Michael Boyd of the Royal Irish Yacht Club is in the midst of a long, interesting and successful sailing career in which he first came to international prominence with the overall win in the 1996 Round Ireland Race on the J/35 Big Ears writes W M Nixon.

With the energy of ten men and widespread international business interests, he was the ideal and popular choice when he became Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club in London on December 4th 2014, and the two years since have been outstanding for the club, with the Commodore setting a prodigious pace both afloat and ashore.

The Michael Boyd-skippered First 44.7 Lisa on her way to third overall, and best-placed Irish boat, in the Volvo Round Ireland race 2016. Lisa has since gone on to become RORC IRC Overall Points Champion 2016. Photo Afloat.ie
This has been supported by having the hugely-experienced sailor and administrator Eddie Warden-Owen as the RORC’s Chief Executive Officer. The irony of it is that while Michael Boyd cut his sailing teeth in Dun Laoghaire where his father was a noted owner-skipper in the Dublin Bay 21 class, Warden-Owen learned his skills across channel just 54 miles away in Holyhead racing GP14s to international level, and at nearby Trearddur Bay sailing the local Seabird Half Raters.

Thus it’s a direct Irish Sea cross-channel linkup which is giving the RORC its current buzz, and the synergy and shared enthusiasm between these two dynamic people has seen the RORC moving on to greater achievement during the past two years, with the publication yesterday evening of the season’s overall Points Championship reinforcing the image of an international organization on top of its game.

Eddie Warden Owen, CEO of the RORC

The RORC Season's Points Championship 2016 is the largest and arguably most competitive offshore yacht series in the world. Starting almost a year ago with the RORC Transatlantic Race, it consisted of 14 races where over 300 yachts from 15 different nations raced over 6,500 miles. The modern version of the championship is far from domestic as it includes the RORC Transatlantic Race, RORC Caribbean 600, Volvo Round Ireland Race, the brand new Ile d'Ouessant Race, and Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Irish interest naturally focused most directly on the Volvo Round Ireland Race in June, but we also had close links to the RORC Caribbbean 600 in February and the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October, with Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam! from Howth winning Class 3 in the Caribbean (which has since helped her to place third overall in class in the points championship) while the Middle Sea race saw Carrickfergus’s Ian Moore navigate the Cookson 50 Mascalzone Latino to a very clearcut overall win.

Conor Fogerty’s Bam! has placed third overall in the RORC IRC 3 Championship

But with the Volvo Round Ireland in June, it was the RORC Commodore himself who set the Irish pace, as he campaigned the first two-thirds of the season in partnership with Nick & Suzi Jones on the First 44.7 Suzi while he awaited delivery of his JPK 10.80 Audrey (named after his late mother). Racing Lisa in the Round Ireland, Michael Boyd gave a master-class in showing how to get the best out of a standard production boat when set up against some very special machines, and his third overall not only made him top Irish boat overall, but also contributed a mighty heap of points to help Lisa become the RORC IRC Overall Champion 2016. This is a prodigious achievement, as the other points were accumulated in steady, frequent and successful participation in the RORC’s regular programme of shorter events manageable within a long weekend.

This overall win and the IRC I win means that the Lisa team will, be leaving the awards ceremony in London on Saturday November 19th with a mountain of silverware, while another boat prominent in the prize stakes will be the IMOCA 60 Artemis Ocean Racing, overall points winner of IRC Canting Keel, which has been skippered through 2016 by Mikey Ferguson, who originally hails from Bangor in County Down, and has risen steadily through the ranks in the Artemis Academy.

The IMOCA 60 Artemis, skippered by Mikey Ferguson of Bangor to overall win in the RORC Canting Keel Class Championship.

