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Right: the lights of Lorient start to shine for the ladies of Team SCA as they finally lay to rest some of the scepticism that has dogged their previous stage performances. Team SCA’s slow start was quite possibly more down to the lack of Volvo race experience onboard, than a lack of strength or sailing talent. Inset: not too many times more now, boys. The men of Azzam drag yet another headsail aft as they wrapped up the 2014-15 Volvo race with a leg to go
Home successes
Internationally renowned as an event organizer the RORC rarely shouts about the successes of its own members on the water. The club has a wealth of sailing talent among its members one of which has just won the Volvo Ocean Race.
Ian Walker, skipper of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team would probably admit to a preference for inshore racing and has two Olympic silver medals to his name. Ian’s the thinking man’s sailor and his Olympic experience would have provided the boat-to-boat strategy so important with the latest crop of one design VO65s, with near equal speed, backed up by good old fashioned seamanship to make sure his team survived the tougher sections of the race. What future challenges are there for this gifted campaigner? While toasting Ian’s success at the club bar in London I was also delighted to include another RORC member, Sam Davies, whose brilliant win skippering the all girls SCA team in leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Lisbon to Lorient deserves huge praise. In any conditions this leg would have been tough, as at 650-miles it is a short sprint for the VO65s – just like a Rolex Fastnet race –where total concentration and maximum speed is required for the three days it took. Team SCA got an early jump on the fleet leaving Lisbon and never relinquished the lead, despite suffering severe headwinds and very tough conditions while beating up to Lorient through the Bay of Biscay. Sam, tired but savouring the moment of victory, still had the audacity to have a dig at the men in the race, quipping that ‘The conditions might have been man-breaking but they were not women-breaking.’ Only four female crews have competed in the race’s 42-year history and Team SCA’s victory was the first since Tracy Edwards (another RORC member) on Maiden won two legs in the 1989–90 edition. It was about this time two years ago that I met the SCA team in Lanzarote, where they were training out of the Puerto Calero Marina. I was looking for a host port for our new Transatlantic Race to Grenada and Team SCA gave the marina the thumbs up. This victory will have made worthwhile all that time on the water, pushing their Volvo 70 practice boat and themselves to the limit day in day out.
52 SEAHORSE Trentesaux wins big
Longtime RORC member Géry Trentesaux seems to be establishing himself as unbeatable this year in the RORC Offshore Championship, most recently adding the Myth of Malham and De Guingand Bowl to his Cervantes Trophy victory at the beginning of the 2015 season. His current JPK10.80 is proving to be a very good all rounder as the conditions for each race to date have been mixed. Géry also counts a number of Figaro sailors among his experienced crew, all no doubt very used to pushing their boats hard. Their sights are now firmly set on winning the 2015 Rolex Fastnet.
Each of the offshore races in this year’s RORC Championship are attracting big numbers. One hundred and forty six boats lined up for the Myth of Malham, 91 for the De Guingand Bowl and 115 have already entered for the upcoming Morgan Cup to Guernsey. The Cowes-Dinard-St Malo is always popular; with 140 boats entered with a month still to go to this weekend classic, we may yet see a starting line-up in excess of 150 boats.
Healthy alliance
I am delighted to announce that Musto have taken on the mantle as the official clothing and footwear supplier to the RORC. Going forwards, all club members will receive a range of privilege benefits on Musto products plus a specialist service in the production of branded team clothing. Musto will also produce a new range of clothing bearing RORC insignia and will supply various event merchandise including a special line for the Rolex Fastnet Race. Nigel Musto, a RORC member for over 20 years, jumped at the chance to work with the club. Having done five Fastnets he knows what being a RORC member means and the benefit of the association with the Musto brand. Nigel will ensure that our members have clothing that is not only comfortable to wear, but which also represents the ‘new RORC’ going forward, following our recent merger with the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes. Eddie Warden-Owen, CEO
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RICARDO PINTO MATT KNIGHTON
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