(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The RORC Season's Points Championship
continued over the May Bank Holiday weekend with one of the longest
races of the season. Starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, the
teams sail a 230nm race from Cowes, round the Eddystone lighthouse and
back to the Solent-- it's often seen as a "mini-Fastnet" training
session for many boats.
After last year's extremely windy Myth of Malham Race, this year's
edition provided a far more tactical race for the 120 yachts competing.
Staying in the breeze and calculating the best route for tides made all
the difference. The wind conditions ranged from zephyrs during the
first night to 25 knot gusts on the last day of racing. Most of the
fleet used the full complement of their sail wardrobe and, as many crews
were exploiting the race route as a Rolex Fastnet qualifier, the Myth
of Malham Race was a fine test of man and machine.
Prior to the start of the race, Todd Wells' J/109 JE VANTE observed,
"The big entry shows that a lot of yachts are using the race as a
significant part of training for the Fastnet. Depending on the weather,
this will be a particularly sanitizing event for crews at all levels.
Last year was incredibly tough but that is part of the attraction of
offshore racing, you either talk about it in the bar or get on with it."
Another J/109 owner, John Allison sailing JUMBUCK, was sailing the race
for the first time, though the vast majority of the crew are experienced
offshore sailors. "In my honest opinion, the first 24 hours of any
ocean race are easy, the next 24 the hardest, and then one normally
settles into a pattern that gets progressively easier as each day
passes. So maybe there is a case for saying overall, the Fastnet is not
as hard as the Myth of Malham," commented John. "Having said that the
race will be a good training exercise for the Fastnet, as it allows one
to get familiar with that coastline in race conditions. As JUMBUCK is a
new boat for us and for the race, it will bring the pleasure of bringing
a crew and new boat up to speed, not just against other yachts, but
also against weather and routing conditions."
As it was, the fleet set forth down the Solent from the Royal Yacht
Squadron line and it was a choice between the island or the mainland
shores to the Hurst Narrows to overcome adverse current. Then, between
Start Point and Eddystone, the fleet faced more foul tide and the wind
faded. Once round Eddystone some boats went inshore at Start Point on
the way back and it worked for them, especially as the tide changed in
their favor a little earlier than predicted. The run to the finish was
dead downwind.
Richard Palmer's J/109, JANGADA TOO, was second in IRC Two and won the
highly competitive Two-Handed Class. With Jeremy Waitt as co-skipper,
JANGADA TOO won against a 22 strong IRC Double fleet containing many
proven race winners in past RORC and Transatlantic races. "A very tough
race, I doubt whether either of us got more than two hours sleep,"
admitted Richard. "The wind was so fickle that we were constantly
raising and dropping the spinnaker and we didn't use the autopilot at
all. The race was very stop-start and required a huge amount of mental
concentration to work out the ever-changing scenario, especially with
regards to the tide. It is great to get our first win of the series."
A terrific battle for third place was won by Rob Craigie's J/122
J-BELLINO. Nick Martin's J/105 DIABLO J was only seventeen minutes
further back on corrected, good enough to take seventh in class. The
next J/109 was JAMIRA sailed by Mark Tracey and David Pritchard, taking
tenth just a half hour in arrears of the J/105 on corrected. The racing
in the Two-Handed class was incredibly close with less than an hour,
after time correction, separating 2nd place from 10th!
For IRC 2 Class, the top J/team happened to be Craigie's J/122
J-BELLINO, taking an amazing sixth overall against fully-crewed boats.
Just minutes behind them on corrected time was the J/111 BRITISH
SOLDIER, sailed by Henry Foster from the British Army Sailing
Association. The SOLDIER's performance was a tremendous improvement
over their initial outings on the Solent, in fact finishing 2nd
boat-for-boat in this enormous class of 33 boats!
Like their compatriots in the 2H class, Palmer's J/109 JANGADA TOO led
the fairly substantial J contingent home in IRC 3 Class, taking second
overall. Behind them were a "rogue's gallery" of fast, experienced
offshore J teams. With J's taking 11 of the top 20 positions, it was
anyone's ball game from Eddystone Light back to the finish, especially
having to deal with the Hurst Narrows passing the infamous Needles and
again having to make wind versus current choices heading down to the
finish line off the Yacht Squadron. Taking third in class was Robin
Taunt's J/109 JIBE. They were followed by Tom Hayhoe's J/105 MOST
HARMLESS in fourth, the J/109 JE VANTE (Todd Wells) in 8th, the J/105
DIABLO J (Nick Martin) in 9th, the J/109 JOLENE (Phil Nelson) in 10th,
the J/109 J-T'AIME (Chris Palmer) in 11th, the J/109 INSPARA (Tor
McLaren) in 12th, the J/109 JAMIRA (Mark Tracey & Dave Pritchard) in
14th, the J/109 JAZZY JELLYFISH (Kevin Armstrong) in 15th and the J/109
JUMBUCK (John Allison) in 17th. The level of competition in this fleet
was equally as tight as the double-handers, with just over two hours
separating the top fifteen. Thanks for contribution from Louay Habib.
For more RORC Myth of Malham sailing information
