(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- This bank holiday weekend, 140 yachts, with over 900 crew from all over the world, will be competing in the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Myth of Malham Race. A huge variety of yachts will be taking part including, hi-tech racing yachts, performance cruising yachts and classic designs. World Class professional sailors and passionate Corinthians will be taking part, and 36 teams will be taking on the offshore race Two-Handed.
The 2019 Myth of Malham Race will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line on Saturday 25 May 0800 BST. Spectators can watch the spectacle from the Cowes Parade and The Green, and fans can also follow the progress of the fleet via YB Tracking on the RORC website.
“The forecasts for the Myth of Malham Race are predicting light winds at the start,” commented RORC Racing Manager Chris Stone. “Unfortunately, the tidal conditions may favour the faster boats out of the Solent, but without starting the race at 5 a.m. that cannot be avoided. The forecasts are suggesting that the wind will go to the west later in the race and strengthen, which should give some good results in the small to medium size and boats and good conditions for the sail back from the Eddystone Light.”
The overall and class winners are decided by the IRC Rating Rule and this year's impressive fleet has many successful teams from previous editions of the Myth of Malham Race.
In IRC One Class, Michael O’Donnell’s J/121 DARKWOOD and Nick Angel’s J/121 ROCK LOBSTER will be sailing in a strong class of twenty-three boats that range up to 72 feet! Both J/121s rate at the bottom of their class, which may be helpful if they finish fast after the initial finishers.
In the twenty-nine boat IRC Two Class, French teams will provide formidable opposition, including Gilles Fournier & Corinne Migraine’s J/133 PINTIA, which won the Myth of Malham Race overall in 2016. Giving them a run-for-the-money will be four J/122s- David Richards’ JOLLY JELLYFISH, Andy Theobold’s R&W, Clive Miles’ JANGLE, and Chris Daniel’s JUNO. Joining them will be Simon Grier-Jones’ J/111 SNOW LEOPARD.
The majority of the teams racing Two-Handed are in IRC Three, many of them are J/109s. Those teams include the Royal Air Force SA’s RED ARROW skippered by Gillian Burgess, the Royal Navy SA’s JOLLY JACK TAR skippered by Tom Thicknesse, Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN, Andy Oliver’s JENGU, Chris Andrew & Joe Sutton’s JIGSAW, Joppe Schepers & Jasper Heikens’ JOMALIJA, Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN, and Alistair Doughty’s JELENKO. Two J/105s are sailing- Tom Hayhoe & Natalie Jobling’s MOSTLY HARMLESS and Ross Farrow’s JACANA.
The forty-two boat IRC Four Class has several good J/crews; those boats include David & William McGough’s J/109 JUST SO; three J/105s (Paul Lewis’ RUM N CORK II, Stuart Rhys-Williams’ TAIKA, and Jerry Freeman’s JULIETTE); Chris Miles & Mike Sellers’ J/97 HIGH JINKS; and Alan Macleod’s J/92 SAMURAI J.
A number of the IRC 3 and IRC 4 boats are also sailing as doublehanders in the IRC Two-Handed Class. Those teams include the J/109s JUBILEE, Joppe Schepers & Jasper Heikens JOMALIJA, JELENKO and JUST SO. The J/105 TAIKA and J/97 HIGH JINKS are also racing in class. For more RORC Myth of Malham sailing information. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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