Looking to the future (already) Club page
RORC
Remarkable… With the Rolex Middle Sea Race the last of this year’s RORC races the 2020 season is upon us with the RORC Transat- lantic Race from Lanzarote to Grenada at the end of November (which counts towards our 2020 championship) followed by the traditional season opener, the RORC Caribbean 600, in February. Our Caribbean ‘modern classic’ already has a high-profile entry including no fewer than three MOD 70 trimarans. We know that today many owners and teams plan their sailing
at least two seasons ahead and with that in mind the RORC has in recent years been publishing its race programme in advance. The ‘provisional’ 2020 season has been listed on the club website for some time even though the programme still has to be approved at our AGM in December! The programme is continually developed and one tweak ‘this’
year is the running of the Morgan Cup from Cowes to Cork to coincide with the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s 300th anniversary celebrations. The 2020 race – normally a round-Channel affair – will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron line on 8 July so that boats arrive in Cork in good time for the weekend celebrations and the Fleet Review on Sunday 12 July. Those so inclined can stay for the Cork Week regatta
fog, gales and Atlantic swell – and is guarded by no fewer than five lighthouses. In 2016 the RORC committee introduced an innovative idea that because of the strong tidal current, up to 9kt through the Fromveur Passage, boats could round Ushant in the direction of their choice dependent on flow. Benign conditions greeted the fleet in 2016 and the experiment
was deemed a success, but to cope with rougher conditions an alternative mark close to the TSS to the northwest of the island will be added in next year.
Offshore Worlds 2020 The New York Yacht Club will host the second ORC/IRC Offshore World Championships out of the club’s beautiful Harbour Court residence in Newport, Rhode Island. Following the first edition last year in The Hague it was decided that a joint-worlds should be held every two years and a successful bid was received from the New York Yacht Club. Racing will commence on 28 September and will include a mix of windward-leeward and coastal courses. For those who haven’t been to Newport it is the centre for yacht
racing on the east coast of the USA. This large, bustling town offers plenty of things for the sailor and non-sailor to see and do and New England is a delightful place to visit in the ‘fall’. Everywhere in Newport the history and heritage of sailing are on display and we know the New York Yacht Club will put on a great event.
Inshore Besides all the offshore races the RORC organises it also runs a successful programme of inshore races that attracts good IRC racers and one-design keelboats. The traditional season opener is the ‘coaching while racing’ RORC Easter Challenge in early April, followed in mid-May by the increasingly popular Vice Admiral’s Cup for one-designs and level raters including the Fast40 fleet, J/111, J/109, SB20s, ¼ Tonners and J/70s. If there is a fleet of one- designs that can muster more than 10 boats then they should get in touch with the RORC race team and come and join the fun. The IRC Nationals are the last weekend in June and attract a top
fleet of IRC raceboats. In early July the RORC are running the J Cup and at the end of July hosting the growing fleet of Half Tonners that race in the Solent for the Half Ton Classic Cup. 2019 has been a busy season with the inclusion of the Rolex Fastnet Race – 2020 is unlikely to provide any respite.
Not a place to lose your bearings… or your GPS. The Nividic light is one of five lighthouses that mark the outer reaches of the shoals of Ile d’Ouessant. Handled with respect, a close inspection of this breathtaking rocky coastline, ideally in ‘proper’ weather, should be on the offshore bucket list just as much as a lap of the Caribbean. Get the tides right though or you could be looking at it for a while…
or join a cruise in company on the agenda for the same week. Wicklow Sailing Club’s 2020 Round Ireland Race also starts just before on 20 June – another attractive option for overseas yachts who want to join in the Cork 300 celebrations.
A special course In August RORC are running the second Ile d’Ouessant Race. In 2016 this 400-miler attracted 40 boats who enjoyed the navigational challenge of the English coast west from Cowes to the Wolf Rock and a 120nm reach across the Channel before navigating the most complex and tidal section of the Brittany coast from Ouessant to St Malo. Ouessant, or Ushant in English, is the largest of a group of islands
marking the most northwestern point of France and the southwestern point of the English Channel (as well as the southern point of the Celtic Sea). To the west there is no land mass until Nova Scotia, over 2,000 miles away. It is a notorious maritime location prone to huge tides, dense
68 SEAHORSE
Terry Robinson 1944-2019 Terry Robinson was RORC commodore from 1997 to 1999 and was a leading light in the evolution of the current IRC rule, which today is used worldwide by nearly 7,000 boats in 30+ countries. In 1990 Terry and Sue Robinson first campaigned the Ron
Holland-designed Swan 42 Assuage which was purchased second hand and crewed by friends and family including their daughters Stephanie and Philippa. Assuagewas a familiar sight, gaining much success at RORC events and elsewhere. In 1996, hull #1 of the new Frers Swan 48 was launched to much
acclaim, and Terry (being very superstitious) kept the name Assuage. After his election as RORC commodore in 1997 Terry donated
the Assuage Trophy for a RORC mini-series which included the Fastnet, St Malo, Channel, Cervantes Trophy and Cherbourg Races. Fittingly, Assuage won the trophy in that first year. The mini-series was the seed that turned into today’s RORC Points Championship which is now the largest annual offshore racing series in the world. The Swan 48 Assuage won many RORC offshore races over the
years, perhaps the highlight of the Robinson trophy cabinet being the Swan European Championship of 1997, plus the runner-up prize in the Swan World Championships of 1996 and 2000. Terry led by example, both in his duties for the RORC and as
skipper of Assuage. His ability to inspire those around him and his total dedication to fair racing and seamanship were second to none. Eddie Warden-Owen, CEO
q
BENOIT STICHELBAUT
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