Ed Fishwick’s maiden offshore race in the FAST40+ Redshift resulted in his winning the 2019 RORC Cervantes Trophy Race.
With a top class crew including Hannah Diamond and Dave Swete from the Volvo Ocean Race, along with Figaro skipper Nick Cherry, Redshift completed the 160nm course in just under 15 hours taking Line Honours and the overall win after IRC time correction.
Lars and Birgitta Elfverson’s Swedish Ker 40 Keronimo was second overall. Dutch Ker 46 Van Uden, skippered by Gerd-Jan Poortman, was third.
The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Cervantes Trophy Race, starting from the Squadron Line at Cowes, provided a challenging start to the European season for the RORC Season’s Points Championship. A bitter northerly wind, with squalls gusting over 30 knots, produced a challenging race for the impressive fleet of 108 boats.
33 teams started the race in IRC Two-Handed, and two thirds of the fleet completed a tough test of shorthanded boat handling and tenacity.
Louis-Marie Dussere’s French JPK 10.80 Raging-bee² took class line honours in just under 20 hours, and was the winner after IRC time correction. Deb Fish & Will Taylor racing Sun Fast 3600 Bellino was second in class, and Julien Lebas’ French A31 Gaya was third.
In IRC Zero,Van Uden was the class winner, Windward Sailing’s British CM60 Venomous, sailed by Derek Saunders was second, and Lance Shepherd’s Volvo 70 Telefonica Black third.
In IRC One Redshift, and Keronimo took the top two places, Mark Emerson’s British A13 Phosphorus II was third.
In IRC Two, Thomas Kneen’s British JPK 11.80 took Line Honours for the class, and after time correction won the class, also placing fourth overall. In IRC Three, Raging-bee² was the class winner. Peter Butters’ British JPK 10.10 Joy, sailed by Dave Butters, was third.
Noel Racine’s JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew made a great start to their defence of their IRC Four win last year, taking Class Line Honours and the win on IRC corrected time.
Emmanuel Pinteaux’s JPK 10.10 Giola was second and Chris Choules Sigma 38 With Alacrity completed the podium, after winning a great duel with Harry Heijst’s S&S 41 Winsome. With Alacrity was third by less than six minutes after nearly 23 hours of racing.
In the Multihull Class, two teams racing 30-something footers completed a tough challenge.
Joel Malardel’s French Normanni 34 Tancrède took Line Honours and the win after time correction. 2018 Multihull champion, Ross Hobson’s Seacart 30 Buzz, was second.
RORC Transatlantic and RORC Caribbean 600 Champion, Catherine Pourre’s Eärendil, was the winner in the Class40 Division, beating Christophe Coatnoan’s Partouche.
The fourth race of the 2019 RORC Season’s Points Championship is the Myth of Malham Race, starting from the RYS Line on Saturday 25 May.