And while we’re on the more extreme machines, another special award on Saturday November 19th will go to Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD 70 Phaedo 3 from America, overall winner of the Multi-hull Class and also winner of the Beken Trophy for Concours d’Elegance. We got to know Phaedo 3 very well in Ireland, as she took second in the MOD 70s in the Volvo Round Ireland, and found the Irish course such an attractive challenge that she was back in July to have another go at the new record which had been set by Oman Sailing in the Volvo Round Ireland race, and succeeded in shaving it by upwards of an hour or so.

However, with all fairness to the many star boats in the RORC season which graced our waters at some time or another, there’s no doubting that the people’s choice was Eric de Turckheim’s unusual-looking but extraordinarily attractive A13 Teasing Machine from France, which spent quite a while here as she did the Volvo Round Ireland and then went down to Crosshaven for Volvo Cork Week, through which she cut a mighty swathe.

For those of us who found teasing Machine irresistible, the great news is that she has been declared RORC Yacht of the Year for 2016. The citation says it all:

RORC Yacht of the Year: Teasing Machine, A13, Eric de Turckheim (FRA)

Somerset Memorial Trophy: Awarded for outstanding racing achievement by a yacht owned or sailed by a RORC member as voted for by the RORC Committee.

It's been an incredible year in distance travelled and success for Eric de Turckheim's French A13, Teasing Machine. After crossing the line in 11th place and a class win at the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the boat was shipped to Panama before being sailed 1,200 miles upwind to Antigua to be on the startline for the RORC Caribbean 600 in February. Another great achievement as the team clinched a class win in IRC One and finished third overall, only being beaten by two Maxi 72s. Teasing Machine was then shipped back across the Atlantic to compete in the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race for yet another class win and finishing second overall to an unbeatable Rambler 88. Following the IRC Europeans at Cork Week, it was on to Cowes to help secure a French victory in the biennial Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup in July, before an overall win in the inaugural Ile de Ouessant Race. This incredible season finished with another class win in the Rolex Middle Sea Race last month.

Neck and neck. Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine comes to the weather mark with Anthony O’Leary’s Ker 40 Antix during Volvo Cork Week 2016. Teasing Machine has been declared RORC Yacht of the Year 2016. Photo courtesy Volvo Cork Week/Tim Wright
Class winners for the 2016 RORC Season's Points Championship

IRC Canting Keel: IMOCA 60 Artemis Ocean Racing, Mikey Ferguson
IRZ Zero: Ker 46 Shakti, co-skippered by Christoph Avenarius and Gorm Gondesen
IRC One: First 44.7 Lisa, Nick & Suzi Jones
IRC Two: J/133 Pintia, Gilles Fournier
IRC Three: JPK 10.10 Raging Bee, Louis-Marie Dussere
IRC Four: JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew, Noel Racine
IRC Two Handed: JPK 10.10 Raging Bee, Louis-Marie Dussere
Multihull Class: MOD70 Phaedo³, Lloyd Thornburg
Class40: Concise 2, owned by Tony Lawson

Ireland's Mark Mills, the Irish Cruiser Racer Representative (ICRA), was among forty delegates from 15 countries descended upon Cowes, Isle of Wight, the home of yachting in the UK, for the annual Congress of the Spinlock International Rating Certificate (IRC) Owners' Association. The weekend was hosted by the RORC Rating Office at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse and the Royal Yacht Squadron, with representatives travelling from all over the world including Australia, the USA, Europe, Japan and SE Asia. Discussions varied from technical aspects of the IRC Rule, which is jointly owned by RORC in the UK and UNCL in France, to race management, measurement, and certificate administration.

Technical Developments for 2017

Simplifying the rating of aft rigging
As racing yacht design becomes more complex and varied, the ethos of IRC is to keep the Rule as simple as possible, protect the existing fleet and try as much as possible to control costs. With this in mind one notable change for 2017 will be a development in the treatment of aft rigging. In recent years it has become apparent that the established definitions for backstays, running backstays and checkstays do not suit all types of modern rigging arrangements. For 2017 IRC will not distinguish between these different types but will count the total number of aft rigging stays, which will simplify the application process for owners.

