#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.

Breakfast time today saw some furious adding up to resolve the winning team in the high scoring offshore race for the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial flagship event for three boat teams with Corinthian crews.

Initially France Blue, overall leaders after day one, looked strong with their two big boats, Eric de Turkheim's A13, Teasing Machine, and the Prietz family's JND 39, GOA, in front. As boats started finishing the Flanders North Sea team edged ahead. It wasn't until almost all the boats had finished that the roulette ball finally clunked home on France White, two slender points ahead of their European neighbours.

In fact France White cleaned up. Emmanuel le Men's First 40.7, Pen Koent, took honours in the big boat class while Noel Racine's JPK 1010, Foggy Dew claimed the small boat class. Sadly their third boat, Didier Gaudoux's JND 39 Lann Ael 2, didn't enjoy the same success leaving France White's offshore race score equal with that of Flanders North Sea, only bettered by France Red. 

The offshore race took the 24 competing yachts initially east down the Sussex coast to a turning mark - the Royal Sovereign light house south of Bexhill - before returning west, passing south of the Isle of Wight to the finish off Milford on Sea, a course of 153 miles. In the westerly wind, this course became a long leeward-windward, especially tactical with Rampion Wind Farm (south of Shoreham-by-Sea), in the middle of the course both outbound and on the return from Royal Sovereign.

While the big boats seemed to have the upper hand, with James Neville's HH42 Ino leading the way, the tide turning foul en route to St Catherine's Point allowed the smaller, slower boats to catch up, time the larger boats were unable to recover. According to Teasing Machine tactician, Volvo Ocean Race winner Laurent Pages, the land breeze had caused the wind to go right further than forecast, causing them to make better progress than anticipated but out of sync with the tide. "We were sailing very fast angles, Code 0 at full pace, but we could still see some smaller boats behind us, that would normally be 2 knots slower, still catching up."

The French White crews of both Emmanuel le Men's First 40.7, Pen Koent, and Noel Racine's JPK 1010, Foggy Dew, in Class 2 were delighted by their new lead, despite barely having had any sleep.

Le Men commented: "I am surprised that the big boats didn't win on handicap after a long windward-leeward with some waves and some strong winds. It is very good to get these results. We had very good speed on the windward leg and we passed some boats that were bigger than us. We were on top until the end."

Foggy Dew won Class 2 by nine minutes. Skipper Noel Racine, looking good on just 20 minutes sleep, said that after spending most of the race fighting Cifraline 4, their break had come playing the overnight right shift. "It was in the bay before Selsey Bill when we came back. We were expecting a shift that came and we tacked immediately, before everyone."

The Flanders North Sea team generally did well with both Frans Rodenburg's First 40 Elke and their small boat, Benoit D'halluin's A35, Dunkerque-Les Dunes De Flandre, finishing fourth.
Rodenburg said they had had been fast exiting the Solent but soon after had parked, dropping them to last place. The downwind leg was good for them, but the subsequent upwind, better. "Generally upwind in wind and waves, the boat goes really well. Also we got on the good side of the shift. When it came it was 30deg and we tacked at the right time - that worked great."

Leading British boat was Andrew McIrvine's First 40 La Réponse which came home fifth, just ahead of their GBR Red team mates the Henning family's modified Mumm 36 Alice. According to Mike Henning, they had started badly, on the wrong side of the line in foul tide. Fortunately they managed to recover this lost time as they exited the Solent and then gained by staying inshore along the Sussex coast.

"Around Selsey Bill we had about 18 knots of breeze and we were surfing at 15-16 knots. The guys knew that the run was our strong point so all the crew were working hard to get the maximum out of the boat," reported Henning. "We knew that the beat was going to be our weak point." Sure enough they rounded the top mark among the fast 40 footers, but from then on were regularly suffering losses.

Racing continues tomorrow at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup with two more inshore races scheduled.

The third edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's RORC Transatlantic Race will start on Saturday 26 November 2016 and the line-up will include MOD70s and Maxi yachts vying for the prestigious IMA Transatlantic Trophy awarded to the line honours monohull winner. The usual diverse range of highly competitive, experienced offshore RORC racers will also be on the start line. Their focus will be competing for the RORC Transatlantic Race antique silver trophy and the new RORC Caribbean Series Trophy for the best combined result in the RORC Transatlantic Race and 2017 RORC Caribbean 600.

