RORC
Club page Man overboard
The report into the drowning of Jon Santarelli during the 110th edition of the Chicago to Mackinac Race makes chilling reading. Jon was by all accounts a very experienced sailor; a bowman who in the strong winds (18-20kt) was on the aft pedestal of the TP52 Imedi grinding for the mainsheet trimmer. It was while taking the slack out of the vang, which on a TP52 is adjacent to the aft pedestal, that a wave threw the boat violently sideways and Santarelli fell down to leeward and through the guardrails. He was wearing a lifejacket but it did not inflate automatically,
nor did his crewmates see Jon trying to inflate it manually. The crew accounts show that Jon behaved calmly in the water and did not appear to be injured by his fall (confirmed by the coroner’s report). This all happened in the middle of the afternoon soon after the
start of the race with Imedi making three attempts to retrieve Jon but to no avail. At no time did the crew see him panic until just before the very end when he slid below the surface out of view. Many questions were left unanswered when Jon’s body, which
was found over a week later, was cremated after the coroner’s inquest, along with his clothing and the lifejacket he was wearing, before anyone could check the status of the inflation system. The
those who do need it… Quite bizarre really. This year we have another high-level field at the bigger end of
the Solent scale while of the 40+ early entries (at the time of writing) only 13 are from IRC 3 and 4. Year after year I say that this sort of coaching, when the racing rules are relaxed to allow outside assistance, should be cherished by everyone whether they be front- of-the-fleet experienced or new to the sport. The legend that is Jim Saltonstall will lead a coaching team which includes Mason King and myself, all supported by North Sails experts who will be analysing the drone and on-the-water footage. Maybe we should move the event away from family-oriented Easter, then it may become more popular with the smaller boats in our fleet. Comments are welcome. By popular demand this year we have also introduced, with the
support of the RYA, coaching for two-handed sailors using the expe- rienced Nicky Curwen as coach. The recent announcement by World Sailing of a Mixed Double-handed Offshore World Championship in 2020, the introduction of a Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat event for the 2024 Olympics and the explosion of interest in two- handed sailing in the Rolex Fastnet (twice as many boats as in 2017) have prompted the RORC and RYA to work more closely together to monitor double-handed sailing in the UK. We have some very talented sailors in
the UK with both men and women also competing at the highest level in short- handed sailing. But as Ian Walker, the Director of Racing at the RYA, remarked, ‘It is still nowhere near the depth of talent in the French offshore racing scene…’
Season’s Points The domestic offshore racing season starts in earnest in May with the Cervantes Trophy race from Cowes to Le Havre with over 90 boats already signed on. This is followed by the popular Myth of Malham race at the end of May which mimics the first half of the Fastnet, with a race from Cowes to the Eddystone Lighthouse and back again. Again the fleet is big (over 100 boats)
with some very strong contenders for over- all honours both for the race and the RORC Season’s Points Championship.
Vincent Riou’s ageing but regularly updated VPLP-Verdier Imoca is currently being raced by Sébastien Simon while he waits for his new Juan K design to be finished at CDK. There are (already) no fewer than 18 Imoca entered in the 2019 Rolex Fastnet, proof if it was needed of the still unrivalled attraction of the original 600-mile offshore classic. Today the Fastnet is the world’s only major race with an Imoca start that is not French-owned and is one of six offshore races that make up the also predominantly French Class40 World Championship
Imedi report is also a reminder of how quickly a situation that under normal circumstances and with an experienced crew one would expect to deliver a positive outcome can quickly turn to tragedy where water is concerned. As the offshore season approaches this is a timely warning to
all offshore racing crew to check the lifejackets provided with the boat or to buy your own and take them onboard. Your life may depend upon this one piece of equipment. It safeguards not only you but also the rest of your crew who would be hugely affected by any accident that results in the loss of life.
RORC Easter Challenge Easter always heralds the start of a new domestic season. Billed the ‘coaching while racing’ regatta, the Easter Challenge continues to draw more of those in less need of the coaching and fewer of
64 SEAHORSE
We haven’t forgotten... Having received criticism that the RORC does not acknowledge the small boats in our races I must point out that in the Caribbean 600 report (issue 471) the relevant paragraph acknowledging the winners in IRC 2 and IRC 3 was removed by the editor of this esteemed magazine to make way for a photograph of the two-
handed overall winners of the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2013! As stated in my last column the 2019 race was a tough one and
we should congratulate all the boats that finished but especially the smaller ones who toughed it out to the end. So, to complete the story of this year’s Caribbean 600… IRC 2
was won by Ross Appleby in his Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster, the First 47.7 EHO1 owned by Andy Middleton finished runner-up, with Pamela Baldwin’s J122 Liquid third. Winner of IRC 3 was the S&S Swan 48 Sleeper, owned by Jonty and Vicki Layfield, who beat Trevor Middleton’s Sunfast 3600 Black Sheep. These are very different boats from very different eras with the Swan 48 revelling in the long upwind legs and Black Sheep enjoying the offwind legs where her planing ability came to the fore. Third in IRC 3 was Constantin Claviez’s Swan 441 Charisma. Onwards! Eddie Warden-Owen, CEO
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BENOIT STICHELBAUT
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