Addressing undesirable trends
A second change for 2017 reflects the recent trend of moving lead from the bulb into the fin. The IRC Technical Committee does not consider this trend to be healthy for the sport, so in future will be asking for a declaration of the amount of lead in the keel fin for certain types of keel. Members of Congress agreed with both these changes which will come into force on January 1st 2017.

The 2017 Irish IRC championships, raced as part of the ICRA National Championships, will be held next June in Cork Harbour.  As previously reported by Afloat.ie, the event is chaired by Paul Tingle of Royal Cork Yacht Club.

More details of the above mentioned technical changes, and the IRC 2017 Rule text and Definitions here

Racing across the Atlantic evokes the primal desires of any offshore sailor and the Grenada-bound RORC Transatlantic Race, departing from Calero Marinas Marina Arrecife, Lanzarote on Saturday 26th November, has attracted a highly diverse range of boats and crews to compete in the third edition. 

Whilst the Atlantic is only half the size of the Pacific, Mid-Atlantic is as far away from land as possible, save Point Nemo in the depths of the Southern Ocean and Mike Slade's 100ft canting keel maxi, Leopard 3 is no stranger to the Atlantic. Leopard has accomplished five separate Transatlantic records over the last nine years and has crossed the Atlantic 12 times, with this race being Boat Captain, Chris Sherlock's 30th crossing. Leopard 3 is very capable of breaking the current monohull record for the RORC Transatlantic Race, set by Jean-Paul Riviere's Finot 100, Nomad IV in the last race in 10 days 07 hours 06 mins 59 secs.

"The RORC record is the one we have not had and we want to add this to our list of achievements," commented Leopard's Chris Sherlock. "We are close to finalising the crew which will include regular Leopard crew with Olympic, Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup experience as well as eight guests who have a lot of racing experience and a big desire to race across the Atlantic. This combination works really well as it makes for a fantastic atmosphere on board.

"After a highly successful inshore season, winning at the Maxi Worlds and St. Tropez, Leopard is being put into offshore mode for the RORC Transatlantic Race. Transforming Leopard for the race is a big task and Lanzarote has everything we need for the preparation. The installation of all the safety equipment is mandatory and on top of that we have a different sail wardrobe and take spares and the tools to fix just about anything on board. Once we have started the race, the crew is on its own and we have to account for any eventuality. All of our guests are attending a sea survival course which is invaluable as well as a great way for the two groups of friends to bond together."

Maserati, synonymous with Italian flair and style, will be represented in this year's RORC Transatlantic by Giovanni Soldini's foiling MOD70. Maserati will be literally flying off the start line! This will be the first time the multihull in its new foiling set up has raced across the Atlantic, and it is something of a test bed for the international team.

Soldini has over 25 years of ocean racing experience and is probably the most decorated Italian offshore sailor of all time winning the Around Alone, Québec-Saint Malo, OSTAR and Transat Jacques Vabre. Soldini has completed over 40 oceanic crossings and since 2011 has been the skipper of the VOR70 Maserati, setting records for the Cadiz-San Salvador route and the New York-San Francisco Gold Route. However, the MOD70 Maserati is a new project only conceived this year.

"We are studying how this new concept will work and we have made some progress, but we are in research mode." explained Giovanni Soldini. "Our goal will be to try to fly as much as possible, but there are some conditions where it will be impossible. We went around the world nearly two times with the VOR70 but it was time to change and to do something different. Personally for me, this is a bigger challenge and foiling in the middle of the Atlantic is certainly challenging. This race presents a great opportunity to try to understand more about the concept.

"On the tiller, when Maserati is flying, is just fantastic. It is very fast but you feel safe and in control and it is something very new; to fly with a big boat is something that is very special. During the race we will be studying and trying many different solutions to see where our performance is good or not so good, but it is not always black and white. This year we will be investing in the concept for the future. Our first step will be to achieve stable flight in the open sea with waves, so that will be a big job."