The 2,995 nm RORC Transatlantic Race will be welcomed back to Marina Lanzarote, situated in Arrecife where the 'lunar-like' volcanic mountains provide a spectacular backdrop to the start of the race from the most easterly Canary Island. Race hosts are the well-known Calero family who are no strangers to race boats and major regattas. They have organised a full week of hospitality and parties before the start of the race which will keep the race crews fully entertained.

Grenada welcomes back competitors
The highlight for most crews is the arrival and warm welcome received in Grenada, where Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina will be hosting the fleet once more, along with the continued support of the Grenada Tourism Authority. The beautiful tropical spice island is also famed for its dive sites, including the world's first underwater sculpture gallery at Molinere Bay. The prizegiving will be held on Friday 16th December, giving crews enough time to enjoy everything the island has to offer before Christmas, or to join in the Caribbean regatta season on their way to the RORC Caribbean 600 in February 2017.

Super-Maxis return
Several yachts have expressed their interest in the race and intend to compete in the 2016 edition. Returning for the third consecutive race will be the Southern Wind 90, Windfall and Jean-Paul Riviere's 100ft Finot-Conq, Nomad IV who won IRC overall in the 2015 race, along with the IMA Trophy for monohull line honours. Nomad IV also set a new monohull record for the RORC Transatlantic Race in the same year.

Other notable Maxi's include the largest on the entry list, Peter Harrison's Farr 115ft (35m) ketch, Sojana, and current holder of 5 World Speed Sailing records and 7 course records, Mike Slade's 100ft Farr (30m), Leopard:

"Full congratulations to the RORC for promoting an east to west transatlantic race which has proved a success in the last two years. Leopard is hoping to compete in the event and would be keen to attack the record set last year by Nomad IV of 10 days 07 hours 06 minutes and 59 seconds to add to our other Atlantic records," exclaims Slade.

Multihull battle for line honours
The on-the-water MOD70 battle looks set to continue between Lloyd Thornburg's unstoppable Phaedo3 and Tony Lawson's Concise 10, skippered for the past eight years by 28-year old Ned Collier-Wakefield of Team Concise. Both record-breaking crews have registered their intent to repeat the MOD70 duel after match racing across the Atlantic in last year's race.

Hotting things up is the possibility of Sidney Gavignet's Musandam-Oman Sail joining the race. Oman Sail's flying machine recently claimed multihull line honours, taking over 2 hours off their existing record and setting a new world record for the fastest-ever sail round Ireland in the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race - with Phaedo3 and Concise 10 minutes behind them!

Following the recent launch of Giovanni Soldini's newly refitted semi-foiling MOD70, Maserati, the Milanese navigator seems to also have his sights set on smashing records such as the RORC Transatlantic Race in a bid to continue his record breaking campaign. Watch this space, as it will be huge battle by the four MOD 70's for the first to arrive in Grenada.

Diverse fleet
It's not all about super-maxis and trimarans though, as the last two editions of the race have attracted highly competitive boats from the smaller end of the fleet, such as Class40s and several Two Handed teams. This third edition is set to follow in the same mode.

The first boat to enter the 2016 RORC Transatlantic Race was James Heald's Swan 45, Nemesis and he will have good competition from Ossie Stewart's Dufour 45, Island Girl. Veteran Olympic sailing medallist, Stewart last crossed the Atlantic in 2014 with the ARC. This time they are hoping to cross with the RORC Transatlantic Race and have big aspirations of a podium position before taking on another season of racing in the Caribbean. Rónán Ó Siochrú's Sun Fast 37, Desert Star is also hoping to be on the start line and the Principal at Irish Offshore Sailing has a wealth of offshore experience.

Two new boats to watch out for will be the DSS equipped Infinity 46, Maverick and a brand new Marc Lombard designed IRC 46, Pata Negra for Giles Redpath. Redpath is planning a full RORC Offshore Championship season and the 2016 RORC Transatlantic Race will be the first event of his 2017 campaign.

