(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Summer Series Race 3 was a "full-on foam-up" in 25 knots of breeze gusting well over 30 kts. The long day race was a course of about 42 miles for the monohulls with a beat west from the Squadron Line to East Lepe, followed by a scorching downwind leg east through the Solent. After bisecting No Man’s Land and Horse Sand Forts, the downwind sleigh ride took the fleet to Pullar, north east of the Nab Tower. The final leg was a beat to finish at the Squadron Line.
In the fourteen-boat IRC 1 division, Mike O’Donnell’s J/121 DARKWOOD took second in class, sailing around the track in 5 hrs 26 min 24 sec. Over half of the class dropped out of the race due to the heavier than normal conditions.
The twenty-five boat IRC 2 Division saw the highest attrition rate of all classes, with five J/111s, four J/122s, and a J/112E all taking DNC's instead of facing the near gale conditions. In fact, only two boats finished after seven hours of sailing!
Of the forty-three boats entered in IRC 3 Division, just seven boats started and finished the 43nm track in just over five hours, nearly a 7.8 kts average for the race! Surviving the hellacious chop in the Solent was the J/88 TIGRIS being sailed doublehanded- Gavin Howe and Sam Cooper took a fifth place.
A similar story played out for IRC 4 Division, with just three boats in a class of forty-seven entries finishing the course in just over six hours.
The real hard-core sailors seemed to be in the IRC Doublehanded Division. Eight boats completed the course out of a fleet of forty-seven entries! Again, it was the duo on the J/88 TIGRIS (Howe & Cooper) that hung on tough to take fifth in class.
Full details of the revised RORC racing programme can be found on the RORC website, but in summary: permitted crew offshore can be up to a maximum of six people from any household or two-thirds of a boat's IRC crew number whichever is the least. Competitors are also reminded of the government guidance on social distancing and other Covid-19 measures.
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Summer Series comes to a conclusion with the fourth and final race scheduled for Sunday 6th September. Further racing with the club is set to continue in September with a new Two-Handed Autumn Series (4th, 26th Sept. & 10th Oct.) as well as the IRC National Championship (11/13 Sept.) and the IRC Two-Handed National Championship (12/13 Sept.) For more RORC Summer Series sailing information and full results.Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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