#antix –  Winner of IRC One was once again Anthony O'Leary's Antix in today's conclusion of RORC's Easter Challenge writes James Boyd. However this year the Irish team faced a new challenge having exchanged their beloved silver hulled Ker 39 - which has twice taken them to Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup victory - for Marc Glimcher's red-hulled Catapult, the 'big boat' in their winning team last year.

The turboed Ker 40 is an asymmetric boat, a significant change from the previous Antix observed O'Leary: "It is completely different, but we have been sailing smaller asymmetric boats, the 1720s, for a long time. It goes around the track a lot faster, especially downwind."

Fortunately some of the Antix regular crew, including O'Leary's Olympic Star sailor son Peter, raced on Catapult last year and were able to show Dad the ropes.

"Yesterday it was exciting, great fun to get four races and we had plenty of competition from Tokoloshe and Baraka," continued O'Leary. "In Class One there seems to be more fast 40s than the previous generation boats now." The new Antix has a full season ahead, culminating in the Rolex Fastnet Race.

While the sun came out for the final day of the RORC Easter Challenge, sadly the wind failed to materialise on the Solent and at 1130 BST, Principal Race Office Stuart Childerley hoisted the AP over A announcing an end to the regatta 

Fortunately the RORC Easter Challenge is a 'coaching regatta' and good use was made of the lost time at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse where Jim Saltonstall's seminar on the Racing Rules of Sailing was delivered to another packed house.

The prizegiving followed, held outside on the Club's terrace where the main silverware was presented, along with a considerable tonnage of Easter eggs.

Surprisingly, IRC Two was won by a 20 year old Mumm 36, albeit one that has been much tweaked and 'IRC-ed' along the way, including the fitting of a swept-back spreader rig. Simon Henning and his crew from Guernsey on Alice are regulars at the RORC Easter Challenge and this weekend beat Peter Morton's JND 35, Salvo to class honours.

"Yesterday was quite difficult, very shifty and up and down, so it was quite hard and I was getting shouted at a lot by my son Mike who does the tactics!" recalled Henning. While disappointed not to race today, the Alice crew enjoyed the elite level coaching from Jim Saltonstall and the North U Regatta Services double act of Chuck Allen and Andreas Josenhan.

"It is very interesting to hear what these guys have to say," said Henning. "It rakes old memories and reminds you about things you should be thinking about."

A similar stand-out performer was David Franks' IRC Nationals-winning JPK 10.10, Strait Dealer, which claimed three bullets and two seconds to win IRC Three.

Strait Dealer's performance was all the more remarkable because they were 'on course side' and forced to restart in two races.

"We managed to fight our way back which we were pleased about," admitted Franks. "We had some great sailors on board including Graham Sunderland of Winning Tides fame and another legend of the Solent, David Bedford, plus some very talented amateur sailors from the Etchells.

"The coaching was terrific. North Sails do a fantastic job and it is very good with the video and there's Stuart as PRO, giving his take on things and why he has done things, which was very interesting. And in the downtime today we had some really good conversation about rules at quite a high level.

"It has been a great warm-up and it is lovely to be in the new Club: I think this merger has been a huge success, helping both clubs to be that much better."

Finally, IRC Four was claimed by Sam Laidlaw's Quarter Tonner, Aguila ahead of David Lees' High Tension 36, Hephzibah.

CEO of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Eddie Warden Owen was particularly pleased at how the integration with the new Clubhouse has gone.

"This is the first event that we have done at the new Clubhouse and it has been a great success. I think everyone loves the idea that the RORC has a home in Cowes and all the sailors have made a big effort to come here and enjoy the facility. The atmosphere has been very different to before, because we've never really had a home. It is nice to see everyone together.

"This morning we delayed the start and we were very surprised to see how many people turned up to listen to Jim and the coaching team, who have done a brilliant job. I think that the relationship with North Sails and Chuck and AJ - the guys they bring in from America - with all their experience, has stepped this regatta up to another level.

"It has been a very successful weekend and I think everyone has enjoyed it."

#rorc –Irish cruiser racing is to the fore on the Solent this weekend as the Afloat.ie Sailor of the Year makes a big splash on the Solent. Antix, Anthony O'Leary's turbo-ed Ker 40 is the runaway leader, having won all but one of the five races held. O'Leary's team on Antix, two-time winner of the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, now holds the biggest lead across the RORC Easter Challenge's four classes writes James Boyd.

A stiff northerly breeze gave the second day of the RORC Easter Challenge more of a winter feel, rather than a spring one. But an early start and the shifting 15 knot winds that built towards 20 were enough for the Race Committee to hold four races, making up for yesterday's one.

