RORC Publishes Key 2014 Racing Calendar Dates

26th November 2013

#rorc – The Notice of Race for the Royal Ocean Racing Club's 2014 Race Programme will be published shortly but in the meantime please find below dates for some of the key races scheduled for next year. These include: RORC Caribbean 600; Easter Challenge; IRC National Championship; Brewin Dolphin Commmodores' Cup; Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race and the inaugural RORC Transatlantic Race in November.

24 February - RORC Caribbean 600, start Antigua
18-20 April - Easter Challenge, Cowes
13-15 June - IRC National Championship, Cowes
19-26 - Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, Cowes
10 August - Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race, start Cowes
29 November - Inaugural RORC Transatlantic Race, start Lanzarote-Caribbean

5th Edition RORC Caribbean 600
RORC Caribbean 600 - Starts Monday 24th February 2014 /Tim Wright photoaction.com
Monday 24th February 2014, Antigua

Dubbed 'The Caribbean 'Fastnet', this classic 600 mile offshore race attracted a record entry and international fleet of 53 boats in 2013. The challenging course threads through 11 stunning Caribbean islands starting and finishing in Antigua. The tradewinds provide heavenly sailing conditions and a truly memorable race attracting competitors and a diverse fleet of boats from all over the globe. Ron O'Hanley's Cookson 50, Privateer (USA) lifted the coveted RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy in 2013.
http://caribbean600.rorc.org/

Easter Challenge
Friday 18- Sunday 20 April 2014, Cowes

The first Solent-based event in the Club's racing calendar,the RORC Easter Challenge - designed as a training weekend for those keen to improve their overall performance - attracted the UK's top IRC boats to compete over three days of highly competitive racing in 2013. Entries included teams from the Solent, East Coast and West Country, as well as from France, Ireland and South Africa. RORC relax the rules on outside assistance and invite coaching guru, Jim Saltonstall and a team of expert coaches to actively participate and provide helpful tips to improve sail trim and boat handling whilst the boats are racing.

IRC National Championship
Friday 13- Sunday 15 June 2014, Cowes

Yachts from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland gathered in the Solent for the 2013 IRC National Championship and Andrew Pearce's British Ker 40, Magnum 3 won the highly competitive Class One and crowned overall RORC IRC National Champion 2013.

The first ever RORC IRC National Championship took place in 2002 and since then, all over the world, national championships using the RORC IRC rating system have been established. The RORC IRC National Championship has always taken place in the United Kingdom, but it is an open event to all and considered to be arguably the most competitive IRC championship in the world.

Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup

Saturday 19- Saturday 26 July 2014, Cowes

International three boat teams battle it out in this leading amateur regatta with a reputation for competitive offshore and inshore racing in the Solent and lively onshore hospitality. The event welcomes teams from around the world as well as a strong representation from Europe and regional UK teams.

Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race
Sunday 10 August, 2014

1,802 nautical mile non-stop race starting from Cowes, Isle of Wight on 10th August 2014 - right after Cowes Week. Sevenstar sponsored the race in 2006 and 2010 when 30 yachts from nine different nations competed in a thrilling and world record breaking event. Three records were broken in what was a very memorable race, highlighted by the monohull record set by Franck Cammas' French team aboard the Volvo 70 Groupama. Completing the course in 5 days 21hrs 2mins and 55 seconds, the team broke Dee Caffari's 2009 record on Aviva by over half a day. Jonny Malbon's IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing set a new course record in last race for an IMOCA 60 (6 days 10:32:27) and was also declared the overall winner under IRC.
http://roundbritainandireland.rorc.org/

RORC Transatlantic Race
Start: Weekend 29/30 November 2014
The Royal Ocean Racing Club recently announced the introduction of a new Transatlantic Race starting in November 2014.The inaugural race starts from Puerto Calero, Lanzarote to the Caribbean (destination to be confirmed). The 2,800 nm east to west race will act as a feeder for yachts participating in the 2015 RORC Caribbean 600, held annually in February from Antigua. The race, commencing over the weekend of the 29th and 30th November 2014, will be run under OSR Category 1 and the start date will allow time for competitors in the Rolex Middle Sea Race to get to the start of the RORC Transatlantic Race in good time and for the yachts to finish in the Caribbean before Christmas.
http://transatlantic.rorc.org/

Published in RORC

Tagged under

RORC

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.