RORC North Sea Race Set for Tactical Offshore Battle

13th May 2026

Afloat.ie Team

North Sea Charge — Ker 46 Van Uden powers through heavy weather ahead of the 2026 RORC North Sea Race from Harwich to Scheveningen Credit: Paul Wyeth

The 2026 RORC North Sea Race starts on Friday 15th of May with an international fleet set for the 165-nautical mile crossing from Harwich to Scheveningen in the Netherlands. Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club with Royal Harwich Yacht Club, the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association and Yacht Club Scheveningen, the race remains one of offshore sailing’s longest-running contests.

First sailed in 1931, the North Sea Race forms part of the RORC Season’s Points Championship, regarded as the world’s largest offshore racing series. The route across the North Sea presents crews with shifting weather, strong tides, sandbanks, shipping lanes and offshore wind farms. Tactical calls around Smith’s Knoll and the Dutch coast are expected to prove decisive.

Around 50 boats are entered from Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Among the fully crewed contenders are Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team’s Ker 46 Van Uden, the J/122 Moana, Michel Dorsman’s MAT 1070 Checkmate and Paddy Moriaty’s Swan 44 Astrid.

Sun Fast 3600 Bellino tunes up ahead of the Harwich start. Photo: Paul Wyeth

The double-handed division is expected to produce one of the closest contests in the fleet. Rob Craigie’s Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing with RORC Commodore Deb Fish, returns after winning overall under IRC in 2025. They face strong competition from Astrid de Vin and Roeland Franssens aboard the JPK 1030 Il Corvo

.JPK 1030 Il Corvo prepares for the RORC North Sea Race campaign. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Diederik Forma’s JPK 1030 Jetpack returns after finishing second overall last year, while John van der Starre and Robin Verhoef campaign the Dutch Xr 41 X-Esteem.

British entries also include the RORC Griffin team and Gavin Howe’s Tigris, racing double-handed with Griffin Pathway sailor Albert Barber.

The race also offers a preview of the challenges crews will face later this year in the 1,805-nautical-mile RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race. Prestigious prizes include the Goeree Challenge Cup for best corrected IRC time and the Golden Dragon Trophy for the IRC Two-Handed division.

Live race tracking will be available throughout the event.

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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)