French teams dominated the 2016 RORC Cowes Dinard St Malo Race, with seven classes and the overall win going to French teams. Ironically it was the multihull class, for many years dominated by the French, that Great Britain had its only victory.Tony Lawson's British MOD70 Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield took multihull line honours in an elapsed time of 10 hours 32 minutes 50 seconds and was the winner after time correction.

Lionel Péan's Volvo 70, Sfs II took monohull line honours, in an elapsed time of 14 hours 33 minutes 03 seconds and after time correction was declared the overall winner. Although he grew up in La Rochelle, St Malo was home when Péan skippered L'Esprit d’Equipe to victory in the 1985 Whitbread Round the World Race.

“It is normal for us to take line honours, as we are the fastest boat but to win overall is very special for me and the crew” commented Lionel Péan. “It was a beat all the way to Guernsey with the wind getting up to about 20 knots and then the wind just died at the moment we needed to tack around the islands, so that was frustrating. However, the wind came back up to about 10 knots which was enough for us to finish at a good speed. It was great to be back in St Malo, with all the classic boats I remember from years ago. 30 years ago, almost to the day, we sailed into St Malo as winners of the Whitbread. For this race, Eric Sendra was on board, as he was for the Whitbread 30 years ago and Sébastien Audigan, who is incredible. However, most of the team are young and we are looking to build up a team for the 2020 Volvo Ocean Race.”

In IRC One, Jacques Pelletier's Milon 41 L'Ange De Milon was the winner, ahead of former RORC Commodore, Mike Greville, racing Ker 39, Erivale III. Alan Hannon's RP45 Katsu was third in class, putting his team up to second overall for the RORC Season's Points Championship. Nick Jones’s First 44.7 Lisa was fifth in class and still leads the series overall. The RORC Team of Katsu and Lisa also walked away with the John West Trophy for the best 2 boats from a club in IRC Overall.

In IRC Two, Gilles Fournier's J/133 Pintia, enjoyed their fourth class win of the season. Ross Applebey's Scarlet Oyster, returning to RORC action for the first time since the RORC Caribbean 600, finished just under two minutes behind Pintia after time correction to hold on to second. Herve Benic's French First 40 Iritis was third.

In IRC Three, Marc Alperovitch's JPK 10.80 Timeline, which will be representing France in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, was the victor. Arnaud Delamare and Eric Mordret's JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls was second but still retains the class lead for the championship.

Jean-Eudes Renier's JPK 10.80 Shaitan was third in IRC Three and the winner of IRC Two Handed Class after a terrific battle with Chris Frost and Elin Haf Davies J/120 Nunatak. The British pair crossed the finish line just in front of Shaitan but after time correction, the class win went to Jean-Eudes Renier's team. Chris Schram's J/120 Maverick was third having led both Shaitan and Nunatak for most of the race but sailed into a wind hole near |Les |Minquiers and watched the others sail around them.

In IRC Four, Noel Racine JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew was the runaway winner, taking line honours for the class and the corrected time win by several hours. Racine was very pleased with the win which he put down to their negotiation of the tricky tidal conditions at Les Casquets, wriggling through just before the wind dropped. Cooper & England's Dehler 38 Longue Pierre was second with Jonathan Rolls' Swan 38 Xara. Foggy Dew now leads IRC Four for the season.

Halvard Mabire's Class 40 Campagne De France completed the rout for France winning the Class 40 division. Adriaan van Oord Dutch team racing Moonpalace was second with Christophe Coatnoan's Partouche is third.

The RORC Season's Points Championship continues with the Channel Race starting on the 30th July from Cowes around marks with a Solent finish, the race will be between 100-140 miles.

With the deadline for entries into the 2016 Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup now passed, eight three boat teams are set to contest the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial championship for Corinthian crews, taking place out of Cowes over 23-30th July.

Teams for the 13th Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, comprise three from Team France, two from Team GBR and others from Flanders North Sea and, for the first time, Israel. The last to raise its head above the parapet is the Celtic Team, comprising two boats from Scotland and one from France.

