RORC Nelson’s Cup opened with squalls, sunshine and a protest that reshaped the leaderboard off Antigua on Tuesday.
Racing on 17 February, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with Antigua Yacht Club, delivered two windward-leeward races in sharply contrasting conditions.
IRC Two – Jackknife In Command
Sam and Andrew Hall’s Jackknife set the early benchmark with two race wins in IRC Two.
In Race 1, boats that secured clear lanes in the early pressure extended. Jackknife capitalised to take a convincing victory.
Race 2 followed a similar pattern over 12 nautical miles. Jackknife controlled the fleet and won by nearly nine minutes on corrected time from Cox and Dunlop’s Mojito, with Pol Høj-Jensen’s Danish Blue third.
“We went out this morning with a simple plan,” said Sam Hall. “Sail fast, have fun, look after the boat and look after each other.”
“The squall at the start was a proper level playing field. I don’t think anyone really won or lost from it; it was about getting into your lane and sailing your race.”
Hall added: “We’ve got to take the two wins with a pinch of salt. Mojito had issues and would have put us under more pressure.”
Jackknife leads on a perfect score after two races. Danish Blue sits one point ahead of another ISORA boat, Mojito.
IRC Maxi – Protest Alters Standings
Maxi Momentum — Leopard 3 and Galateia trade wins in unstable breeze before a protest reshuffles the IRC Maxi leaderboard.
In IRC Maxi, Race 1 turned at the leeward gate. Maxi V, skippered by Karel Komarek, ripped a spinnaker in the unstable breeze, opening the door for Chris Flowers’ Galateia to win on corrected time.
Race 2 went to Leopard 3, sailed by Joost Schuijff, with Galateia second. V finished just 13 seconds behind Galateia on IRC.
“We certainly didn’t expect to get that wet in the first race,” said Leopard 3 tactician Chris Nicholson. “That squall dictated everything.”
“There was a 70-degree shift at one point. We didn’t nail the start and we were on the back foot from there.”
After racing, Galateia was disqualified from Race 2 following a protest by V. Leopard 3 now leads the class from Balthasar and Deep Blue.
IRC Zero – Margins Tight
Trading Blows — Rán (above), Daguet 5 and Ino Noir separated by seconds as IRC Zero delivers the tightest racing of the day. Photo: Tim Wright
IRC Zero produced the closest finish of the day.
Rán, owned by Niklas Zennström, edged James Neville’s Ino Noir by nine seconds on corrected time in Race 1. Frederic Puzin’s Daguet 5 was just over a minute behind.
“In the big squall, the first top mark was crucial,” said Zennström. “We gybe set and that had us laying the bottom mark.”
Daguet 5 won Race 2 from Rán, with Ino Noir third.
After two races, Rán leads by one point from Daguet 5. Ino Noir is two points further back.
IRC One – Rikki Doubles Up
Consistency defined IRC One. Bruce Chafee’s Rikki posted back-to-back wins. Jim Voss’ Warthog and Woody Cullen’s WaveWalker traded podium places across the two races.
Two races in, Rikki leads. Warthog is second on countback from WaveWalker.
Day 1 delivered the full Antiguan spectrum. Heavy rain and a destabilised easterly tested crews in the morning. Sunshine and 14 knots followed before the breeze softened late on.
Racing continues on Wednesday, 18 February with more short-course action off Antigua’s south coast.
