Preview: 2013 RORC Season's Points Championship
18 March 2013
Preview by Louay Habib
The 2013 Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship is set for the biggest
turnout since the series began in 2000. Every edition of the Championship has attracted
hundreds of yachts, however this year buoyed by the Rolex Fastnet Race, over 400
yachts will be racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
Shaun Frohlich's IMX45, Exabyte III won the RORC Season's Points Championship twice
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Credit: Paul Wyeth/www.pwpictures.com
Whilst the Rolex Fastnet Race is the showcase race of the 2013 series, there are
13 testing races that make up the championship with the best five results counting
for the overall winner. Trying to win the RORC Season's Points Championship is a
real challenge but every race has its own coveted prize for the overall winner
and class honours.
Since 2000 only one yacht, Piet Vroon's Tonnerre de Breskens, has won the Season's
Points Championship twice (2010 and 2011) and only two times has it been awarded
to a yacht 50' or over. (2005 -TP52, Fidessa Fastwave & 2006 - Cookson 50, Chieftain).
More often than not, a production yacht, crewed by amateur sailors, wins the RORC
Season's Points Championship, arguably the most competitive and popular offshore
series in the world.
In 2004 Shaun Frohlich's IMX45, Exabyte III, had a fantastic year winning the Cervantes
Trophy, De Guingand Bowl, Morgan Cup, The Assuage Trophy and the Alan Paul Trophy
but Exabyte III didn't win the championship overall, Chris Bull's J/145, Jazz, scored
an impressive performance in the Round Ireland Race to tip the balance in their
favour.
"It was a great year with a completely amateur team," commented Frohlich. "Although
we didn't win overall, it is lovely to think back and remember the anticipation
before every single race; it is a delicious excitement. Even when you finish in
the wee small hours, tired and hungry, all you want to know is the result. As each
boat crosses the finish line a picture develops, just like in an old fashioned darkroom,
and you want to know if it is a cracking picture or not."
"The championship is a brilliant combination of the excitement and immediacy of
each event. However because it is a series, if you have a bad race there is still
more to fight for. Taking your best five results means that more often than not,
the chance of winning stays alive until the very last race," continued Frohlich.
2012 saw one of the closest championships ever with three boats vying for the overall
prize going into the last race, a 78-mile sprint from Cowes to Cherbourg. Piet Vroon
thought he had won the title for a third time when his Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens,
won the race. However Laurent Gouy's Ker 39, Inis Mor, managed fifth overall in
the Cherbourg race to win the seven month series by a single point. Also in 2012,
a remarkable run of form by Nick Martin's J/105, Diablo-J, was rewarded with third
overall, a massive achievement as Diablo-J had been racing two-handed against fully
crewed yachts.
One notable change this year is that the RORC have altered the points system for
scoring the Season's Points Championship and competitors are only allowed to count
the bonus points from one race towards their overall score. Bonus points are awarded
to five of the 13 races with the Rolex Fastnet being the highest scoring race with
a factor of 1.5.
"In the past, with no restriction on how many high points factored races a boat
could count towards their overall score, a big advantage was to be gained by boats
that were capable of travelling to places like the East Coast and Ireland," commented
RORC CEO Eddie Warden Owen on this year's change to the points system. "Now with
RORC races in different parts of the world scoring a high points factor, such as
the RORC Caribbean 600 and the Rolex Middle Sea Race, both tough extended offshore
races, the Club did not want the majority who chose not to travel to be at a disadvantage.
Points from these races can still be counted but boats can only count the high points
score from one race, most likely the race with the best result."
The 2013 RORC Season's Points Championship has already begun with the RORC Caribbean
600 in February, however on May 4th the European season kicks off with The Cervantes
Trophy Race from Cowes to Le Havre. ENDS/..
The 2013 RORC Season's Points Championship comprises 13 testing races. The Championship
started in February with the Caribbean 600, Antigua. The Cervantes Trophy Race from
Cowes-Le Havre kicks off the European season on 4th May, with the showcase of the
Championship, The Rolex Fastnet Race in August.
* The Royal Ocean Racing Club: The RORC was formed immediately following the completion
of the first Fastnet Race in 1925. Its brief was 'to encourage long-distance yacht
racing and the design, building and navigation of sailing vessels in which speed
and seaworthiness are combined.' The RORC has been a pioneer in the sport, not
only organising offshore racing, but also in developing standards of excellence,
particularly in regard to safety issues. It is at the forefront of race management
and in the development and administration of rating rules for racing yachts around
the world.The principal clubhouse is in St James's Place, London. With over 85
years of proud history, the RORC is a truly international yacht club comprising
approximately 3,300 members from 54 different countries.
* Races will be scored using The Spinlock IRC rating rule which is administered
jointly by the RORC Rating Office in Lymington, UK and UNCL Centre de Calcul in
Paris, France. The RORC Rating Office is the technical hub of the Royal Ocean Racing
Club and recognised globally as a centre of excellence for measurement. For Spinlock
Royal Ocean Racing Club | 20 St James's Place | London | SW11 1NN | United Kingdom
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