Innovative foiling flyer
Infiniti 46 Maverick, skippered by Oliver Cotterell will be one of the smallest yachts in the race, but her innovative design means that Maverick is capable of tremendous speed. DSS foils, like short airplane wings protrude from the side of the hull, producing both righting moment and lift. Maverick also has a canting keel and the combination of these allow the boat to sail faster than the wind speed, in certain conditions.

"I have been watching the RORC Transatlantic Race since its inception. I think it's a brilliant ocean race that's been growing year on year. I have heard great things about its implementation, organisation and the back-up RORC provides for the teams involved," commented Skipper, Oliver Cotterell. "Maverick has been entered for the RORC Transatlantic Race because it is designed for performance racing vessels. Just looking at the entries and the interest so far shows that this is a serious race with some serious teams. We want to compete against high performance elite racing yachts and the best teams on the circuit.

"The speeds we are maintaining whilst foiling on Maverick are unprecedented for a 46ft monohull, but it is actually a very stable feeling. The DSS foils mean she not only stays flat, but she also lifts her bow so that as we navigate through Atlantic swells, the boat should remain surprisingly dry. Maverick was always designed with long distance competitive offshore racing in mind. Preparation for CAT.1 racing was incorporated in the design from the very beginning. The boat has watertight bulkheads and has been built with the required inventory since her inception."

The Royal Ocean Racing Club, organisers of the Rolex Fastnet Race starting on Sunday 6th August 2017, has relaxed the limit of a maximum monohull length of 100ft (30.48m).

The biennial event is the world's biggest offshore race and the last edition attracted a record-sized fleet of 356 starters. The 47th race is expected to be no different, with a diverse fleet of yachts from around the world eager to secure a spot when the online entry system opens at midday (UTC) on 9th January 2017. Such is the draw of this classic 600-mile race, it was oversubscribed in under 24 minutes last time round!

Following interest from a number of superyacht owners and skippers wishing to take part in this classic offshore race, the RORC Race Committee has elected to lift the 100ft (30.48m) monohull limit opening the race up to the new breed of fast and agile cruiser/racer designs such as Peter Harrison's beautiful Farr designed ketch Sojana, the new Swan 115's and Baltic 115's, to name but a few. These yachts are regularly seen on the superyacht race circuit and have always been eligible to race in another RORC classic 600-miler, the annual RORC Caribbean 600 from Antigua.

In the last Rolex Fastnet Race there were two monohulls at this upper limit of 100ft: Mike Slade's British Farr 100, Leopard who was competing in his 5th consecutive race and from the United States, Jim and Kristy Hinze Clark's Maxi Comanche. The 100ft Comanche was the fastest monohull finisher in 2015, but narrowly missed the chance to break Ian Walker's VO70's 2011 monohull race record of 42 hours 39 minutes.

#RORC - Royal Cork Yacht Club is bidding to host the IRC European Championship once again in 2020 after a successful inaugural event during Volvo Cork Week this July.

Royal Ocean Racing Club Commodore Michael Boyd made the announcement at the prizegiving ceremony as he unveiled Marseille as the host venue for the second annual championship over the first two weeks of July 2017.

In 2018 the event will move to Cowes on the Isle of Wight and the 2019 championship is tentatively scheduled for Scheveningen in the Netherlands.

Boyd confirmed that an application had been received from the Royal Cork to host in 2020, which also marks the club's tricentenary, and that RORC decision-makers "hope to respond very soon".

"Looking forward to Marseille, I would point out that the Royal Ocean Racing Club has strong links with French yachting, especially UNCL, and we are sure that IRC European Championship in Marseille will be a superb event," added Boyd.

Having taken a substantial fifth place in the weekend's RORC Cowes to Cherbourg offshore race following on from the early season good showing in the Caribbean 600, Round Ireland and Ile D'Ouessant races, lines Conor Fogerty and the BAM crew are nicely positioned for a top three finish in the RORC IRC 3 2016 points championship. 