The Celtic Team has been masterminded by Scottish adventurer, Jock Wishart, who is campaigning Jean-Eudes Renier's JPK 10.80, Shaitan. Shaitan is joined by the Corby 37, Aurora, which co-owners Roderick Stuart and Bill Ram's raced in the Scottish team in 2014 and originally, when new was Eamonn Rohan's Blondie III and competed for Ireland in 2006. The Celtic team's small boat is a new JPK 10.10, Space Oddity, campaigned by St Malo-based sailmaker, Marc Noël.

Once upon a time a grinder on Lionheart in the  America's Cup, Wishart is best known for his epic expeditions. Way too numerous to list in full, these have included rowing across the Atlantic, the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a powered vessel (Cable & Wireless Adventurer), rowing to the geomagnetic North Pole, various other expeditions to the North Pole, including, last year, the Arctic Rugby Challenge, a trek there to play the 'most northerly rugby match in history'.

Wishart has previously crewed in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, but this is the first campaign of his own. He admits: "It has always been one of those things that I've always wanted to do. Everything came together - I haven't got a big expedition on this year, so it was time to do a bit of sailing."

He took delivery of Shaitan just four weeks ago and, after two training weekends, has taken to the race course and in the recent RORC IRC Nationals, finishing ninth in the 19-boat IRC Two class. 

As to this year's Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, Wishart observes: "There are no weak teams - they're all strong. It is going to be very, very competitive and that is good for the event."

JPK 10.80, Shaitan in the recent RORC IRC Nationals Photo: Rick Tomlinson/RORC

According to Aurora's Rod Stuart, their aim had been to field another Scottish team as in 2014, but they were unable to muster a small boat. He is pleased with the new arrangement: "Scots and French sailing together, it's an old alliance and should be a lot of fun. I don't think it will be as 'stiff upper lip' as being part of GBR!"

In his youth, Stuart raced a 30ft trimaran solo the 'wrong way' across the North Atlantic in the 1988 OSTAR, convincingly winning his class ahead of a young Royal Marine called Pete Goss.

His present campaign began six years ago aboard an Elan 410, EOS. "In the front of the boat were all young Laser sailors in their late teens from the RYA centre at Cumbrae," Stuart recounts. "We started pretty awfully, but four years later we were on the podium in the Scottish Series and in Dun Laoghaire, etc." 

They also raced numerous offshores such as Round Ireland, the Rolex Fastnet Race and the 2013 Middle Sea Race, in which they finished second in a 30-strong IRC Two. They acquired Aurora for the 2014 Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup and have been 'learning the boat' ever since.

Stuart is a big fan of the Brewin Dolpin Commodores' Cup: "There are lots of special things about it - it is very intense and very tiring and you are sailing against a selection of the best boats from all these different countries."

"For us this is a continuation of our learning process. We finished two years ago feeling that we could do better. On the way back home we decided we were going to come back again."

 However as Stuart observes: "Since the boat's called Space Oddity, he [Marc Noël] is clearly a Bowie fan, so he's got to be alright..."

Roderick Stuart and Bill Ram's Corby 37, Aurora competed as part of the Scottish team in the 2014 Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup Photo: Rick Tomlinson/RORC

 Eddie Warden Owen, CEO of the RORC welcomed the eighth team: "As a Welshman I am delighted to see a Celtic team, which is the initiative of my good friend Jock Wishart. There is a good mix of teams this year; the standard is high and there's no stand-out team, so predicting a winner is impossible which is very good for the teams and the event. For sure I'll be rooting for the Celts."

Irish crew were aboard one of the joint winners of today's RORC IRC championships on the Solent. This year's IRC National Championship, the 14th since the Royal Ocean Racing Club launched its handicap rule in 2000, had the unusual distinction of joint winners in Adam Gosling's brand new JPK 10.80 Yes! (winner of IRC Two) and the French consortium-owned A35, Dunkerque - Les Dunes de Flandre, (which topped IRC Three).

On board Gosling's IRC Two winner was Nicholas O'Leary of Royal Cork Yacht Club and pro–sailor James Hynes of Malahide. Last week's Round Ireland crewman on Phaedo3 Justin Slattery was racing on the stand-out team of Peter Morton's Girls on Film.

