2024 RORC Season's Points Championship - Class winners decided
by Louay Habib / RORC 18 Sep 18:01 UTC
2024 Salcombe Gin Morgan Cup Race - IRC 2H Nationals Race 2 © Rick Tomlinson / RORC
The 2024 RORC Season's Points Championship attracted close to 400 boats, raced by nearly 5000 sailors from six continents.
The overall winner under IRC is decided by the total number of points scored in the series. Seven IRC Class winners are decided by the best five results in the 16 race series. Multihulls race under the MOCRA Rule and Class40s race level-rating under their own class rules.
The overall winner of the 2024 RORC Season's Points Championship, retaining the Jazz Trophy won in 2023, was Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino (GBR), racing Two-Handed with RORC Commodore Deb Fish. Second was Ross Applebey's Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster, (GBR) and third was Nick Martin's Sun Fast 3600 Diablo (GBR), racing double handed with Cal Finlayson.
The MOCRA Class was won by Didier Bouillard's Dazcat 1295 Minor Swing (FRA), Alexia Barrier's MOD70 Limosa (FRA) was runner up with Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo (USA) third. The Class40 Division was won by Greg Leonard's Swift (USA). Alexandre Le Gallais' Trim Control (FRA) was runner up with Guillaume Pirouelle's Sogestran Seafrigo (FRA) in third place.
Trophy winners for the 2024 RORC Season's Points Championship will receive tumultuous applause at the RORC Annual Dinner & Prize Giving to be held at The Church House, Dean's Yard, London on Saturday 23rd November. Tickets for the 'RORC Oscars' can be purchased from the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The RORC Yacht of the Year for the Somerset Memorial Trophy will be announced at the black tie awards ceremony.
Full results here
Rolex Middle Sea Race
The 2024 RORC Season's Points Championship started with the 44th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The 606-mile offshore race concluded with a dramatic battle for the overall win. After IRC time correction, the 93ft Maxi Bullitt (ITA) was the victor by just 24 seconds from the 33ft double-hander Red Ruby (USA).
Bullitt's crew of twenty was a who's who from the America's Cup, round the world racing and maxi yacht scene. Bullitt's owner Andrea Recordati, in a great show of sportsmanship, invited Red Ruby's Christina and Justin Wolfe to the stage to hold the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy with him. A salute to the epic duel in the David Vs Goliath encounter.
RORC Transatlantic Race
The overall winner under IRC for the 10th anniversary edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race was PAC52 Warrior Won (USA), the first American boat to win The RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy. Owner Chris Sheehan was elated after finishing the race: "This race has been on the schedule for five years and my crew asked me what the goal was. Normally I say let's win our class, but having looked at the given forecast, I was audacious and told them, I want to win overall, and we delivered, which is phenomenal!"
Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo (USA) took Multihull Line Honours in the 2024 RORC Transatlantic Race in 6 Days, 10 Hours, 34 Mins and 30 Secs. "It is a really exhilarating experience to travel that fast across the water," commented Jason Carroll. "Getting to do that for 3,000 miles across the Atlantic is a thrill the whole time. When you get up on the foils, you are humming along and the challenge is how long can you stay in that sixth gear."
RORC Caribbean 600
The overall winner under IRC of the 2024 RORC Caribbean 600 was Farr 100 Leopard 3 (MON) skippered by Joost Schuijff. Leopard 3 was one of the RORC Caribbean 600 founding entries. However, this year was the first occasion in nine attempts that Leopard 3 has won the race overall under IRC. Leopard 3 is now 17 years old but is faster than ever due to a major refit by the new owners.
"It is a magnificent experience and a very special feeling," commented Joost Schuijff. "When I look at the Trophy I see so many names of such famous boats. I am delighted for the team that the name Leopard 3 will be engraved there too. It's all about the people and not just the race crew, but also the permanent crew and the build team."
Cervantes Trophy Race
The Cervantes Trophy Race marked the start of the European section of the RORC Season's Points Championship with a 110-mile race to Le Havre. Glorious conditions for the start off the Royal Yacht Squadron Line in Cowes produced a colourful spinnaker start followed by a thrilling close finishes right through the IRC Classes in Le Havre. The overall winner of the RORC Cervantes Trophy Race after IRC time correction was Trevor Middleton's Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep (GBR).
"After a good start, we settled in for a great spinnaker run down the Western Solent," commented Black Sheep's skipper Jake Carter. "After the Needles we gybed inshore, keeping the kite flying. In the Channel we had one of those dis-heartening moments when we stopped and everyone else kept going, but our heads didn't go down. We got further east than the competition and we made a late gain there for sure."
Myth of Malham Race
The overall winner of Myth of Malham Race, after IRC time correction, was Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino (GBR), racing Two-Handed with RORC Commodore Deb Fish. The 235-mile race, from the RYS Line Cowes around the Eddystone Lighthouse and back, mirrors the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race.
Bellino reached the Eddystone at much the same time as a weather front, in which the wind speed picked up to 18 knots. The wind shift turning the leg home into a reach largely under Code 0, rather than a beat. "We were expecting a very slow wind shift, allowing us to sail to the lay line," says Fish, "but then we saw boats converging from the south sailing on a completely different wind angle. It was a race for both watching the AIS and keeping your eyes out the boat and trying to work out what was happening, it was very interesting."
Roschier Baltic Sea Race
The second edition of the Roschier Baltic Sea Race, starting and finishing in Helsinki Finland was won by Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 (USA), owned by Christian Zugel and skippered by Johnny Mordaunt. The notion that The Baltic Sea has calm weather in the summer was dispelled with competitors feeling the effects of close to gale force conditions with a big sea state. Tschüss 2 set a new Outright Race Record for the 635-mile course of 2 Days 5 Hrs 6 Mins and 41 Secs.
"The Roschier Baltic Sea Race is testament to how I think RORC is trying to expand its offerings and I think this race is a fantastic addition and I can only suggest that everybody comes and sails here," commented Christian Zugel. "The welcome Helsinki gave us, the Mayor's Reception, the Marina Bay setup, it has all been really fabulous. The Tschüss 2 team could not be happier. We have really enjoyed the City. It's a great place to sail from and we hope there will be many more races to come."
Lewmar Cherbourg Race
The 2024 RORC Season's Points came to a conclusion with the Lewmar Cherbourg Race, which was raced with JOG producing an impressive sight of 71 boats for the start off the Royal Yacht Squadron Line. The overall winner after IRC time correction was Sun Fast 3200 Cora (GBR) raced Two-handed by Tim Goodhew & Kelvin Matthews. However the Cherbourg race did not start well for Cora as Tim explains.
"We were called over the line at the start," confirmed Tim Goodhew. "We went straight back to restart and probably only lost about eight boat lengths in a 75-mile race. We spent the next six hours trying to catch up with the J/99 Yalla!, our big competition in IRC Three. The wind was very variable and we had to make decisions on the fly. The goal was to maximize our velocity towards Cherbourg to the south but the forecast suggested west was best for an expected shift. We didn't go as far west as Yalla!, this worked out well for us, we profited quite nicely."
2025 Royal Ocean Race Club centenary
Since the 1940s, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has organised a season of multiple races and organised the first RORC Season's Points Championship in 2000 using the IRC Rating System, which is used by nearly all of the world's blue riband offshore races. The series quickly became, and still is, the largest racing series in the world of offshore racing.
The 2025 RORC Season's Points Championship takes place in the centenary year of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The 13-race series includes the 51st edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race, the world's largest offshore race.
More information at www.rorc.org