(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- A race around the Isle of Wight on Saturday 1st August marked the return to competitive racing at the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
133 boats took part with J/70 POWERPLAY sailor (and former J/29 owner) Peter Cunningham from the Cayman Islands taking overall line honors over the fleet in his MOD 70 POWERPLAY. “I have been in quarantine for 14 days, so that was a release!” smiled Peter. “That is the first time I have raced around the island. The sun was shining, a beautiful day, a great boat, top crew and a fun race. This was a fantastic way to come out of quarantine. We plan to do more RORC racing during August and September.”
The race of approximately 50.0nm started from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line with a course anti-clockwise around the Isle of Wight (e.g. starting west towards the famous "Needles Lighthouse"). Approaching high tide, the island shore was favored by much of the fleet due to tidal conditions. After beating to the Needles, the fleet turned downwind into adverse current. Staying close to the island shore worked for many successful teams. As the breeze clocked a little to the south, there was little in the way of wind shadow to the east of the island. The fleet entered the Eastern Solent, where a fresh breeze made for a fast beat to the finish.
Thirty-two J/Crews entered in the race, looking forward to their picturesque circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight. Sailing in the thirteen-boat IRC 1 Class was Mike O’Donnell’s J/121 DARKWOOD; they won last year’s RORC Channel Race and was competing with a crew of five. In the end, their circumnavigation took them 6 hr 38 min, good enough for 4th place in their first outing of the year in the insanely competitive "Fast 40" class in IRC One.
The twenty-four boat IRC 2 Class was a hodgepodge of old and new designs. In the end, Simon Bamford's J/111 KESTREL took 4th place while Stu Lawrence's J/120 SCREAM 2 settled for 7th position.
The enormous forty-three-boat IRC 3 division saw the J/112E's lead the rest of their J/Team colleagues’ home. Taking the silver was James Chalmers' HAPPY DAIZE followed by Bruce Huber's XANABOO on the bronze step of the podium.
In summary: permitted crew could be up to a maximum of 6 people from any household or two-thirds of a boat’s IRC crew number, whichever is the least. Competitors were also reminded of the government guidance on social distancing and other Covid-19 pandemic measures. For more RORC Round Wight Sailing Information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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