RORC Lifeblood
The recognition that clubs are ageing institutions and that youth is the future of any club is a given, and most sailing clubs operate their own youth and new membership programmes – with varying degrees of success. One of the earliest youth programmes at the RORC came about when the club was donated a 24-ton gaff cutter in 1945 by HE West which was given the name Griffin. This and later Griffins were used to introduce newcomers to offshore racing and one of the Griffins, an OOD 34, was famously caught up in the 1979 Fastnet. The boat sank but all the crew were saved in a mag- nificent nighttime rescue by the crew of the French yacht Lorelei – with the young Griffin crew’s liferaft disintegrating around them. The lost OOD 34 was replaced with a Hustler 36, but by then
the club had accepted that owning and maintaining a boat were a huge and costly exercise; with so many opportunities to race with RORC members the Griffin line was consigned to history. However, the club has always maintained the Griffin Fund, started
with the proceeds from the sale of the last Griffin and this fund has been used to support youth initiatives and other good causes.
Ten years young With more than a month to the start 70 boats have entered the latest RORC Caribbean 600. Entries show particular strength in the 50-60ft range with a good mix of design types including two Farr- designed Cookson 50s, Privateer and Lee Overlay Partners, both previous winners of this event. The Cookson 50 with its canting keel and moderate shape has proved an enduringly successful offshore design, winning many of the classics including the Rolex Fastnet and Middle Sea races – as well as the 2017 ORC Worlds which by contrast took place in very light airs. These two will have stiff competition from two other canting-
keelers: the powerful Ker 56 Varuna and the Elliott 52 Outsider which will both enjoy a course with more than its fair share of reach- ing. Frank Noël with his TP52 Near Miss and Eric de Turckheim with his Transatlantic Race-winning Nivelt-Muratet 54-footer Teasing Machine are two other highly fancied entries. In the 40-50ft bracket there are three stand-out boats, Giles
Redpath’s Lombard 46 Pata Negra is starting to show its pace, Quinten Stuart’s Infiniti 46 Maverick with its DSS foils still has untapped potential and Stefan Jentzsch’s Carkeek 47 Black Pearl has a quality crew and the ability to upset the bigger boats. At the front George David’s Rambler 88looks favourite for line honours, probably ahead of two-time race winner George Sakellaris in the Maxi72 Proteus. This race is becoming ever more
popular with multihulls as the complex course with fast reaching legs is ideal for them. Seven multi - hulls are among early entries includ- ing two American Gunboats: Stephen Cucchiaro’s Gunboat 60 Flow and the Gunboat 62 Elvis skippered by two-time Melges 32 world champion Jason Carroll. The race is unfinished business
The Paul Bieker-designed 53-footer Fujin can be expected to shake the tree rather hard with some of its more expensive multihull rivals during the Caribbean 600. The champion Int 14 designer who helped to rescue the 2013 Oracle America’s Cup defence with his emergency solution for rudder cavitation during the Match is perhaps the most free-thinking of the world’s current design élite. Fujinwas built in the BVI by Gold Coast Yachts for two friends from Bieker’s home city of Seattle
The last two seasons we have made another modest attempt
at introducing young sailors to the club by supporting RORC teams in the British Keelboat League, a UK offshoot of the Sailing Cham- pions League which has gained popularity over the last couple of seasons. A fleet of chartered boats, often J70s or J80s, are used for a short sharp series of fleet races with the winner being the team with the least points at the end of the weekend. The keenness of younger sailors to represent the RORC sent
positive shockwaves through the club’s main committee who responded with the formation of the appropriately named Griffin sub-committee, whose raison d’être is ‘to be responsible for the development of youth participation’. Nick Jones, owner of the current RORC Yacht of the Year, Lisa,
quickly got the ball rolling, setting up a RORC under-35 Facebook page (over 400 members in the first month), hosting a cocktail party at the London clubhouse plus a day of on-the-water offshore race training. Nick is also in discussion with David Franks’ Etchells Academy to see if there is some synergy to exploit there. The enthusiasm for big boat racing from youth sailors has taken all of us by surprise. Long may it continue.
60 SEAHORSE
for Shaun Carroll’s Morticia, a foil- modified and very light Seacart 30 trimaran. Another much fancied multihull entry is Greg Slyngstad’s radical Bieker 53 Fujin (issue 448) from Seattle. Although the seriously big boats are missing this year following the
devastation wreaked by hurricanes Irma and Maria, this race continues to defy the odds with the number of small boats increasing each year; with only a few coming from the local region this means some huge deliveries from all points of the world. With guaranteed wind, warm water and some of the best surfing conditions anywhere no wonder so many people return every February…
Brian Saffery-Cooper I was sad to hear of the death of Brian Saffery-Cooper, a longstanding member of the RORC since 1974. Brian was a larger-than-life character with a strong sense of humour and outlandish laugh that could be heard above all conversation. He loved his offshore racing and always sailed with his wife Pam as navigator on their boats called Dragon. Brian and Pam were twice part of the British Admiral’s Cup team and victorious in 1981. Brian started dinghy racing as a youngster at Tamesis Club on
the River Thames in London and went on to represent Britain at the 1964 Olympics in Japan racing in the Finn class. A lovely man who also did much to encourage newcomers into offshore racing. Eddie Warden Owen, CEO
q
Club page
INGRID ABERY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
