Update Numbers in home waters racing are, the commodore says, holding
up well and rewarding the care that goes into planning the annual slate of events. There are the usual Fastnet/non-Fastnet year fluctuations as well as perennial spikes like the St Malo Race. Nothing during Deb Fish’s term of office will come close to making
a success out of the Admiral’s Cup and the club’s centenary, how- ever. Created in 1957, the Admiral’s Cup ran every other year for 22 editions until 2001, before gasping for breath for four years and then finally expiring when a 2005 event was abandoned. Once the blueprint for international, three-boat, inshore/offshore competitions, the Admiral’s Cup spawned the Southern Cross, the Onion Patch, Sardinia Cup and Kenwood Cup before struggling to adapt to the new world order of fragmented rating systems and the blossoming of inshore-only series. The RORC was far from alone in finding it hard to update the recipe for a previously highly successful format. What of 2025 and the aim to run the Admiral’s Cup once again?
‘I’m confident there will be enough boats,’ says Fish. ‘The level of interest is high and I don’t think we will have to cancel through lack of numbers. My expectation is that it will happen.’ Having proposed the return of the Admiral’s Cup in 2023, the
RORC decided two-boat teams are more of an achievable goal than three-boat line-ups. ‘There’s a massive history that you want to learn from and respect,’ concedes Deb Fish. ‘Equally you have to move on. We wouldn’t be getting the interest without that history yet we need to understand why the event died off and chart a course to make it successful going forwards.’ Essentially this means getting a firm grip on the number of owners
willing to ship their boats to the UK. ‘It’s about working out who is willing to invest time and money to compete at the highest level. The move to two-boat teams makes a lot of sense. There is still much to address but an experienced international steering commit- tee has been established under our former Admiral, Andrew McIrvine. ‘There are strong opinions, owner-driver rules, professionals,
young crew, nationality or whatever. If we get a consensus, and if that consensus is different from what we proposed originally, and it’s what the people who are going to come want, then it’s what we’ll go with. There must be an element of “if you run it we’ll come” vs “we’ll run it if you come”, if we are to deal correctly with owners and other parties.’ Fish believes the level of confidence is high. With the Admiral’s Cup re-set, the RORC will then go to the market
for partners. ‘We are interested in sponsorship, but having the event up and running first will make finding one easier,’ Fish adds. Celebrating the RORC’s 100th birthday with the Admiral’s Cup
redux and another bumper Fastnet will be quite something. Adding to the sense of occasion will be an east-west Transatlantic from Lanzarote to Grenada, third cornerstone of the 2025 celebrations. Admitting the centenary is ‘a wonderful time to be taking over’,
Fish is at pains to point out that there is a ‘fantastic team’ supporting her. Admiral Mike Greville heads the Centenary Sub-Committee, working closely with Janet Grosvenor who must personify all that’s best about the RORC to the majority of its members – and countless others – for so many years. The Fastnet itself, so influential in the club’s creation, has already
been re-set and run to its new finish port of Cherbourg in place of Plymouth. The change created sufficient heartache to trigger an emergency general meeting when first proposed. Fish served on the committee throughout this period and remembers her own surprise at first hearing about it. ‘But over time I heard the arguments and thought about it. I became convinced it was the right thing to do.’ The enthusiasm from the public in France and tremendous show at the finish last summer confirmed the switch was a big success. Change in Deb Fish’s eyes is about ‘doing what’s right. But the
big thing is to take people with you… and there are all sorts of ways our sport will have to change in the future.’ A constant in her career from ozone to armour to Covid has been
numerical analysis and modelling. You can see why she and Craigie have proved so formidable on the race course, relishing the challenge of racing just two-up. ‘On the whole we’re not the fastest,’ she explains. ‘But we make
good decisions and we try and go the right way.’ There’s a mantra to take with you to the office of commodore.
18 SEAHORSE q SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
l A bag of dog biscuits… what Alan Payne sportingly gave to the Advance Australia Cup team in Newport, RI in 1983, in acknowledging the performance of his 12 Metre design l Choices, choices… two cool new 30ft IRC designs on the way from Pogo... and JPK (naturellement) l The former… lighter, scow-shaped, offwind ecstasy… l The latter… lower rating but more conventional… l It’s the Pogo… for us (again, ed) l Hike her down… while all the Ultim skippers fight to keep their ‘yachts’ manageable… l Armel nods off… waking to see 47kt on Banque Pop’s dial l Most are averaging… 30-35kt on a daily basis l Race leader… Charles ‘take it steady’ Caudrelier averaged 29.54kt for the first 13,007nm l Equivalent to… a 20-hour Fastnet Race sailed solo… l If only… Charlie Barr had lived to see it l Mid-Feb… things got crowded at Cape Horn as entrants from three round-the-world races converged… l Sailors from… the Ultim Challenge, the Ocean Globe Race and the Global Solo Challenge all enjoyed some convivial conversation over the VHF (sic) l Oh Clarisse, Clarisse… hard won, easily lost… l Alex Thomson’s… Vendée Globe skipper and veteran of gender wars with previous sponsor Banque Populaire... l Clarisse Crémer… stands accused of receiving outside routeing from husband Tanguy Le Turquais in the last VG… l When sponsored… by Banque Populaire (ugly) l Mr and Mrs Le Turquais… are both entered in the next VG l So quite tricky… then l We are delighted… to report that Bill Mattison’s Circus Minimus (issues 513/514) has been relocated to the Shelbourne Museum in Vermont… l The man God… put on earth to race iceboats is smiling l A great gentleman… we still have a few back-issues left l G’day and g’day… Comanche ends her Australian sojourn l In the… rental hands of skiff god John ‘Woody’ Winning… l Now heading back… to a Northern Hemisphere owner l Sad faces… at the Double Bay bar l 20 years on… J-Boats France restart J-80 production… l Not cheap, though… far from it… l Good for secondhand values… says the ed, grinning l Amac is the man… the 2024 Waszp Worlds entry tops 180 l Sold… the first AC40 to go to a private team... l The team…Gulari/Spithill/Slingers and Goodison l Just kidding… (maybe) l Come on, fellas… what’s going on with our boys and girls? l As Ineos challenge… turns into a byword for problems l A second… electrical fire on one of their three 40s… l Still struggling… with rudders and jammed mainsails… l And now… ‘allegedly’ the two one-design AC40s sold to them by Team NZ are not the same (meow! – said Dalts) l Please, guys… deep breath, big, big night on the tiles then back to basics feels in order (but wadda we know?) l Forza, Italia… if you want to see racing yacht history in all its glory take a trip to Trieste and slowly head south… l But the latest… gloriously restored classic piece of gleaming IOR porn is to be found in cooler climes… l Beautifully restored… by her latest owner, Edwin Visser… l ‘The Brava’… is still royal blue and still sailing fast in the Netherlands (for now) l You know the one… Pasquale Landolfi’s 1980 Vallicelli design made famous by photographer Carlo Borlenghi when she monster-capsized to windward… l Yip… now you remember! l Last-minute AC Challenge… from the Houthis!?! l Leaving some of those… with boats already safely in Barcelona very happy indeed l Liked Dan’s Carriacou tale (pg48)…? There’s a rapid 32ft example for sale at just $39,500? l All sorts of pressies… at
RaceboatsOnly.com l And for deep background…
EurosailNews.com
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