Royal Ocean Racing Club Announces the Return of the Easter Challenge Regatta

29th February 2024

Afloat.ie Team

Fujitsu British Soldier at RORC Easter Challenge Credit: Paul Wyeth

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) has announced the return of its Easter Challenge, a much anticipated event that kick-starts the racing season for many teams. The training regatta, which has been running for over 20 years, offers an excellent opportunity for world-class coaching that is complimentary for all entrants.

RORC Racing Manager, Steve Cole, said, “The overall aim of the RORC Easter Challenge is to improve the performance of any team, regardless of their skill level. We want the sailors to gain from it, and the coaches have been chosen especially with that in mind. The RORC Race Team will split the fleets into IRC classes, but for this regatta, we also try to put boats together that have similar training requirements. This makes the best use of the coaches at the regatta. The coaching system is very interactive.”

Leading the coaching team is Mason King, supported by Ian Walker and North Sails experts, who provide on-water coaching, as well as video debriefs after racing on Friday and Saturday. World Sailing Rules on outside assistance are relaxed, so for no additional cost to all the teams, hand-picked coaches provide pin-point assistance to get crews of any level up to speed.

The regatta will take place over three days from Easter Friday to Easter Sunday in The Solent, with courses designed to practice boat handling and performance over a range of sailing angles. This creates various options in sail choice, racing mode, plus deck and rig set up, all under the watchful eye of experts who will offer help to improve performance.

In addition to the racing, a competitor WhatsApp group will be active throughout the RORC Easter Challenge, providing information about the intentions of the Race Committee, while also serving as a two-way channel for competitors to request coaching advice during racing.

This year's regatta is supported by the Royal Yacht Squadron, with competitors welcome to The Pavilion on the Squadron lawn throughout the event and for video debriefs. The RORC Easter Challenge awards traditional prizes of Easter Eggs, but the real winners are all the sailors, improving every aspect of yacht racing ability at a safe and friendly regatta.

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THE RORC:

Established in 1925, The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) became famous for the biennial Fastnet Race and the international team event, the Admiral's Cup. It organises an annual series of domestic offshore races from its base in Cowes as well as inshore regattas including the RORC Easter Challenge and the IRC European Championship (includes the Commodores' Cup) in the Solent
The RORC works with other yacht clubs to promote their offshore races and provides marketing and organisational support. The RORC Caribbean 600, based in Antigua and the first offshore race in the Caribbean, has been an instant success. The 10th edition took place in February 2018. The RORC extended its organisational expertise by creating the RORC Transatlantic Race from Lanzarote to Grenada, the first of which was in November 2014
The club is based in St James' Place, London, but after a merger with The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes now boasts a superb clubhouse facility at the entrance to Cowes Harbour and a membership of over 4,000

At A Glance – RORC

RORC Race Enquiries:

Royal Ocean Racing Club T: +44 (0) 1983 295144 E: [email protected] W: http://www.rorc.org/

Royal Ocean Racing Club:

20 St James's Place, London SW1A 1NN, Tel: 020 7493 2248 E: [email protected]

2026 RORC Key dates

Key RORC 2026 dates extracted from the programme:

January–February 2026
• 11 January – RORC Transatlantic Race (Lanzarote to Antigua)
• February (dates vary) – Nelson’s Cup, Antigua
• 23 February – RORC Caribbean 600

May 2026
• 2 May – Cervantes Trophy Race (Cowes to Le Havre)
• 15 May – North Sea Race
• 22–25 May – IRC European Championships, International Poole Regatta
• 23 May – Myth of Malham Race
• 30 May – De Guingand Bowl Race

June 2026
• 12 June – Morgan Cup (Cowes to Dartmouth)
• 20 June – Round Ireland Race (Wicklow)

July 2026
• 3 July – Cowes–Dinard–Saint Malo Race
• 25 July – Channel Race

August 2026
• 8 August – Baltic Sea Race (Helsinki)
• 9 August – Round Britain and Ireland Race (Cowes)
• 26–29 August – IRC National Championship (Dartmouth)

September 2026
• 4 September – Cherbourg Race

October 2026
• 17 October – Rolex Middle Sea Race (counts towards 2027 championship)