(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- With over 400 yachts crewed by
thousands of sailors from over 30 different nations, the 2015 Royal
Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship has the largest fleet
of offshore racing yachts anywhere in the world. This year the RORC is
celebrating its 90th anniversary and a record attendance is highly
likely.The first race of the series in the English Channel was the Cervantes Trophy Race, which started on 2nd May 2015. Organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron, the 114 yachts entered were set a 135 nautical mile course from the Squadron Line to Le Havre.
The first leg took the fleet downwind to Anvil Point and the DZB Buoy, with 20 knots of wind from the east. It was a terrific start to the race and with spinnakers set most yachts were enjoying double-digit boat speed. The wind was funneling through Hurst Narrows and the increased wind speed caused a good few broaches, but back under control, the competitors continued downwind to Anvil Point where it was spinnakers down and on to the wind for the 100 mile leg towards Le Havre. The forecast was showing a massive shift in the wind direction from easterly through the south to settle in the southwest. With this in mind, most of the boats stayed on port tack and headed for the Cap de la Hague in anticipation of the change. With the forecast changing and rain squalls running up the channel, the crossing of the Baiy de la Seine and negotiating the tricky tidal streams and shifty winds was to prove a crucial part of the race.
In IRC Two Class, local sailor Gilles Fournier sailed his J/133 PINTIA (rated IRC 1.095) to their class win by just over ten minutes on corrected time and was also second IRC Overall! Gilles was sailing with French legend Bruno Troublé (long-time J/24 sailor) who undoubtedly brought a lot of technical and tactical experience to the team. A J/133 sistership (slightly different configuration rated at IRC 1.109) was sailing in IRC 1 Class, David Ballantyne’s JINGS- she took a 5th in class.
Amongst the enormous class of 35 footers in IRC 3 Class, the J/109s and J/105s had a respectable showing. Richard Palmer’s JANGADA TOO was top J/109 at 8th in class, followed by Trevor Sainty’s J/109 JELENKO in 10th and Nick Martin’s J/105 DIABLO-J in 11th.
Sailing IRC Two-Handed as well as Martin’s DIABLO-J, taking 6th in class followed by Paul Griffiths’ J/109 JAGERBOMB in 7th and Elin Haf Davies’ J/120 NUNATAK in 11th.
"The RORC Season's Points Championship is the premier offshore sailing series in the world,” commented RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott. "The 2015 series will see the fleet swelled by yachts competing for the RORC blue ribbon event, the Rolex Fastnet Race, which once again has struck a chord with Professional and Corinthian sailors alike.
At the beginning of May the yachts line up to get racing miles under their belts working towards the 300 nm offshore racing required to meet the experience qualification for the Rolex Fastnet Race, as well as scoring points towards the Season's Points Championship. The Cervantes Trophy had a terrific entry list and a big thank you to the Société des Régates du Havre that has once again hosted the finish, providing a fantastic welcome for all of the participants."
Racing for the RORC Season's Points Championship continues with the 181 nautical mile North Sea Race from Harwich to Scheveningen, which starts on Friday 15th May. For more RORC Cervantes Trophy Race sailing information
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