Full results here

Two Royal Cork boats were also competing in the Solent competition. Antix (Anthony O'Leary) in the Fast 40+ class and Jump Juice (Conor Phelan) in IRC one both placed sixth overall.

At the prizegiving Gosling thanked the RORC and the race committee; "It was pretty awesome racing considering the tricky conditions."

Benoit D'halluin, helmsman on the Dunkerque boat added: "We are very happy to race in Cowes and we had two good competitors in Bengal Magic and Intention." Dunkerque - Les Dunes de Flandre will return to Cowes in July with the Flanders North Sea team in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup.

 "It was pretty awesome racing considering the tricky conditions"

Unlike stormy Saturday, on a slightly more serene Sunday the race management team was able to hold one windward-leeward in 8-15 knots winds. This was followed by two round the cans races in the central/eastern Solent, during which the wind built to 20+ knots, creating a short sharp chop from the building flood tide.

Stand-out performer of the day was the RORC's Admiral, Andrew McIrvine and his First 40, La Réponse, in IRC Two, which scored three bullets. However even this was not enough to topple Yes!

Gosling said he particularly enjoyed today's round the cans races. "We all had a smile on our face after the short A-sail reach, which the boat was just beautiful on, and then the 140° run when the wind got up to 20+ knots, which was fantastic."

Adam Gosling's JPK 10.80, Yes!

As to their secret, Gosling said his crew have sailed together for years. "We are just trying to learn how to sail this boat, but each time we've gone out, we've sailed a bit better."

Conversely, the Dunkerque - Les Dunes de Flandre crew has been sailing their A35 for years. "We were happy to have good speed," said tactician Philippe Bourgeois. "It was really a pleasure to win the IRC Nationals. We only came here to practice for the Commodores' Cup."

New to the RORC IRC Nationals this year were the two box rule classes, the FAST40+ and the HP30. The most impressive display of the week came in the former, where the stand-out team was Peter Morton's Girls on Film. Aside from one fifth place finish, this Carkeek Mk3 was otherwise never off the podium, putting in a 2-1-3 today with American William Coates's Ker 43, Otra Vez and Irishman Anthony O'Leary's Ker 40, Antix, claiming the other two wins.

Ultimately, Girls on Film finished five points clear of Sir Keith Mills' Invictus. "We think we are fast, especially upwind and quick enough downwind," explained Morton. "In the last race, we bounced back from a pretty horrible start with pure speed. It always looks easy when you're fast." This wasn't entirely without incident, including a luffing match with Invictus after rounding the top mark in the final race that ended with Girls on Film taking a penalty turn.

As to why they have the edge, Morton continued: "It's a hundred little things and we have got a really strong crew - good amateurs and good pros. Our boat handling is pretty good."

Another stand-out performance of the week was that of former RORC Commodore Mike Greville and his Ker 39, Erivale III. Following his recent victory in the Morgan Cup to Dieppe, Greville and his crew have dominated IRC One at the IRC Nationals. Their 9.5 point lead over Rod Stuart and Bill Ram's Corby 37, Aurora, was the biggest margin across any of the five classes.

"We are definitely on a roll," agreed Greville. "We have got some new sails which helped, but we've had new sails before. I did put 10sqm on to the kite and that certainly helps on the downwind legs. The crew work went very well."

Today was one for the Jason Ker designs in IRC One. In addition to Erivale III, Irishman Conor Phelan's Ker 37, Jump Juice, claimed today's second race, while Andrew Williams' Ker 40, Keronimo, won the last race - encouraging in the build-up to her Commodores' Cup with the Israeli team.

After finishing last in the HP30 class during the Vice Admiral's Cup in May, John Reivers this weekend turned around his Melges 32 Drop Bear campaign to claim victory ahead of Malcolm Wootton's Farr 30, Pegasus.

American Lloyd Thornburg, best known as owner of the Phaedo Gunboat and MOD 70 multihulls was again campaigning his Farr 280 FOMO here, but finished third overall.

