Jean-Eudes Renier’s French Pogo RC Midnight Blues, racing double-handed with Joe Lacey, has won the Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race, taking IRC Overall and Monohull Line Honours after a close 75-nautical-mile contest across the English Channel.

As Afloat reported ahead of Friday’s start, the Cowes-to-Cherbourg finale was set to decide three major offshore championships at the end of the 2026 RORC season. The race duly settled the IRC Two-Handed National Championship, while also bringing the RORC Season’s Points Championship and Cowes Offshore Series programmes to their conclusion.

Midnight Blues won the Trophée de Manche, RORC Trophy and Cherbourg Trophy for IRC Overall, but the margin over Géry Trentesaux’s Courrier Pogo was narrow. Courrier Pogo finished just one minute and seven seconds behind on the water and was second overall by only two minutes and three seconds after IRC correction.

Pogo Pursuit — Géry Trentesaux’s Courrier Pogo finished just 67 seconds behind Midnight Blues on the water before taking second overall by two minutes and three seconds on IRC. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Simon Bamford’s Sun Fast 3300 Kestrel, racing with Ben Ibbotson, completed the overall podium, 21 minutes and 20 seconds behind the winner on corrected time.

Pogo RC Duel Goes to the Finish

The depth of competition was reflected in the corrected-time standings, with the top 15 boats separated by barely more than an hour.

Victory gave Midnight Blues a treble of IRC Overall, IRC Two and Monohull Line Honours.

“We knew the conditions suited Midnight Blues,” Renier said. “The boat was conceived as a kind of mini Class40 and, in tight reaching conditions, she is very quick.”

Renier said the different sail choices aboard the two Pogo RCs helped the advantage move back and forth, with Midnight Blues using a Code Zero and Courrier Pogo an A5.

“We were also trying to stay slightly west to use the stronger current approaching Cherbourg,” he said. “At one point we were about two and a half miles apart, but Gery came back very strongly and at the finish they were only about 500 metres behind us.”

For the Normandy sailor, the result also delivered a first overall Cherbourg victory after previous class wins.

“I’ve raced this race many times. I’ve won my class here before with different boats, but I had never won overall,” Renier said.

Bellino Secures Two-Handed Championship

The race also decided the 2026 IRC Two-Handed National Championship, contested over the Cowes–Dinard–St Malo Race and the Cherbourg Race.

Thirty individual boats took part across the two events, with entries ranging from Sun Fast 3200s, 3300s and 3600s to JPKs, Pogo RCs, Figaro IIs, A40s, Sigma 38s, a Swan 44, a Nicholson 55 and a Contessa 32.

Rob Craigie’s Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing with RORC Commodore Deb Fish, is the provisional 2026 IRC Two-Handed National Champion after a following victory in the Cowes–Dinard–St Malo Race with sixth place at Cherbourg.

Consistency Counts — Rob Craigie’s Sun Fast 3600 Bellino combined its Cowes–Dinard–St Malo victory with sixth at Cherbourg to secure the provisional IRC Two-Handed National Championship. Photo: Paul Wyeth

That outcome confirms the championship scenario highlighted in Afloat’s pre-race preview, when Bellino went into the finale leading Nick Martin’s Diablo.

Midnight Blues’ Cherbourg win lifted Renier and Lacey to second overall in the championship, while Diablo took third, just 2.6 points ahead of Gavin Howe’s Sun Fast 3600 Tigris. Kestrel completed the championship top five.

“The championship really came down to consistency over the two races,” Craigie said. “Bellino is a very good all-round boat, and that helps over a series because you know there will be conditions that suit you and others that don’t.”

Craigie said heavy reaching was one of Bellino’s weaker points, but that the crew still had to push when the championship was at stake.

“When we saw the other boats putting their Code Zeros up, we had to push as well. There was no point playing safe.”

Fish described the championship victory as “the icing on the cake of a fantastic year”. “What has made the racing so good is the strength in depth,” she said. “You look through the fleet, and there are battles everywhere.”

Title Decided — Rob Craigie and RORC Commodore Deb Fish celebrate after Bellino secured the provisional 2026 IRC Two-Handed National Championship at Cherbourg. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Two-Handed Boats Fill Overall Leaderboard

The two-handed division attracted 22 boats for the second and final race of the national championship.

Midnight Blues won from Kestrel, while Rockit finished third, just 10 seconds ahead of Sky Business – Game On. Zanzibar completed the top five.

The strength of the short-handed fleet was underlined by the overall result, where four of the top five boats — Midnight Blues, Kestrel, Rockit and Sky Business – Game On — were racing two-handed.

Kestrel Wins Close IRC Three Battle

Thomas Wilson’s Mills 39 Custom Zero II was the sole finisher in IRC One and won the Quailo Cup.

IRC Two supplied the first two boats overall, with Midnight Blues beating Courrier Pogo and Ross Applebey’s Lightwave 48 Scarlet Oyster taking third.

IRC Three produced another tight contest, with Kestrel beating Chris Hanson’s Sun Fast 3300 Rockit by one minute and 49 seconds on corrected time.

Podium Charge — Simon Bamford’s Sun Fast 3300 Kestrel took third IRC Overall and won IRC Three after a close battle in the 75-nautical-mile Cherbourg Race. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Ian Hoddle’s Sun Fast 3300 Sky Business – Game On, racing with Willow Bland, was only another 10 seconds behind in third.

The three boats also finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in IRC Overall.

Zanzibar Reverses Round Britain Result

Inka Luhrs and Richard Bretherton’s Sun Fast 3200 Zanzibar won IRC Four by 31 minutes and four seconds from Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack.

The result reversed their finishing order from the previous month’s RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, where Jetpack had taken the IRC Three victory.

Mark Kendall’s J/99 Jiro finished just 16 seconds behind Jetpack on corrected time to take third.

Shockwave Takes Multihull Line Honours

Jon McColl’s Shuttleworth 34 Shockwave completed the 75-nautical-mile course in six hours, 33 minutes and 25 seconds at an average speed of more than 11 knots to take Multihull Line Honours.

Multi Speed — Jon McColl’s Shuttleworth 34 Shockwave averaged more than 11 knots over the 75-nautical-mile course to claim Multihull Line Honours at Cherbourg. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Didier Bouillard’s Dazcat 1295 Minor Swing finished less than 20 minutes behind on the water but won the Multihull Class after MOCRA time correction.

The Cherbourg race brought the RORC Season’s Points Championship and Cowes Offshore Series to a close, with the RORC Pursuit Race on Saturday, 19 September providing one final competitive outing in Cowes before the end-of-season prizegiving.