Diederik Forma’s Dutch JPK 1030 Jetpack claimed overall victory in the 2026 RORC North Sea Race after a tightly fought finish to Scheveningen. Racing double-handed with Martijn Graafmans, Jetpack secured the IRC overall win by 22 minutes and 37 seconds on corrected time from Rob Craigie’s British Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, sailed with RORC Commodore Deb Fish.
Michel Dorsman’s Dutch MAT 1070 Checkmate completed the podium, with Jan Scholtes’ J/99 Warp 5 just over two minutes further back in fourth. The result reversed fortunes from the 2025 race, when Bellino beat Jetpack by just 53 seconds.
Trophy Time — Diederik Forma and Martijn Graafmans celebrate overall victory for Jetpack at Yacht Club Scheveningen after claiming multiple IRC trophies. Photo: Team Jetpack
Steady winds and long downwind legs shaped this year’s 165-nautical-mile race from Harwich to Scheveningen.
Forma said smart sail choices and consistency proved decisive. “It’s very nice to be on top of the table, especially racing against Rob and Deb,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like revenge, it’s just great competition at a really high level.” “The biggest gains came on the long downwind leg when we switched to the symmetric setup,” he added. “To win overall for the first time, and to do it in Scheveningen, our home port, it’s extra special.”
At the prize-giving in Yacht Club Scheveningen, Jetpack collected multiple trophies, including the Goeree Challenge Cup for IRC Overall and the Golden Dragon Trophy for IRC Two-Handed.
The Dutch Ker 46 Van Uden, sailed by the Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team, claimed line honours and victory in IRC Zero after finishing in 20 hours, 22 minutes and 35 seconds.
Youth Charge — The young Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team aboard Van Uden secured line honours in the North Sea Race in an elapsed time of 20:22:35. Photo: ROST
Co-skipper Cas van Dongen praised the young Dutch crew, whose sailors ranged in age from 18 to 30.
“We pushed hard on speed with a lot of time on deck hiking and had precision on peels between spinnaker and Code Zero,” he said.
In IRC One, Hugo Gommers’ Olympix won the Lutine Trophy ahead of the XR 41 X-Esteem and Grand Soleil 43 Euphoria.
Dorsman’s Checkmate topped IRC Two, while Jetpack and Bellino filled the top two places in IRC Three.
Thomas Moriarty’s vintage Swan 44 Astrid, skippered by his son Paddy Moriarty and crewed by sailors in their early twenties, retained the IRC Four title with back-to-back class victories.
Classic Spirit — Swan 44 Astrid, skippered by Paddy Moriarty, retained the IRC Four class title with back-to-back victories in the North Sea Race. Photo: Paul Wyeth
RORC Race Officer Chris Jackson said the fleet benefitted from stable conditions but constant trimming remained crucial throughout the race.
“Except for the beat to Smith’s Knoll, it has been reaching and downwind angles with lots of trimming all through the night,” he said.
The RORC Season’s Points Championship continues with the Myth of Malham Race from Cowes on 23 May.