"It's meant to give us some closer racing," explained Thornburg. "We watched it at Cowes Week last year and we felt like we were missing out - so FOMO stands for 'Fear of missing out!' We are taking it more seriously than we thought. It was supposed to be a bit of a laugh..." FOMO's crew includes Olympic 470 silver medallists Nick Rogers and Stuart Bithell.

"The results are what they are, but we really enjoyed the racing," Thornburg continued. "We had a really good time."

Enhanced by the new box rule classes and this year's Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, this year's IRC Nationals was among the most competitive on record with 61 boats taking part.

Royal Cork's Antix (Anthony O'Leary) is sailing in the Fast 40 class and Jump Juice (Conor Phelan) is sailing in Class 1of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's IRC National Championship on the Solent. After race six, Jump is lying sixth and Antix is lying eighth. Results on RORC's facebook page are here.

With micro-storms, intense, frequent deluges, thunder and lightning, conditions for day two of the IRC Nationals resembled an episode from the Old Testament; the Great Flood perhaps.

This made for a "very testing day," recounted Race Officer, Stuart Childerley. "It looked really good for half an hour, but then very quickly, shower cells developed, creating havoc."

The 61 strong fleet was initially packed off on a windward-leeward course. However, as Childerley explained: "For those, you expect half decent conditions to make it fair, while we were seeing a number of shifts and the wind was up and down. Then the wind just dropped out completely. So the decision-making process wasn't in their hands and I abandoned that one."

Unfortunately from then on, conditions turned 'biblical' as a stream of storms cells rolled across the Solent, causing the wind range to span nothing to 20 knots, with giant shifts.

During a momentary break, one round the cans race, where the wind direction was less critical, was successfully completed, albeit with a few stop-starts. While the intention was to hold three races, in fact after some patient waiting by increasingly soggy crew, the decision was made to send the fleet in, after the conditions failed to stabilise.

Today's race was special as its winners, across each of the five classes, were awarded a 'Tiny Mitchell trophy' named after the founder of the club that is now RORC Cowes.

In the FAST40+ class, Peter Morton's Carkeek 40 Mk3, Girls On Film, scored her third bullet today and now holds a four point lead over Sir Keith Mills' Invictus. Coming second today, and now third overall, is South African Mike Bartholomew's GP42, Tokoloshe II.

"We had a lucky break," admitted Bartholomew. "The wind was all over the place and positions were changing frequently." Tokoloshe was OCS and then found the wrong end of a shift on the first beat. "But then we were in the right place at the right time on the last leg and got a private little breeze in the middle and pulled away as it shut down behind us, Bartholomew continued. "It was as simple as that."

In IRC One, Rod Stuart, skipper of the Scottish Corby 37, Aurora, was delighted to have won today's race, as he thought they had been fourth. This leaves Aurora second overall, tied with Seb Blair's King 40, Cobra.

As to how he found today, Stuart said: "It is just like sailing in Scotland - wet, wet, wet! There were a lot of different conditions all of the time and the thunder and lightning added a different dimension to it, as did the frequently diminished visibility!"

In IRC Two, the largest class at the IRC Nationals, today's surprise winner was Andy Theobald's J/122, R&W, which in yesterday's four races had been unable to finish a race better than 13th. However today they were on fire, winning the race and the Tiny Mitchell trophy.

Adam Gosling's JPK 10.80+ Yes!, finished third to retain the lead overall in IRC Two, three points ahead of the Dutch team on Frans Rodenburg's Elke, the highest rated of five First 40s competing.

Rodenburg said he is enjoying the high level of racing at the IRC Nationals, especially among the First 40s and in particular against La Réponse, of RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine.

"In the Netherlands there are less racing boats, so we come here to find competition. We are pleased to be doing so well," said Rodenburg.

In the abandoned race, the Dutch team had been out in front and were confident they were winning before the plug was pulled on it. Finishing second in the race that was then completed, came as compensation. "I think overall we made good calls," explained Rodenburg. "We had to decide which sail to use - we were thinking 'Code 0', but we used a jib, which was good and we gained some distance upwind. On the last leg we tried to overtake R&W, but they kept covering us and we couldn't pass them."