Crew for the Cowes Cherbourg race were Conor Fogerty (Helm), Simon Knowles (Helm/Tactics), Paddy Gregory (Helm/Main Trimmer), Conor O'Neill (Main /Jib Trimmer), Julian Brexit (Trimmer), Anthony Doyle (Navigation/Bow/).

The HYC skipper and the crew took particular satisfaction in being the first Sunfast 3600 home and on IRC while also finishing ahead of a number of coveted JPK1080 yachts.

The next big outing for Fogerty and the BAM crew is the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October.

The penultimate race of the RORC Season's Points Championship often has a party atmosphere, it is the last race of the RORC season in English and French waters. About seven hundred sailors will be making the dash to France, in a variety of yachts racing under the IRC Rating system, and under the Class40 Rule. For some classes, the RORC Cherbourg Race is the season decider, for others who are already assured of class wins, there is the opportunity to race and celebrate in Cherbourg.

In IRC Zero, the duel between Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 51 Tonnerre 4 and Avenarius & Gondesen's German Ker 46 Shakti will come to a conclusion. Neither will be taking part in the final race of the series, the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Shakti leads Tonnerre by over 30 points, and the German team will only need to finish the race to be sure of victory for the season. The IRC Zero fleet for the Cherbourg Race also includes other fast downwind flyers; Farr 52 Bob, Ker 46 Lady Mariposa and Class40 Arwen.

In IRC One, Nick Jones' First 44.7, Lisa is likely to win both the class and the RORC Season's Points Championship overall, if the team can successfully finish the race. Alan Hannon's RP45 Katsu poses the biggest threat to Lisa. Past RORC Commodore, Mike Greville racing Ker 39 Erivale III has an outside chance of winning the class, but may well be focused on holding off a strong challenge from Edward Broadway's Ker 40 Hooligan VII.

With two weddings, a school, the British Army, and a virtual photo finish. Fact is stranger than fiction in IRC Two. The British Army Sailing Association's J/111 British Soldier, is just 0.2 of a point ahead of Sailing Logic's First 40, Arthur Logic, which tops the class. Ross Applebey's Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster, could have moved from third to first, but Ross will be getting married this weekend. Chris Frost & Elin Haf Davies, who have been racing J/120 Nunatak, tied the knot last weekend, and will interrupt their honeymoon to join the action, but the result will come down to a four way shoot out between Sailing Logic’s Arthur Logic, the British Army’s, British Soldier, Nunatak and Gilles Fournier’s, J/133,Pintia which has not been beaten in class this year.

“We have two of our First 40s - Arthur and Rocket Dog II - in this end of season shoot out and we are thoroughly looking forwards to it” commented Sailing Logic's Prue Nash. “Just about everyone who has been racing with us this year has been trying to get on the crew list for one last chance to beat British Soldier! The J/111 crew are a strong bunch of sailors and the Sailing Logic crews, together with skippers Olz Heer and Richard Oswald, have really enjoyed pitting their wits against them this season – may the best man win!”

“We are bracing ourselves for a seriously competitive and intense sprint across the channel” commented Captain Phil Caswell of the British Army Sailing Association. “Arthur Logic is sailing very well at the moment, so we know it will be very tough to hold on to a lead. It will also be a special race, as it will be our last on the J/111, before we look to replace her for next season. We’ll be bringing the A-Team, and in terms of strategy we’ll stick to the tried and tested squaddy proof method - sailing her like we stole her! Failing that the promise of French steak and red wine is always an excellent motivator to get there in good time.”

“Scarlet Oyster has never won class in the RORC offshore season and we won't be this year” commented Scarlet Oyster's Ross Applebey. “We already had a clash this weekend as my fiancée, Sarah, owns a Contessa 26 and the nationals is the same weekend. So to solve the problem, we decided to miss both, and get married. We will be back RORC racing in the RORC Caribbean 600 next year.”