Within IRC One, the inter-Farr 45 competition remains close with Toe in the Water Too trailing the British Keel Academy crew on Kolga by just two points. Toe in the Water Too, which made strong starts in today's first two races, as ever has injured servicemen among her crew. On this occasion they include Steven Palmer, a former Royal Engineer who lost both his legs in Afghanistan.

"He has been brilliant," said Toe in the Water skipper, Lloyd Hamilton. "As part of the trim crew, he has been flying the spinnaker really well although he is pretty tired now. We tried to do some training pre-event but there has been no wind for the last few days so this was a baptism of fire for some of them."

In IRC Two, Simon Henning's Channel Islands-based team on the Mumm 36, Alice, leads from Peter Morton's JND 35, Salvo. However winner of today's first two races was the X 40, Xinska, of Cowes-based superyacht designer Bernard Olesinski.

Skippering Xinska is Rupert Morgan, who was pleased by their performance, even though in the last two races he admitted getting stuck "in the wrong groove upwind. We were going well downwind, but it was very close. Running into the finish of the last race there were five of us abreast!"

Free coaching is paying off

The Xinska crew has been making good use of the free coaching at this regatta from Jim Saltonstall's team and North U Regatta Services. "This is a cruising boat which we have converted and it is not designed to change gears," said Morgan. "We have a hydraulic backstay and a tiny cockpit; getting weight off the rail is a problem."

Also benefitting from the coaching here has been the all-female crew on board the Reflex 38, Sirens' Tigress. This is only the third occasion they have sailed their boat after acquiring her in October and converting its set-up from two-handed to fully crewed.
"We got a bit of a surprise yesterday when it was so light and we decided to go with our A sail which we'd never used before," admitted skipper and co-owner Susan Glenny. "We weren't as practiced with that as we should have been. So we went back to the symmetric today and it was great - we had some really great crew work."

She adds that with a very light forecast for tomorrow, tonight they will be examining yesterday's notes. "We got lots of tips about gybing and preventing drag. I love this regatta - you really learn a lot, and it is great to get that level of coaching when you are learning yourself."

In IRC Three, David Franks' IRC Nationals-winning JPK 10.10, Strait Dealer, duplicated Antix's scoreline today with three bullets and a second, but only three points behind is the Dutch team on Willem Schopman's BH 36, Intention.

It is similarly close in IRC Four where Sam Laidlaw's Quarter Tonner, Aguila holds a three point lead over David Lees' High Tension 36, Hephzibah. Sadly the other Quarter Tonner competing, William McNeill's Illegal Immigrant, got severely holed during a port-starboard incident two minutes into today's first race and has been forced to retire.

The RORC Easter Challenge is not only about the crews learning, but the Race Committee too. Today's second race was held on 'Experimental Course Echo' - effectively a modern America's Cup-style course comprising windward-leewards, but with reaching legs at the start and finish.

PRO Stuart Childerley said that they learned a lot, particularly in terms of how to set the line, the distance between the line and the first mark, the optimum wind and tide strengths in which to hold such races - 7-14 knots and when the tide is neutral or slightly against. "It is an interesting concept - where do you start on the line, the importance of the 'trigger pull', etc. There are a lot of decisions to be made by the sailors to get it right and if you get it wrong there are a lot of penalties."

Tomorrow, the final day of racing, the forecast is for very light winds.

#antix – A new campaign for Afloat's recently crowned Sailor of the Year begins in just a fortnight when Anthony O'Leary moves up a foot in yacht size from his RORC yacht of the year, a Ker 39, to a Ker 40.

O'Leary is to race the American–owned Ker 40 Catapult at RORC's Easter Challenge.

The American yacht partnered O'Leary's Antix and Michael Boyd's Quokaa to 2014 Commodore's Cup success last July and is now on loan to the Royal Cork champion for the period up to the Fastnet Race.

The first outing will be April 3rd's Easter Challenge but this event is to be followed up in June with an offshore challenge. Catapult – to be rechristened Antix up until August – is also one of the first yachts to enter June's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race from the National Yacht Club.

For Commodore's Cup success New York owner Marc Glimcher sailed Catapult with Anthony's son Peter O'Leary – the two time Olympian – to win the cup for a second time for Ireland.

The American Ker is entered under both Royal Cork and Baltimore SC for the National Yacht Club offshore on June 12th, a race that is part of the ISORA series. 

The RORC Caribbean 600 started from Antigua on Monday 23rd February 2015. The 600nm course circumnavigates 11 Caribbean Islands starting from Fort Charlotte, English Harbour, Antigua and heads north as far as St Martin and south to Guadeloupe taking in Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba and St Barth's, finishing back in Antigua. 