Another Dutch team won today in IRC Three: In the five races held to date, Willem Schopman's Bashford Howison 36, Intention, has yet to finish off the podium. Yet they remain third overall, behind Benoit D'halluin's A35, Dunkerque-Les Dunes de Flandre, and the British J/35, Bengal Magic, with two bullets apiece.

Finally in the five boat HP30 class, today's winner was Malcolm Wootton's Farr 30, Pegasus, leaving her second overall to John Reivers' Melges 32, Drop Bear M32.

To make up for today's lost races, the aim is to start half an hour earlier for tomorrow, the final day of competition, with a warning signal at 0955. The intention is to run two windward-leewards and one round the cans race. The forecast is for 8-12 knots from the southwest.

In addition to the new high speed, adrenalin-fuelled box rule classes, the FAST40+ and HP30, several competitors are using the IRC Nationals as a warm-up for next month's Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup. Almost all of the Commodores' Cup teams will be represented this weekend, and across the size range - from the GBR Blue big boat, James Neville's HH42 Ino XXX, competing in the FAST40+ class to James Chalmers' J/35 Bengal Magic and Philippe Bourgeois' A35, Dunkerque - Les Dunes de Flandre, both racing in IRC Three, but part of the GBR Red and Flanders North Sea teams in July. 

Among them is also the present IRC National Champion, Peter Morton, who returns with his JND35, Salvo, which is one of the three boats in the Commodores' Cup Israel team. However for the IRC Nationals, the regular Salvo crew is on board. 

As to the prospects of him successfully defending his IRC Nationals title, Morton is not optimistic. "It looks like we will have quite a difficult task on our hands. Last year we were lucky enough to be at the top end of our group. Now we are in Class 2 with some 19 boats, most of whom rate higher than us. So I would be most surprised if we pull it off again."

However he is impressed by the competition this year: "It is a good turn-out compared to last year. The Commodores' Cup and the arrival of the FAST40+ class make a difference. You might find my namesake [Peter Morton, owner of the FAST40+ favourite Girls on Film] does very well. It will be good to keep the 'Morton' name up there somewhere!" 

RORC Admiral, Andrew McIrvine's First 40 La Réponse © Paul Wyeth

Racing at the top of IRC Two is Admiral of the RORC, Andrew McIrvine, whose La Réponse is one of five First 40s competing (along with two First 40.7s) and will be part of GBR Red in July. This weekend La Réponse will lining up against Frans Rodenburg's slightly higher-rated sistership, Elke, that is part of the Flanders team.

"It has certainly improved," says McIrvine of this year's IRC Nationals line-up. "It has been boosted by the eleven FAST40+s and the HP30s, but there seems to be a better entry in the other classes as well, a good mix." McIrvine points to other IRC Two boats he expects to do well: Bernard Olesinki's X-40, Xinska, and Poole legend Jim Macgregor's Elan 410, Premier Flair, sailing with a crew likely to include some of his Olympic sailor daughters. "If it is light, the JPK 10.80s will slaughter us. If it is medium and there's isn't too much downwind when they can plane, then we'll be alright. We raced against Elke in the Rolex Fastnet Race and although they beat us on the water, we beat them...just...on handicap."

JPK 10.80 Shaitan is being campaigned by Scottish adventurer Jock Wishart  © Rick Tomlinson

IRC Two includes four JPK 10.80s, including one of the favourites for this year's IRC Nationals title - Adam Gosling's brand new Yes! - plus Marc Alpérovitch's Timeline, part of the France Red Commodores' Cup team. Another beginning to show form will be JPK 10.80 Shaitan, being campaigned by Scottish adventurer Jock Wishart. The majority of Shaitan's crew is Scottish, and also includes 1969 Finn Gold Cup winner Thomas Lundquist, who will be helming, and Finn National champion, Julian Smith.

Wishart only got hold of his new boat three weeks ago and after two training weekends, he competed in the North Sails June Regatta out of the Royal Southern YC last week. He says his teams remain on a steep learning curve. "I'd like to do well over this weekend. We did pretty well last weekend when we finished with a first and we dominated the starts. We are still missing some sails - we'll just have to use what we've got at the moment, but all the crew will be together this coming weekend."

