The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Myth of Malham Race, with 138 boats competing, produced a thrilling finish for overall victory. Botin IRC52 Tala took up the early running, but having led for much of the race on corrected time, the breeze picked up for the chasing pack, turning the advantage towards two FAST40+ yachts. Redshift and Ino XXX, both based in Cowes, battled throughout the 230 nautical mile race with no clear advantage between the two. In the second half of the 30-hour race, having rounded the Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth, a high-speed duel developed on the run back to The Solent. In strong downwind conditions, the two teams resorted to hand-to-hand combat to decide the bout, knowing that the winner of the duel would most likely win the race overall. Executing numerous gybes to gain the upper-hand, at times with over 20 knots of boat speed, and just inches apart, the battle was won by Redshift, crossing the finish line just 20 seconds ahead of Ino XXX.

The overall winner of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Myth of Malham Race was Farr 42 Redshift raced by Ed Fishwick (GBR) and crew: Quentin Bes-Green (GBR), Hugh Brayshaw (GBR), John Coffey (IRL), Hannah Diamond (GBR), Henry Foster (GBR), Donal Ryan (IRL), George Thompson (GBR), Arianne van de Loosdrecht (NED), Mason Woodworth (USA) Photo: Alexia Fishwick

“An amazing race and an awesome feeling to have won it,” commented Redshift's Ed Fishwick. “The Redshift crew were unbelievable, just sensational! It was a long battle just to get to the lighthouse. We made a good rounding and could see Ino, from then on we were gybing across each other all the way down the track. By Christchurch Bay we were a boat length apart. Ino made a great call going all the way into the bay and pulled away. We went into low mode across the bay and eventually made it back. The last ten minutes were crazy, a match race, just inches apart.”

HH42 Ino XXX raced by James Neville (GBR) was second by just four minutes on corrected time. Ker 40 Keronimo raced by Lars & Birgitta Elfverson (SWE) with Dublin Bay sailors Kenny Rumball and Barry Hurley on board was third. Monohull Line Honours was won by Botin IRC52 Tala, skippered by Robbie Southwell (GBR). The overall winner of the Multihull Class after MOCRA time correction was Dazcat Slinky Malinki raced by James Holder (GBR). Multihull Line Honours was won by Shuttle 39 Morpheus raced by Andrew Fennell (GBR).

In IRC Two, JPK 11.80 Courrier Recommande sailed by Gery Trentesaux (FRA) started their 2019 Rolex Fastnet Campaign with a class win by nine minutes after IRC time correction. J/133 Pintia, sailed by Gilles Fournier & Corinne Migraine (FRA) was second. J/122 Juno, sailed by Christopher Daniel (GBR) was third.

In IRC Three, the podium was made up of yachts racing Two-Handed. JPK 10.80 Timeline, sailed by Marc Alperovitch (FRA) was the winner. Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, sailed by Rob Craigie (GBR) was second by just under 22 minutes after IRC time correction. JPK 10.80 Shaitan, sailed by Jean-Eudes Renier (FRA) was third.

Marc Alperovitch has won class in many high profile races fully crewed including the Rolex Fastnet Race. However, this is Marc's first Two-Handed campaign with Jerome Huillard D'Aignaux. “I suppose you could say this was first time lucky!” smiled Marc. “I decided to make a fresh start with a new boat and the new dynamic of racing two-handed. We had a few problems with gear, which really takes it out of you. Off Portland Bill our headsail became detached in rough seas and it was sometime before we fixed the problem. As we are a new team, we had no pressure to win, but to come out on top in our first race has certainly brought the pressure on!”

In IRC Four, JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew, sailed by Noel Racine (FRA) was the winner by just over 30 minutes after time correction with 41 yachts in class. Emmanuel Pinteaux (FRA) racing JPK 10.10 Gioia was second and Chris Choules (GBR) racing Sigma 38 With Alacrity was third.

Noel Racine's winning streak with Foggy Dew as IRC Four champion dates back to 2013. So what is the secret to Foggy Dew's success? “It is not a secret,” smiled Racine. “You need a good boat, a good crew and you need to make less mistakes than the others. We made a mistake at the beginning of this race when we ran out of wind and watched the fleet sail away. However, we kept focused, kept our concentration, and one by one we caught the competition and passed them to win the class.”

The Myth of Malham Race was the fourth of the 2019 RORC Season's Points Championship. Second overall in the RORC Transatlantic Race, Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep, sailed by Trevor Middleton (GBR) is the overall leader for the series. After winning the last two races overall Redshift moves up to second for the championship. Cookson 50 Kuka 3 sailed by Franco Niggeler (SUI) is now third. The fifth race of the 2019 RORC Season's Points Championship will be the North Sea Race starting from Harwich on Friday 31 May bound for Scheveningen, Netherlands.