#rorc – While it is always tempting to spend money on new sails or other go-faster widgets, coaching is often overlooked by amateur crews as a means of gaining boat speed through improved trim and set-up or just generally getting around the race course in a more efficient, slick manner.

One option is to hire your own coach. Another is to take part in the RORC's UK season opener, the RORC Easter Challenge, taking place over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend (3rd to the 5th April), where some of the country's leading experts will be on the water to offer crews advice. This might be general observations, but crews are also encouraged to ask the coaches to focus on any specific aspects they feel in need of attention. And all of this is FREE to competitors.

As always, the RORC Easter Challenge coaching team will be led by uber-coach Jim Saltonstall, ably assisted by RORC CEO and former America's Cup coach Eddie Warden Owen, plus Mason King. After making their successful debut at the event last year, the Easter Challenge will also see the return of North U Regatta Services, represented by sailmaker/coaches Chuck Allen and Andreas Josenhans, who are flying across from the USA especially for the event.

Based out of North's Rhode Island loft, Allen is a former two time college all-American champion and now a one design specialist while Josenhans, from Canada, is a two time Soling and Star World Champion, was a trimmer on Bill Koch's America's Cup winner, America3, and holds a lengthy, distinguished CV in elite level international yacht racing.

North U Regatta Services regularly attends regattas in the USA such as the NOOD series and Quantum Key West Race Week.

Like last year, Allen and Josenhans will also be joining Jim Saltonstall in the invaluable post-race debriefs, where they will be analysing each day's action on the water aided by photos and video. Following the RORC's merger with the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes, these debriefs will this year take place in the new clubhouse and not in the Events Centre at Cowes Yacht Haven.

Making his debut at the RORC Easter Challenge is four time UK Match Racing Champion turned Figaro sailor Nick Cherry, with his 32ft Figaro Beneteau II, Redshift. This year Cherry is gunning to improve British results in the ultra-competitive Solitaire du Figaro, singlehanded offshore racing's unofficial world championship and is making use of the coaching available at the Easter Challenge in his work-up.

"We get a lot of coaching in France, but it is always good to get some eyes off the boat and Jim Saltonstall's feedback is always invaluable," says Cherry, who admits that his first coaching from the eminent Saltonstall occurred at an Eric Twiname youth regatta when he was nine years old. "It is always entertaining to hear him talking, but he's always got something useful to say. And people said the North U seminar was good last year. A lot of the sailing I do with the Redshift program involves sailing fully crewed and there are some different techniques to doing that. So to get some feedback on the techniques for that will definitely be helpful."

Cherry adds that he is hoping that the coaching team will be able to give him some feedback on the new sails he'll have on Redshift.

An Easter Challenge regular is also returning in the form of Mike Moxley and his crew on the HOD35 Malice, recently returned from having competed in the RORC Caribbean 600 on board a chartered boat.

For Moxley the free coaching at the Easter Challenge is one of the event's prime attractions.

"It is incredibly useful. Unless you pay someone else to do it, you don't get a professional coach coming up to you and looking, for example, at the sail set, the twist in the main, how the jib is set and the rig, etc. Also being able to take trimmers off the boat and on to a RIB, you get to see things from 30-40 metres away that often you can't fully see from on the boat.

"It is very useful to have an expert actually taking you through different aspects of what you're doing and telling you whether it is right, wrong or indifferent. In fact it is a bit disappointing when they come alongside and they say everything is okay and they head off to see someone else!"

The Easter Challenge is unique in the RORC calendar in that RRS 41 - Outside Help is waived to permit coaches to come on board during racing or, equally, crew to jump on to a coaching RIB to see their set-up from off the boat.

Crews looking for coaching are advised to let the RORC know in advance if there are any specific aspects of their sailing, sails or trim that they wish to have examined.

#rorc – The Royal Ocean Racing Club is looking for a full time Racing Administrator to join the Race Team in Cowes.

Primary duties involved in the administration of the Racing Programme are; supporting race competitors entering races, organising volunteers, managing trophies and prize giving's, booking race team and race officer travel and accommodation, compiling and distribution of race publications and paperwork.

The successful candidate will have experience using Microsoft Programmes - Word, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint and Outlook and ideally have experience updating website content and in using databases.

He or she must be very well organised and able to work under pressure, be confident and sociable and happy to travel as the programme dictates.

An understanding and experience in sporting event administration, particularly in the sailing world would be of great benefit.

Salary and full job description on application.

