Royal Ocean Racing Club
RACE REPORT 31 May 2011
Myth of Malham Race Winner - Noel Rascine's JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew/Credit: Hamo Thornycroft
FRENCH BOATS DOMINATE WINDY RORC RACE
THE MYTH OF MALHAM RACE (Around Eddystone Lighthouse) - Organised by the Royal Ocean
Racing Club in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron
The Myth of Malham Race is considered a good dress rehearsal as well as being a
qualifying race for this year's Rolex Fastnet Race and 125 yachts braved a windy
forecast to compete in the race. With a west north west wind between 15 and 25
knots and yachts experiencing gusts of over 30 knots it was a tough test and an
excellent warm up for the fleet who had to beat all the way to the Eddystone lighthouse
off Plymouth and experience a fast run back to the Solent.
French boats dominated the results taking three out of the top four places with
Noel Rascine's Foggy Dew the overall winner. Foggy Dew, a JPK 10.10 and one of the
smallest boats in the race, found the conditions very tough but finished the 240
mile course in 33 hours - seven hours behind the line honours winner, the Ker 46
Tonnerre de Breskens with her owner Piet Vroon on board. Second overall was another
French yacht, the JPK 9.6 Ultreia!, owned by Matthias Kracht. Amazingly, Matthias
was sailing in and won the Two-Handed Class. Considering the weather conditions,
this is a pretty special feat. Both Noel and Matthias were unable to comment today,
as they were delivering their yachts back to France!
Third overall was Ross Appleby's 24 year old Oyster 48, Scarlet Oyster, and the
winner of IRC Two. Ross was delighted with the result having pushed this old design
very hard to achieve a podium place:
"As we left the Solent we could tell by the boats around us that we were doing well.
We got headed quite early and we changed our plan by heading into Lyme Bay. We were
a bit anxious about the move in case the breeze died on us however, the move really
paid off," explained Ross "It was a ballistic run back from the Eddystone with gusts
of over 35 knots off Portland. We managed to keep the rig on top of the boat but
the kite had other ideas blowing up in one big gust and we ran right over it and
then broke the pole! We used our jockey-pole on our No. 3 headsail, which was not
as fast, but that did mean we could sail straight down the rhumb line in control
and we still managed 20 knots on the surf."
IRC Zero saw an epic duel between two yachts: Derek Saunders' CM 60, Venomous, crossed
the finish line a mere 11 seconds ahead of Jens Kuehne's Reichel Pugh 48, Sjambok.
However after time correction, Sjambok was declared winner of the class.
Jonathon Goring's brand new Ker 40, Keronimo was the winner of IRC One and 5th in
IRC overall. By all accounts, the new yacht from the drawing board of America's
Cup designer Jason Ker is a real speed machine. Tonnerre de Breskens was second
and previous Myth of Malham winner, Mike Greville's Ker 39, Erivale III put in
a great performance to take third.
"Ten days out of the box and straight into a very breezy race was bit of a baptism
of fire!" commented Goring: "A 120 mile beat to Eddystone and then a screaming run
back in 30 knots of wind was a great test for this brand new design. We got a good
start in the middle of the Squadron Line and we were chuffed to be the first of
the big boats out of the Solent. The run home was brilliant and we had some amazing
surfs on the tidal over falls at each headland with long periods where the speed
was over 20 knots. At times there was white water past the mast but we didn't broach
once for the whole trip."
Neil Kipling's J 122, Joopster was second in IRC Two behind Scarlet Oyster. RORC
Commodore, Andrew McIrvine's First 40, La Réponsewas third, after a close battle
with another First 40, Edward Broadway's Carpe Diem.
As well as winning overall,Foggy Dew had a convincing win in IRC Three. James Heald's
J 105, Flawless J was second overall with Peter Olden's A 35, Solan Goose of Hamble
in third.
24 yachts competed in the Two Handed Class and only one of them did not finish the
course; a testament to the seamanship of all the crews. The top three boats Ultreia!,
Night and Day and Flawless J finished 2nd, 4th and 7th overall, which is a huge
achievement in this top class fleet.
Two Class 40s enjoyed the fresh conditions, especially Cathrine Pourre's Earwenwhich
took the class win from Mark Denton's MAXVMG.
Ultreia! won IRC 4, Pascal Loison was second in another JPK 960 Night and Day. In
third place was Peter Diamond's Rapscallion, which also won the Sigma 38 class by
nearly an hour, from Nigel Goodhew's Persephone of London. Jon England's Vitesse
was third.
The conditions were tough and a good test for any serious offshore racer who has
his eyes set on competing in this years Rolex Fastnet race. A number of boats had
incidents including a man overboard, a dismasting and severe seasickness. This necessitated
the emergency services being called out on three occasions.
The Myth of Malham counts for points towards the RORC Season's Points Championship
and the overall leader is still Piet Vroon's Tonnerre de Breskens. Niall Dowling's
J 111, Arabella is in second place and by virtue of his win this weekend Noel Racine's
Foggy Dewmoves up to third overall.
The next race in the series is scheduled to start, next Friday 3rd June. The 180-mile
North Sea Race from Harwich to Scheveningen in Holland. The Royal Ocean Racing Club's
Season's Points Championship consists of a testing series of races, which attracts
an international and varied fleet. Trying to win the Season's Points Championship
is a real challenge for the serious offshore sailor. This year the Championship
includes the tactically and physically challenging Rolex Fastnet Race, the oldest
and most prestigious offshore yacht race in the world.
For the full RORC racing programme, results and more information go to:
http://www.rorc.org/
ENDS/....
IMAGES:
Picture Caption:
Overall Winner, RORC Myth of Malham Race - JPK 10.10, Foggy Dew, Noel Rascine
Photo Credit: Hamo Thornycroft:
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