At present the forecast for the IRC Nationals is light to moderate with a building 10-13 knot southwesterly tomorrow, lighter winds on Saturday and 10-14 knots from the west on Sunday.

Saturday's winners, across all of the IRC Nationals' five classes, will be awarded Tiny Mitchell trophies, named after the founder of the originally Corinthian Yacht Club, now the RORC Cowes clubhouse. These trophies will be awarded solely to overall winners on Saturday, based on all the races completed that day, with no discards. 

The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship continues this weekend with the Morgan Cup Race, which will finish in Dieppe for the first time since 2013. The 130-150 mile race marks the half-way stage in the championship. Dieppe is the mostly easterly destination of any of the RORC races starting from Cowes, with stronger tides adding an additional flavour to the strategic mix. Highly changeable weather is forecast for the early part of the race, with a fresh westerly breeze anticipated in the latter. Competitors can expect a warm welcome at the Cercle de la Voile de Dieppe (CVD) and Dieppe is also well known for its superb seafood restaurants and the 17th century Chateau de Dieppe, now a museum with a strong maritime collection.

Racing under the IRC Rating System, a wide variety of yachts will be racing from Great Britain, France and the Netherlands. IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by Mikey Ferguson is the hot favourite for Line Honours. In IRC One, Edward Broadway's Ker 40, Hooligan VII is the fastest yacht on IRC rating. RORC Committee member, Michel Peretie, will be racing his new French JND39, Stamina while RORC Vice Commodore Steven Anderson, racing Corby 40 Cracklin Rosie, is relishing the prospect of resuming the battle with past RORC Commodore Mike Greville, racing his Ker 39 Erivale III.

“When the sun comes up on Saturday morning, I hope that Erivale will be in sight!” enthused Steven Anderson. “We are just a fraction of a point ahead of Mike and his team for the championship and we have enjoyed the friendly rivalry over several seasons. Unfortunately through illness, we have had a late start to the season and whilst winning the championship maybe beyond our capabilities, we will focus on winning against boats around us. Cracklin Rosie and Erivale are very well matched. The highlight of the season for Cracklin Rosie will definitely be the 400-mile Île d'Ouessant Race. It is a fantastic race course that we have not done before.”

In IRC Two, three of the top four yachts are in action. The Army Sailing Association's J/111 British Soldier has a slender lead for the class from Sailing Logic's First 40, Rocket Dog II. Gilles Fournier's French J/133 Pintia is also competing and will be hoping to follow up on their overall victories in last month's Cervantes Trophy Race and Myth of Malham Race.

In IRC Three, Delamare & Mordret's French JPK 10.80 leads the class by less than a point from Louis-Marie Dussere's Raging Bee. RORC Rear Commodore Nick Martin, racing British J/105 Diablo-J is third for the season and Jean-Eudes Renier's French JPK 10.80, Shaitan is fourth. This group of boats have been enjoying a tremendous battle in the first half of the season, as Eric Modret from Dream Pearls explains.

“We are enjoying some great racing as we have always done with the RORC, Dream Pearls is based in Hamble because the championship is the best racing for us by far. The competition with the other boats in our class is very tough and sometimes the weather can be as well. For the Myth of Malham Race, we were leading the class at Eddystone and then we lost the breeze and watched as so many boats went past us. It is a little too early to look at the weather for the Morgan Cup but it could be another light race. However, the weather is changing a lot this weekend, so who knows, we might just get the first windy race of the season. After the Morgan Cup, Dream Pearls will sail to Wicklow for the Round Ireland Race and then onto Cork Week for the IRC European Championship.”

In IRC Four, nine teams will be competing, including second overall for the RORC Season's Points Championship, Rob Nelson's British J/105, Bigfoot and third overall, Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew. RORC Committee member, Stuart Greenfield's Half Tonner Silver Shamrock will be hoping to make it two class wins in a row, after last month's victory in the Myth of Malham. Ten yachts racing in IRC 3 & IRC 4 will be racing Two-Handed.