Black Sheep Leads RORC Channel Race Challenge From Cowes

23rd July 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Championship Charge — Trevor Middleton's JPK 1180 Black Sheep powers through Cork Harbour during June's Round Ireland Race. The IRC One championship leader is among the favourites for Saturday's RORC Channel Race from Cowes. Credit: Afloat

Trevor Middleton's JPK 1180 Black Sheep heads to Cowes this weekend aiming to strengthen its RORC Season's Points Championship lead when the 2026 RORC Channel Race starts on Saturday. The proven campaign is among a fleet packed with offshore winners, including Round Ireland Race champion Khumbu, as crews prepare for next month's Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Channel Race is the 12th race of the RORC Offshore Season's Points Championship and the penultimate event in the seven-race Cowes Offshore Series.

The fleet combines high-performance racers, double-handed teams, classic yachts and multihulls. Weather, tides and strategy are all expected to play decisive roles in determining the overall IRC winner.

Black Sheep Defends Championship Lead

Trevor Middleton's JPK 1180 Black Sheep arrives at Cowes after another consistent offshore campaign and leads the RORC Season's Points Championship in IRC One.

RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare's J/122 Bulldog also heads to the start as a class leader, while Mark Brown's JPK 1030 Jetpack tops the IRC Four standings and returns as defending class champion. Rob Cotterill's J/109 Mojo Risin' lies just four points behind Jetpack in the season standings.

Khumbu Heads IRC Zero Showdown

Round Ireland Winner — Guy Gillon's Botin 56 Khumbu powers through the 2026 Round Ireland Race. The line honours and overall IRC winner returns to action this weekend as one of the favourites for the RORC Channel Race from Cowes. Photo: Afloat

IRC Zero features four of the season's most accomplished campaigns.

Guy Gillon's Botin 56 Khumbu returns after claiming both line honours and overall IRC victory in June's Round Ireland Race.

James Neville's TP52 Ino Veritas arrives following its contribution to RORC's winning Sardinia Cup campaign alongside Per Roman's Garm.

The Dutch Ker 46 ROST–Van Uden also enters in strong form after winning its class during the Rolex Fastnet Race in the Admiral's Cup, while Graeme Lewis's Carroll Marine 60 Venomous, current IRC Zero championship leader, completes one of the strongest line-ups of the season.

Double-Handed Racing Promises Close Battle

Twelve double-handed teams are entered, with Bellino, Diablo, Tigris and Sky Business-GameOn all chasing valuable championship points.

Rob Craigie and RORC Commodore Deb Fish bring Bellino to the start after finishing third overall under IRC in the Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race. The Sun Fast 3600 also won IRC Three and the opening round of the 2026 IRC Two-Handed National Championship.

Nick Martin's Diablo, Gavin Howes' Tigris and Ian Hoddle's Sky Business-GameOn have also enjoyed consistently strong seasons and are expected to feature prominently.

Classic Yachts and Multihulls Add Variety

Classic entries include Andrew Tseng's Nicholson 55 Quailo III and Paddy Moriarty's Swan 44 Astrid.

The MOCRA fleet features championship leader Peter Coote's Slinky Malinki, alongside James Holder's trimaran Uno and Jonathan McColl's Shockwave.

Important Test Before Round Britain and Ireland

The Channel Race also serves as the final offshore rehearsal for many boats entered in next month's 1,805-nautical-mile Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Among those using the event as a key preparation are Bellino, GameOn, Fujitsu British Soldier, Kestrel, Ronin, Quailo III, RORC Griffin, Venomous, Tigris and Swift.

For the RORC Griffin Youth Pathway team, the race provides a final opportunity to refine offshore systems, navigation and teamwork before the start on 9 August.

With powerful offshore racers competing alongside smaller IRC contenders, changing weather and tidal conditions could prove decisive. As recent RORC races have shown, the overall IRC winner can emerge from almost any class.

A Race Steeped in Offshore History

First sailed in 1928 as the Junior Ocean Race, the Channel Race was created as a shorter offshore challenge to complement the Fastnet Race.

The inaugural fleet of 12 boats raced from Cowes to Cherbourg and back, with Robert Somerset's cutter Penboch taking victory. Somerset later became Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

The race became the opening contest of the Admiral's Cup in 1957, cementing its place as one of offshore racing's classic events.

Nearly a century later, it remains one of the sport's most demanding tests of navigation, weather strategy and teamwork.

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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)