Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Sir Richard Branson

#AmericasCup - Sir Ben Ainslie's next bid for the America's Cup may have secured the backing of Sir Richard Brandon's Virgin empire, as the Daily Telegraph reports.

It's understood that the billionaire businessman and adventurer – who recently hosted the Olympic sailing legend and his new wife, TV presenter Georgie Thompson, at his Necker Island retreat in the Caribbean – has been asked to invest in Sir Ben's namesake team BAR, set up to represent Britain at the next America's Cup race in Bermuda in 2017.

It's not surprising that Sir Richard might take an interest, being as famous for his past transatlantic and ballooning escapes as he is for his business ventures.

And he would be in good company, with Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone among those who have already pledged financial support to the British sailing bid on the heels of Sir Ben's successful turnaround of Oracle Team USA in last summer's dramatic head-to-head in San Francisco.

The Telegraph has more on the story HERE.

Published in America's Cup

RC35 Class

The concept of the RC35 Class is to bring together similar boats within a close handicap banding and to work with owners and crews to develop the best racing experience possible on the Clyde and the Irish Sea area. The Class is within a tight rating band (IRC 1.015-1.040) yacht racing will be in Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Q: What is the RC35 ‘Rule’?
A: Qualifying yachts for the RC35 Class will sit within an IRC Banding of 1.015 to 1.040. In 2017 it is proposed that a tolerance of +/- 0.05pts will be permitted

Q: Are there any other criteria?
A: RC35 takes the most prevalent IRC racing boats on the Clyde and groups them within a fixed rating band. Qualifying boats will have an LOA 32ft—38ft and displacement of between 3,000kg—9,000kg. The rule also requires boats conform to ISAF Cat.4 be anti-fouled and not dry sailed. A limit of sail purchases (2 per year) also applies.

Q: What is the RC35 Championship?
A: The RC35 Championship will cover 8 events (6 to count) and include events such as Scottish Series, Dun Laoghaire/Bangor and an RC35 Championship weekend. Each year the Class will make a commitment to one ‘away’ regatta as part of the Championship.