RORC
Club page
Bunnies
I’m writing this article with Easter rapidly approaching and the start of the RORC domestic season upon us, with us welcoming back the Easter Challenge after a two-year break. The event is always popular and goes back over 30 years, offering crews the chance for some vital pre-season training and fine-tuning. RORC provides free on-the-water support with a number of well-known heavyweight coaches who then utilise the Cowes clubhouse as regatta-central for video debriefs after racing. We divide the fleet into three IRC Classes, with both windward-
leeward and round-the-cans courses; there are also practice start sessions. There are plenty of prizes, both silver and chocolate, but the main aim of the Easter Challenge is for crews to get tuned up for the season ahead. The coaches give their help right through the fleet, with advice on rig set-up, trimming, driving and manoeuvres. Leading the coaching team is Andrew ‘Dog’ Palfrey who is
respected as one of the top coaches in the world. Andrew sees the Easter Challenge as an excellent way to start the season and from a coach’s perspective all about getting everyone back out on the water and looking at areas where teams may be the weakest. The absolute goal for the coaches is to help people and, in that respect, we welcome interaction from all the sailors. Following the Easter Challenge at the end of April we have the
Cervantes Trophy Race, a cross-Channel dash to Le Havre that is traditionally our first offshore race of the domestic season. There is some interesting history behind the trophies for this race. The Cervantes Trophy was first presented in 1972 by Bob Watson, who named his host of successful boats Cervantes. Together with Edward Heath (Morning Cloud) and Arthur Slater (Prospect of Whitby), Cer- vanteswas part of the winning British Admiral’s Cup team in 1971. IRC One will be racing for the Thalassa Cup, presented by
60 SEAHORSE
Mrs Alan Baker in 1967. Thalassawas a 48ft yawl designed by the brilliant Charles Sibbick (page 48) and built in Cowes in 1903, going on to be an extremely successful offshore racing boat in her day. Another famous trophy for this race is the Noreyma VII Cup,
presented by Ron Amey in 1969. Amey had a total of 10 boats named Noreyma, of which Noreyma X was part of another winning Admiral’s Cup team, in 1975, together with Robin Aisher’s Yeoman XX and Battlecry owned by John Prentice. The Vashti Goblet is raced for by IRC Three. The trophy was
presented in 1969 by Sir Maurice Laing, a previous Commodore and Admiral of the club. Meanwhile, further south the RORC Rating Office in Lymington
is flat out issuing IRC certificates for the new season. The UK IRC Championships is a highlight of the 2022 domestic season; we are delighted that renowned hardware experts Spinlock have boosted their support for the event with a fantastic selection of new prizes, including Spinlock Sail-Sense Sensors, Spinlock Deckvest 6D Life- jacket and Spinlock Deckpacks. Why do we love IRC – it’s a system developed closely with the sailors themselves, and not just by scientists and mathematicians, offering evenly matched, close racing time after time. All of the world’s major big boat races now use IRC in preference to ORC and for good reason. Here in London there seem to be more people about and this
is reflected in the numbers now using our London home. Bedroom utilisation is up, as is the use of the restaurant for dinner. I would encourage members if you’re thinking of staying at the club to book well in advance… especially if you plan to be in London for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend for which our rooms are filing up very fast. Jeremy Wilton, CEO
q
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 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120
