The 2019 edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will start on Saturday 3rd August 2019, which is two weeks earlier than the original published date. Unusually, the race will now run the week before Lendy Cowes Week, whose dates remain unchanged, starting on Saturday 10th August. This break with tradition, in consultation with Lendy Cowes Week, has been made for a number of … [Read more...]
Rough weather predicted for Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race
Twenty eight teams with crew from 18 different countries have started the 2018 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The cannon fire from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line signalled the start of one of the world's toughest yacht races. For the start at midday on Sunday 12th August, a cold front from the Atlantic provided pewter skies … [Read more...]
Entry opens for IRC European Championship and Commodores’ Cup and all RORC races
At midday on Monday 8th January 2018 entry will open for all Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) races, including the Season's Points Championship comprised of 14 races, as well as the highlight of the UK Solent season - the IRC Europeans and Commodores' Cup. Competitors entering the IRC Europeans (8-16th June) are invited to form a team of three boats with members of their own … [Read more...]
Concise home as Dongfeng Race Team leads VO65s around the Rock
Unchallenged, Concise 10 blazed into Plymouth this morning, first boat home in the 47th Rolex Fastnet Race. Tony Lawson's MOD70 trimaran crossed the finish line off Plymouth breakwater at 05:55:00 BST with a race time of 42 hours and 55 minutes. This time didn't come close to the overall multihull record for the Rolex Fastnet Race but it was still respectable considering they … [Read more...]
Classic upwind start for record breaking Rolex Fastnet Race
The Solent laid on 'classic' conditions for the start of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's 47th Rolex Fastnet Race. In brilliant sunshine and with brisk westerly winds gusting up to 20 knots, the giant fleet tacked up the western Solent before compressing through the usual bottleneck at Hurst Narrows. A record-sized fleet of 368 boats started the race, 12 more than two years ago, … [Read more...]
Can France make it a Rolex Fastnet Race hat trick?
In the last two editions of the RORC's biennial flagship event from Cowes to Plymouth via southwest Ireland's most famous rock, French boats have not just won, they have dominated. For example in the last race in 2015, Géry Trentesaux's JPK 10.80 Courrier Du Leon won by more than two and a half hours, and, despite racing in IRC Three, beat all of the IRC Two boats … [Read more...]
Rolex Fastnet Race . Fight to be first home
While the Judel-Vrolijk 115 Nikata will be the largest yacht competing among the 350 or so yachts starting the Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday 6 August, the battle for line honours glory looks set to be between two titans of the grand prix racing world. Finnish Whitbread Round the World Race legend Ludde Ingvall returns having previously put in one of the most … [Read more...]
Crystal ball-gazing for the Rolex Fastnet Race winner
Second-guessing the winner under IRC among the 340 boats competing in August's Rolex Fastnet Race is tough. The outcome of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial flagship event will depend on the weather: A brisk start should favour the big boats; a light start and lively finish the smaller ones, but it is not simple given the race's complexity with headlands and … [Read more...]
RORC Easter Challenge
RORC Easter Challenge: Season Opener The perfect way to get up to speed Friday 25th - Sunday 27th March Bank Holiday Weekend The Royal Ocean Racing Club's UK domestic season fires up with the Easter Challenge, taking place on the Solent over the Bank Holiday weekend of 25-27th March. For many crews, the Easter Challenge marks a key date in their diary, by which their … [Read more...]
Royal Ocean Racing Club announces new Transatlantic Race
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) has announced the introduction of a new Transatlantic Race starting in November 2014. The RORC Transatlantic Race will set off from Lanzarote, Canary Islands and finish in the Caribbean, at a destination to be confirmed. The 2,800 nm east to west race will act as a feeder for yachts participating in the 2015 RORC Caribbean 600, held … [Read more...]