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Brute force (no ignorance)… today she may be a relatively old-fashioned way to attack long-distance records, but when you wind her up the Verdier/VPLP 100-footer Comanche still goes like hell. This ‘onboard’ drone shot of this now eight-year-old Maxi catches her on the way to a new monohull record for the 3,000nm RORC Transatlantic Race of 7d 22h. Skippered by Australian Tornado king Mitch Booth Comanche took a full two days off the previous record (still a day behind the far more exciting and rather cheaper MOD 70 Maserati – ed)
Well underway (already)
As we enter February and the depths of winter there are always two positives… the days are slowly getting longer and spring is not that far away, which means the start of the sailing season in the Northern Hemisphere. However, some of our members have already been competing in our Season Points Championships by racing in the RORC Transatlantic Race which started from Puerto Calero in early January. This was the eighth edition of our race, but only the second we
have done with a January start. When you look at the entries this year – 30 boats, which is a record entry, sailors from 27 countries, past winners and competitors returning – you have to say that this race has come of age. Plus when you look at the breadth of boats we had, it is also one of the most competitive crewed transats in the present calendar. We had seven big multihulls, the stunning 100ft Comanche, with a further five boats in IRC Super Zero, through to three beautiful classics also racing under IRC including Remy Gerin who is racing his 65ft cutter-rigged sloop Faiaoahétwo-handed with Bernard Jeanne-Beylot. Racing a boat like this with just two people requires all-round skill, but the pair are not short on humour either… besides an exercise bike below deck (overkill, surely?!), Remy admitted to taking a huge quantity of broccoli onboard. ‘I love it but my children don’t, so this is one of my big treats onboard. I don’t get enough at home!’ Smallest boat this year is past winner Jangada – also being raced double-handed as usual. As I’m sure you’ll all appreciate these races aren’t cheap to stage
and without the partners we have this one couldn’t happen; so huge thanks to Calero Marinas, Lanzarote Tourism and Real Club Náutico de Arrecife, who have the trust to invest time, money and resources to supporting our club in running the event. The same is true for our partners in Grenada – Camper & Nicholsons’ Port Louis Marina and the Grenada Tourist Board. The glue that holds this all together is the RORC’s race team. Their
work doesn’t just start and finish with the race, there is a huge amount of preparation and safety checks of yachts; and I need to particularly thank Andrew McIrvine, Secretary General of the International Maxi
64 SEAHORSE
Association (IMA), for his help with this in Lanzarote. The IMA are another partner to the race along with the Yacht Club de France, who have helped and supported RORC in increasing entries this year. If you’re a RORC member reading this you should have received
your renewal letter and you’ll see that again we’ve held membership rates at the same level as last year. If you’re not a member and reading this I hope that this is further encouragement for you to become a RORC member… we offer great value. If you’re a boat owner, through your membership you get a 30 per cent discount on all of our race entry fees and if you hold a valid IRC certificate a further £12 discount will be offset against your club subscription. At the Cowes clubhouse we have started work on creating a larger
and more prominent new entrance off the Parade to replace the existing small single gate. This has also meant the need to introduce a rather stylish new set of sweeping steps leading up to the club! Including various internal improvements all these works should be completed for the start of the season. We have also submitted our planning application for the broader
development of the Cowes clubhouse which we are hoping to start work on in September. The development plans are on display in the Cowes club and they were also sent out to members in December. After the transat next up is the Caribbean 600 in Antigua – at
the time of writing we have 60 entries featuring an interesting Middle Sea Race rematch between Comancheand Skorpios. This year also sees the debut of our latest 600-miler, the Baltic Sea Race starting in Helsinki on 21 July. This is a very exciting development for the club in an area where we feel there is a real passion for offshore racing and a great opportunity for IRC to develop its presence. The last thing I would like to mention is that we have released
the dates for next year’s Rolex Fastnet Race, the original 600-mile event and the biggest offshore race in the world. The 2023 – and 50th anniversary – race will start on Saturday 22 July and entries will open in January 2023. A special anniversary not to be missed. Jeremy Wilton, CEO
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