In IRC Three, Delamare & Mordret's JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls leads the class by just 7.6 points, the team from St Malo will have a terrific battle with Louis-Marie Dussere's JPK 10.10 Raging Bee, who will be racing into their home port of Cherbourg. Raging Bee has all but secured the IRC Two Handed Class, but would love to add IRC Three for a fairy tale finish at the Yacht Club de Cherbourg. RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott, will be giving up desk duties to race on JPK 10.80 Audrey, skippered by RORC Commodore's Michael Boyd.

“I have not managed to do an offshore race since joining the RORC as Deputy Racing Manager in 2008, as I have either been involved in the organisation of them or had other commitments” commented Nick Elliott. “For the race I am imagine my position will be tea boy, as it has been a while since I have been further than around the Isle of Wight. Janet Grosvenor is looking after the start and James Bremridge will be greeting us at the finish. So I am not involved in the race management until Prizegiving. The Cherbourg Race always has a party atmosphere at the finish and I am very much looking forward to that!”

18 yachts will be racing in IRC Four including the run-away leader, Noel Racine, racing his JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew. The French team is also entered for the last race of the RORC Season's Points Championship, the Rolex Middle Sea Race. A good result in Cherbourg, if followed by a triumph in Malta, could see Foggy Dew win the championship overall.

#Offshore - Alan Hannon’s Reichel-Pugh 45 Katsu has emerged best of the three Irish entrants at fifth overall in the 400-mile RORC Cowes-Wolf Rock-Ile d’Ouessant (Ushant)-St Malo Race, which started on Sunday 14 August in the Solent to round out Cowes Week 2016, and experienced a wide range of speeds for the diverse fleet of 45 boats, writes W M Nixon.

Line honours at the French port of St Malo, with its famous fortified harbour, were taken late on Monday afternoon by the MOD 70 trimaran Phaedo 3 (Lloyd Thornburg), with the current Round Ireland record holder managing to stay ahead of sister ship Concise (Ned Collier Wakefield).

But while the big trimarans were comfortably finished after only one night at sea, the easterly breeze was fading and the smaller tail-enders – including the 1976 Half Ton (when Harold Cudmore-skippered) World Champion Silver Shamrock (Stuart Greenfield) – were only finishing today, with the famous Shamrock finally crossing the line at 9:05 this morning, thereby ending up with four nights at sea before they could relax in hospitable St Malo.

So near and yet so far: the main part of the RORC fleet crowded on the race tracker in light airs off St Malo at 1830 yesterday evening as they struggled to finish the 400-mile race from Cowes via Wolf Rock and Ouessant

The vintage Swan 37 Xara (Jonathan Rolls), which had been overall leader at lunchtime Tuesday when she’d been down off Ouessant, finally completed at 3:24 this morning to register 22nd overall, while Silver Shamrock was 24th.

As expected here yesterday, it was Eric de Turckheim’s wonderful A13 Teasing Machine that won overall by a margin of 3 hours and 20 minutes from the German Ker 46 Shakti, a result which, when combined with her second overall in the Volvo Round Ireland back in June, will be making the Machine a challenger for the RORC Points Championship.

It was a good race for northerner Alan Hannon, as Katsu was fifth overall and by taking second in Class 1 astern of Teasing Machine, she was one place better than the  First 44.7 Lisa which, under Michael Boyd’s command, was one place ahead of her in the Round Ireland.

Michael Boyd, Commodore of the RORC, was meanwhile racing his new JPK 10.80 Audrey round Ushant, and in a private battle with the third Irish entry, Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam!, Audrey was to have it by just 20 minutes to make them 9th and 11th overall respectively, while their placings in IRC 3 were 3rd and 4th.

