(Portsmouth, England)- Yachts from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland,
The Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom gathered in the
Solent for the twelfth edition of the RORC IRC National Championship.
Split into five IRC classes, the J/Teams were participating in three of
them- IRC2, IRC3, and IRC4- and they all either won or had top five
finishes! The Royal Ocean Racing Club was determined to open the IRC National Championship in style and three excellent races on challenging windward-leeward courses was the result offshore of Portsmouth. With virtually no wind forecast for the central Solent, as well as tidal and depth issues, the Race Committee decided to take the fleet east in search of a decent breeze and the result was a magnificent day on the water.
For the second day of sailing the RORC P.R.O chose Hayling Shoal as the combat zone. With five races now completed, battle lines were emerging for the three classes J's were racing. Day Two was another light winds affair with the 54 strong RORC fleet heading once again to the best sailing grounds available. With the wind speed barely reaching 10 knots, starts were important and getting into clear air gave a distinct advantage. However, some yachts were over-eager with several general recalls and a number of boats were called over the line on individual recalls. Only two of the scheduled three races were sailed, however the race management team were roundly applauded for getting in two good races with difficult weather conditions.
In IRC Two, Cornel Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG had posted three finishes in the top five (3-4-4) but had an 8th in race 5 to hurt their chances for the podium. Her sistership, Andrew Christie's J/111 ICARUS, sailed like her namesake, not melting her wings as she streaked to the front of the fleet, posting a bullet to her scoreline.
For the final day of racing on Sunday, the crews faced a fairly grim forecast-- next to no or little wind was on the cards and it would be difficult for the RORC committee to get the ball rolling and have a "fair" race for all. As it happened, all classes got away off Gillkicker Point, but a substantial shift in the light breeze was too much to provide fair racing and the race was abandoned shortly after the start.
Consequently,
Cornell Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG snatched a fourth place in IRC2 having
sailed a solid series in the middle three races. Chalmers J/35 BENGAL
MAGIC took IRC honors. "It has come as a complete surprise to win our
class!" commented an ecstatic Chalmers. "We have been racing against
some well sailed boats but now and again everything clicks together and
that has been the case this weekend. We are absolutely thrilled to be
national champions. I have just spent a fortune with Spinlock, so I am
delighted to hear that we will be receiving some prizes from them, as
well! Thanks for contribution from RORC/
Louay Habib. Sailing Photo credits- Paul Wyeth- http://www.pwpictures.com For more RORC IRC Nationals Championship sailing information
