oliver commented after racing: "We had a cracking start which is always a bonus, but in those conditions, it was all about staying upright, especially gybing downwind. Glynn Williams and kite trimmer Mike Stannard did a brilliant job today."

Tony Mack, helming McFly was second and Misha Mouratov’s, Murka 2 was third.

Chris Law calling tactics on Murka 2 was full of praise for the Russian owner: "We must have broached five times during the race, but so did everyone else. I give it to Misha for driving the boat so well downhill today. He did a great job in difficult conditions."

Race 2: Only two Swan 45s braved the conditions for the second race and they were both from the United States. William Douglass helming Goombay Smash, winning by a healthy margin over Dick Weisman’s Vixen.

This is the first time that these two yachts have come to the Solent and they handled the conditions very well. Goombay Smash in particular seemed to be enjoying themselves, practicing manoeuvres after racing in the central Solent.

However, Glynn Williams helming WISC will have enjoyed their win in the first race. The Swan 45 will be competing in their world championships next week and whilst they will not wish to get carried away with a single victory, their performance must fill the WISC team with confidence.

Tony Mack’s, McFly has been showing a lot of promise in training prior to this event and Misha Mouratov’s Russian team on Murka 2 will have taken some satisfaction from their podium place in the first race today.

IRC Zero

Race 1: John Shepherd's Ker 46 Fair Do’s VII won the opening race beating Jack Pringle’s Farr 45 Fraxious on handicap by over two minutes. Rob Bottomley’s Beneteau First 47.7 Pacific Interiors Sailplane was third.

Race 2: Gery Trentesaux’s Beneteau 44.7 Courrier Du Coeur showed a clean pair of heels winning the race by nearly six minutes from Rudi Floridor’s Sydney 39 Allard and Pacific Interiors. Sailplane was third.

Overall, after two races Courrier Du Coeur and Fair Do's VII lead the class with Allard in third place, but Fair Do’s VII owner, John Shepherd was rueing a missed opportunity as he explains: "The team sailed the boat well today and having competed in most of the RORC offshore races, we are used to these sort of conditions, but we lost a kite whilst in the lead on race two. We would have been in a very strong position besides that, but tomorrow is another day."

IRC 1

Race 1: A close fought battle saw two Beneteau 40.7s neck and neck for first place. Tim Spalding’s Love Shack holding on to win by less than a minute from Paul McNamara and Tony Lowe’s Incognito. In third place was Willem Wester’s Rogers 36 STS Antilope with Cowes sailmaker Rob Lark on board.

Race 2: John Michael Dean's Swan 46 Lowly Worm put aside the disappointment of not competing in race one by winning the last race of the day, by nearly five minutes on corrected time from Love Shack. Incognito continued their consistent form with a third place.

Lowly Worm, Love Shack and Incognito are the top three boats after just two races but John Michael Dean, owner of Lowly Worm believes the heavier conditions may suit his team: "We have had the boat for two years now and we have done over 10,000 miles in her including the Atlantic. We are used to heavier conditions and perhaps the style and build of the boat is more suited to these conditions."

IRC 2

Race 1: Mike Eaton’s, Seaquest RP36 Spirit of Juniper opened their account with a first in race one from Peter Scholfield’s HOD 35 Zarafa which was a mere ten seconds ahead on corrected time from rival HOD 35, Sir Ducktion owned by Roy William Morgan.

Race 2: Eamon Crosbie's Ker 32 Teng Tools won their first race of the RORC IRC Championship from Mike Ewart-Smith’s, J/109 Zelda with Zarafa ending a consistent day with third.

Teng Tools had the best results of the day in the class and owner Eamon Crosbie and two of the crew had an interesting trip sailing the boat over from Cork in just 48 hours, as he explains: "You could say we had two days of practice for these conditions!
Delivering the boat, we averaged ten knots all the way from The Fastnet Rock to Land’s End. It is great to be back and we are looking forward to racing in the Solent over the next two days."

Spirit of Juniper and Zelda are second and third respectively, after today’s racing.

IRC 3

Race 1: Mike Tattersall’s X-99 Electra won a hard fought race with Jackie Welch’s Elan 333 Elusive in second but only just from sistership Esprit, owned by Neil Vardy. Main sheet trimmer on Electra was Stephen Spiller who summed up a tense race, where the lead changed hands several times: "We had a poor start, but the leading pack of boats made a hash of the top mark allowing us to catch up. From then on in it was real snakes and ladders, with the lead changing hands, leg after leg. The conditions were pretty nasty and I would put our victory down to coping with the rough sea state and strong breeze. The last downwind leg, we goose-winged the jib, rather than putting the kite up. Our boat speed was over ten knots and directly towards the mark. We got round the mark in good shape with plenty of boat speed."

Race 2: Crash bang wallop, the big story in race two for the class was a coming together of John Symington's Corby 29 Gotcha! and Electra, resulting in both boats not completing the race. Elusive took full advantage winning the race from Robert Garlick’s J/92 Nebulas with Jamie Muir’s SJ320 Scarlet Jester in third.

Elusive, Electra and Gotcha! top the leaderboard in IRC 3. Apparently the damage sustained by the two yachts detailed above will not stop them racing tomorrow.

To sum up the day’s racing, the heavy weather conditions were a massive effect on the results achieved by the competitors on the first day of the RORC IRC Championship. Experience counts for a lot and perhaps it is worth noting that many of the yachts that did well today, also compete in RORC offshore races, where these sorts of conditions are more common.

A prizegiving for Friday and Saturdays racing will be held tomorrow at the Island Sailing Club, Cowes at 1830.