Alan Hannon’s RP 45 Katsu shortly after the start of the Volvo Round Ireland Race at Wicklow in June, when she finished 4th overall

#Offshore - Take a classic GRP production-built offshore racer, well matured in years but still in basically good shape, and give her lots of TLC. Add a good wardrobe of new sails and other discretionary go-fast equipment. Then race her regularly with determination and skill, and every so often you’ll find you have a boat which, thanks to a sensibly low rating, can embarrass the new machines when conditions suit, writes W M Nixon.

Thus, in predicting the top ten favourites for the Volvo Round Ireland race in June, we included Richard Loftus’s vintage Swan 65 Desperado. The thinking was that, with strong winds forecast for the long slug along the South Coast, and with the marathon character of the race itself, a hefty big well-sailed classic Swan that provides comfort for her crew would do well in the long run.

Our thinking was right, but we picked the wrong ‘hefty big well-sailed classic Swan’. We should have plumped for Richard Mabley’s Swan 47 Sarabande, a fine boat that won Class 2, and would have done better overall (she was 15th) except that the hyper-calm just north of Rockabill saw her so stopped that she ended up pointing in the wrong direction. When the wind trickled back, it took so long to get steerage way on her again, and pointing towards Wicklow, that lighter zippier boats she’d been pacing with were now on the southern horizon.

In the current and rather intriguing 400-mile RORC Cowes-Wolf Rock-Ouessant-St Malo Race, which started on Sunday 14 August, the manageable sailing, and the regular slowbacks by adverse tide, have seen the low-rated oldies moving up the rankings.

The current overall leader on IRC is Jonathan Rolls Swan 38 Xara, which dates from the early 1970s. But quite how long Xara will remain in that overall lead is doubtful, as she’s currently struggling to round Ouessant while making just 1.7 knots over the ground. And second overall is Eric de Turckheim’s all-conquering A13 Teasing Machine, which is just 68 miles from the finish, and on course at 7.0 knots.

The tracker for the 400-mile RORC Cowes-Wolf Rock-Ouessant-St Malo Race at 1300hrs today (Tuesday)

Lying third is a real blast from the past, the 1976 Half Tonner Silver Shamrock (Stuart Greenfield). Winner of the Half Ton Worlds in 1976 under Harold Cudmore’s command, the 30ft Silver Shamrock (rating just 0.884) is closing in on Ouessant, but making a crisp 5.6 knots.

The three Irish boats in the race are RORC Commodore Michael Boyd’s JPK 10.80 Audrey (currently 14th overall and fifth in IRC 3), Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 36 Bam (13th overall and fourth in IRC 3), and Alan Hannon’s Reichel Pugh 45 Katsou (17th overall in IRC and second in IRC 1).

The new post-Cowes Week 400-mile RORC Cowes-Wolf Rock-Ushant Race, which started from the Solent on Saturday, saw the return fresh as daisies of Lloyd Thornburg and his crew writes W M Nixon. They’d flown in from Dublin after dinner at the National YC on Friday night, where they were honoured for their new Round Ireland Record with the MOD 70 Phaedo 3.

The celebration clearly hadn’t taken a feather out of them, as on Saturday they zoomed down the English Channel at the head of the fleet to round Wolf Rock off Cornwall. Then they headed south to negotiate the extremely tricky rounding of Ouessant with its many offlying rocks and tide rips, before sailing on along the equally rocky north coast of Brittany to St Malo. There, they took line honours from sister-ship Concise 10 (Ned Collier Wakefield) at 1618hrs this (Monday) afternoon, and it will be some time before anyone else is along to challenge them, for as of 1830hrs Monday, the next in line, Piet Vroon’s Tonnere 4, is still in the process of rounding Ouessant.

As for the main body of the fleet, they’re bundling up to round Wolf Rock, the group including Ireland’s Michael Boyd owner-skippered JPK 10.80 Audrey, 19th overall in IRC and third in IRC Class 3, and Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam from Howth, 25th overall and fifth in Class 3.