#RORC – Round Ireland double winner Piet Vroon still has a chance of retaining the RORCs 2012 points series but as Louay Habib reports after the weekend's Channel Race it is going to be close.
Philippe Falle sailing Peter Rutter's Grand Soleil 46, Trustmarque Quokka 8, won the 2012 Channel Race overall finishing the 145-mile in course in just over 26 hours. However a number of boats have requested redress as the mark, (CH1) off the coast near Cherbourg was not in place and some boats spent time looking for the mark before rounding its GPS co-ordinates and proceeding back to Cowes.
One of those who looked for the mark was Piet Vroon with his Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, who still has a fighting chance of retaining the title of RORC Season's Points Championship winner. He will have a fight on his hands and with one more race to go, the Cherbourg Race at the end of August looks set to be an absolute cracker. Laurent Gouy's French Ker 39, Inis Mor, has the upper hand but Nick Martin's British J/105, Diablo-J, racing Two-Handed is right in the mix.
Trustmarque Quokka's win in the 2012 Channel Race was the first outing for Philippe Falle's newly formed Deep Blue Racing Team and as such Quokka is not a contender for the championship but Falle has been RORC racing for ten years and knows just how tough it is to win the RORC Season's Points Championship.
"I have come very close to winning the championship but I haven't won it yet," said Philippe Falle. "It is an extremely tough series to win and takes a lot of dedication and determination over an 8 month period, I think it is probably the hardest sailing series to win anywhere. For the team on Quokka is was very satisfying to win the Channel Race as this was the first outing for a group of good amateur sailors that want to take their racing to another level. We will be competing in the Cherbourg Race before taking Quokka down to Malta for the Rolex Middle Sea Race, where we hope to challenge for class honours. Next year, we plan to kick off a full campaign with the RORC Caribbean 600 and of course the RORC Season's Points Championship. To start off our campaign with a win was fantastic."
Line Honours in the Channel Race went to Harm Prins' Volvo 60, Pleomax, sealing the Dutch team's class win in IRC Zero for the season. Inis Mor was the winner in IRC One and came 3rd overall to extend their lead for the series. Nick Martin's 5th overall for the Channel Race has moved the Two-Handed team up to second overall, whilst Piet Vroon's Tonnerre de Breskens could only manage a 13th overall.
In IRC Three and the Two-Handed class, Nick Martin's Diablo-J came out on top but it was far from easy. An excellent performance by another two-handed sailor pushed Diablo-J all the way. Flic Gabbay's Elan 380, Elixir, took line honours for both classes by just nine minutes but Diablo-J won after time correction. Nick Martin's win secured the Two-Handed Class for the season and also puts Diablo-J up to second place overall in the Season's Points Championship. Mike Moxley's HOD 35, Malice, was third in both classes moving the Hampshire sailor up to third overall for the season.
In IRC Four Harry Heijst's S&S 41, Winsome, took a second class win of the season. The Dutch team now have an unassailable lead in IRC Four. Pierre Viard and Nicolas Siloret's Prism 28, Adrenaline, was the smallest yacht in the Channel Race. However, the French crew scored a second place moving the team up from 16th in class to 5th. Adrenaline is now very much in contention for the remaining two podium places in IRC Four, along with Kirsteen Donaldson's Pyxis, Jean Yves Chateau's Iromiguy and Paul Jackson's Wild Spirit.
The last race of the RORC Season's Points Championship will take place on Friday the 31st August with a sprint across The English Channel for the Cherbourg Race.