To apply send a CV and covering letter outlining experience and suitability to:
[email protected]

Or

Nick Elliott
Royal Ocean Racing Club
20 St James's Place
London
SW1a1NN

#rorc – Lloyd Thornburg's MOD 70, Phaedo3 crossed the RORC Caribbean 600 finish line in Antigua at 20:35:30 AST yesterday in an elapsed time of 1 day, 9 hours, 35 minutes and 30 seconds. Phaedo 3 has broken the multihull race record set by Claude Thelier and John Burnie's ORMA 60, Region Guadeloupe by 6 hours, 35 minutes and 35 seconds.

#rorc – Video highlights from Day One of the RORC Caribbean 600, with incredible aerial footage of the high performance yachts in spectacular ocean racing conditions.

#caribbean600 – 66 yachts started the 7th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 yesterday, with hundreds of race fans watching the impressive fleet from Fort Charlotte and Shirley Heights. Irish crews are racing in several boats across the fleet, details of some are here. After a classic start in 15 knots of easterly trade winds, the fleet powered past the Pillars of Hercules, heading for Green Island where they will bear away and accelerate towards Barbuda, the only mark of the 600-mile course around 11 stunning Caribbean islands.

Lloyd Thornburg's MOD 70 Phaedo3, with Michel Desjoyeaux and Brian Thompson on board, had a conservative start with Petro Jonker's cruising catamaran, Quality Time crossing the line first. Phaedo3 lit the blue touch paper at Green Island, blasting through the surf at well over 30 knots. The lime-green machine reached Barbuda in less than two hours, well ahead of record pace and eight miles ahead of Peter Aschenbrenner's Irens 63, Paradox.

In the second start, 19 yachts in IRC Two and Three started the 600-mile race. For most of the crews racing in the smaller yachts it will be three or four days before they complete the challenge. Ed Fishwick's Sunfast 3600, Redshift, skippered by Nick Cherry, got a great start at the pin-end with Ross Applebey's Oyster 48, Scarlet Oyster, judging the inner distance mark to perfection. Andy Middleton's First 47.7, EH01 and Scarlet Oyster were the first yachts in IRC Two to reach Green Island and it is likely that these two will be neck-and-neck for the duration of the race. In IRC Three, Peter Scholfield's HOD 35, Zarafa was leading on the water at Green Island. However the Two Handed team racing Louis-Marie Dussere's JPK 10.10, Raging Bee was the leader in class after time correction.

Jonathan Bamberger's Canadian J/145, Spitfire and Joseph Robillard's S&S 68, Black Watch got the best start in the 15 strong fleet racing in IRC One. However, Jose Diego-Arozamena's Farr 72, Maximizer, revelled in the upwind start to lead on the water at Green Island. Oyster 625, Lady Mariposa, sailed by Daniel Hardy had a great leg to Green Island as did James Blakemore's Swan 53, Music which was leading after time correction.

The penultimate start featured 21 yachts racing in IRC Zero and Canting Keel, arguably the best fleet of offshore sailing yachts that has ever been seen in the Caribbean. A highly competitive start saw Piet Vroon's Ker 51, Tonnerre 4, win the pin, while Ron O'Hanley's Cookson 50, Privateer took the island shore route to perfection. Farr 100, Leopard sailed by Christopher Bake, also had a great start, controlling the boats to leeward heading for the Pillars of Hercules.

Hap Fauth's Maxi 72, Bella Mente had a sensational first leg of the race, rounding Green Island first out of the IRC Zero class, but all eyes were on George David's Rambler 88, as the powerful sled turned on the after burners. George David's new speed-machine could well break his own monohull course record; at Barbuda Rambler 88 was almost five miles ahead of the ghost track of the record set by Rambler 100.

Two of the world's most magnificent schooners were the last class to start. Athos and Adela started their match race in the pre-start and there is no doubt that the battle of the titans will continue throughout the race. Athos won the pre-start in some style, chasing Adela downwind and away from the line, before rounding up onto the breeze and crossing the line over a boat length ahead of her rival. However, Adela was far better suited to the beat up to Green Island and led as the two schooners continued their rivalry towards Barbuda.

Note: Liquid, Pamala C Baldwin's J/122 and Quality Time, Petro Jonker's Du Toit 51 catamaran retired at the start following boat damage. All of the crew are well.

#rorc – Records are predicted to tumble for the seventh edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 this week, which has one of the most spectacular line ups of high performance boats racing anywhere in the world. Interviews with participating crews and practice action prior to the race start are contained in the above vid. A number of key Irish crews are competing including new RORC commodore Michael Boyd who features above.