The 100 foot (30.47m) LOA monohull limit set by a number of the classic 600 mile races such as the Fastnet, Sydney Hobart and Middle Sea races has been lifted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Malta Yacht Club for the 2015 editions of the Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Middle Sea Races. This will allow superyachts participating in the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series to compete.

The AORS consists of four events: the RORC Caribbean 600, the 2015 Transatlantic Race from Newport to the Lizard, the Rolex Fastnet Race and Rolex Middle Sea Race. Superyachts have always been eligible to race in the RORC Caribbean 600 and a number have entered for the west to east Transatlantic Race at the end of June/July 2015, organised by the Royal Yacht Squadron and New York Yacht Club in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club and Storm Trysail Club.

Read the complete article on the Rolex Fastnet Race Minisite

Royal Ocean Racing Club Annual Dinner & Prize Giving

Saturday 15^th November 2014

InterContinental Park Lane

18.30 - 01.00

As the RORC Season draws to a close its time to look ahead to the RORC Annual Dinner and the Prize Giving for 2014's Season's Points. A spectacular celebratory event for prize winners, competitors, members and guests alike. This year the event will also celebrate the RORC's merger with the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Cowes.

This year the RORC Annual Dinner & Prize Giving stays local to the RORC Clubhouse at the InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane. Steeped in history, this London hotel was once the site of a royal residence. Now the epitome of contemporary elegance, the hotel is located just steps from Hyde Park and in view of Buckingham Palace.

Click below for booking details

The IMA and the owners of the Mini Maxi Racers announced during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship held in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, the new Maxi 72 CLass.

The Maxi 72 Class will replace the term `Mini Maxi' and makes reference to its `heritage as well as the maximum length'.

The IMA also announced the schedule of races for the 2015 season as follows:

The full 2015 programme will include the RORC Caribbean 600, the Rolex Fastnet Race, the RORC Transatlantic Race and the Rolex Middle Sea Race as well as Key West Race Week, the Voile de St Barth, Palma Vela, Menorca Maxi Regatta, Rolex Giraglia, RYS Bi-Centennial, Copa del Rey, AAM Cowes Week, the Maxi 72 World Championship.

The penultimate race of the RORC Season's Points Championship, and the last of the domestic season, to Cherbourg was a light winds affair, as RORC Racing Manager Nick Elliott explains: "The fleet had just enough pressure to get out of the Solent but the light breeze faded during the night. The breeze did not materialise until the morning and this year's race definitely favoured the smaller yachts. The best performers were those that used the tide to their advantage and although it was a long and at times frustrating race, most of the fleet finished."

Winning the Cherbourg Race overall on corrected time was Blair Forsyth's J/97 High Jinks. "The race conditions were great for our boat, and the other smaller boats in the race," commented Blair Forsyth. "The sail plan was straightforward; we had a 1.5 kite that worked really well and we only had to drop it and get the No. 1 jib back up when what wind there was shifted. I don't think we saw more than 10 knots of breeze, and even that was only fleeting. Thankfully our kite was up for most of the crossing!

"On Saturday night, when the tide shifted, we lost nearly all our apparent wind, but we didn't have to drop anchor, and the rest of the pack seemed to drift with us. Once it picked up we had a good run into Cherbourg, with the smaller boats."

This is High Jinks' first RORC offshore season during which the boat had been principally sailed two-handed. The Cherbourg Race was their first fully crewed RORC race of 2014 and the additional crew played their part in the success as Blair recounted: "This time we had four crew onboard, making the night watches much easier - particularly given the conditions! Altogether a fantastic way to end our first offshore season, made particularly enjoyable by the great welcome form the Cherbourg Yacht Club, and the rest of the fleet."

The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Cherbourg Race is the penultimate race of the RORC Season's Points Championship and the last race of the season across the English Channel. For many of the competing yachts, the 75-mile dash to Cherbourg will be the final race of the RORC season and several class winners are likely to be decided this weekend.

In excess of 60 yachts will be competing from Belgium, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Following a spectacular Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, there are new challengers to the overall title for the RORC Season's Points Championship.

Following a gutsy performance in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, the Army Sailing Association's J/111, British Soldier, is the current overall leader for the championship.

"It came as a bit of a surprise to us to be leading for the season but we are not getting carried away with that," commented British Soldier's skipper, Will Naylor. "Several competitors will be taking part in the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October, so it is unlikely that we can retain the lead but you never know, we might just get to Malta as well!

"For the Cherbourg Race we are especially looking forward to a battle with Relentless on Jellyfish, which was our big rival in the last race and they are just ahead of us in IRC Two. However, we will just concentrate on our own performance, as it is the only thing we can influence. For the Cherbourg Race we will be back to a full crew of eight. Unlike the Round Britain and Ireland Race, we will be able to load up the rail and as it's a much shorter race, we will probably keep the crew there for the duration. British Soldier performs much better with a full crew hiking out."

Members of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Cowes (RCYC) have confirmed that the two clubs will merge to form one club. At Extraordinary General Meetings of RCYC (held on 24th August) and RORC (held on 28th August) an overwhelming majority of members voted in favour of the merger; in the case of RORC 93% and in the case of RCYC (Cowes) 87% of members who voted.

"This is an important milestone in the history and development of the RORC, which celebrates its 90th year in 2015," explained RORC Commodore Mike Greville. "The proposal to combine the two clubs evolved from a shared vision about what they could create together, which neither could achieve alone. For RORC this gives a permanent base and clubhouse facility at the very heart of UK yachting and for RCYC this creates a strong club at the forefront of international yachting, which can support its development as a pre-eminent Solent club. We are very encouraged by the huge level of support which this proposal has generated from members of both clubs. "

The 2014 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race is now over. The race has been record breaking with 5 World Records set and the winner under IRC Overall announced as Ker 51, Varuna. See a highlights video of the race here. Before the 2014 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, a Two-Handed team had never completed the 1800-mile course. However three teams from Ireland, Britain and Germany have now accomplished that magnificent achievement.

The Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race 2014 started on Monday 11th August. The Prize Giving will take place on Tuesday 23rd September at the Royal Ocean Racing Club, 20 St. James's Place, London at 19.30.

Visit the event minisite

We have uploaded race updates, press releases as well as blogs from participating boats. There are videos and photos from both our press team and the competitors themselves from around the course. You can replay the progress using the YB Tracking page here.

Facebook and Twitter

You can keep an eye on the race through social media - see our Facebook page and follow our Twitter account: OffshoreOne and #rorcsrbi

Check the Event Minisite here

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race will start at noon Sunday 10th August from the Royal Yacht Squadron line, Cowes, Isle of Wight.

The fleet will set off down the Solent to the east and turn west around the south side of the Isle of Wight. After that the course is simple: leave Ireland and Great Britain to starboard all the way to the northern tip of the Shetland Isles, a point known as Outer Stack just north of Muckle Flugga, then return down the eastern side of the UK back to where the race started in Cowes, a non-stop 1800 mile race. The fastest yachts may complete the course in under a week. For the slower yachts, nearly two weeks is more likely.

For the full article see the race minisite

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race is undoubtedly one of the toughest yacht races in the world. While other ocean races are longer, racing 1,800 miles around a coastline notorious for highly changeable weather and wicked tides and currents, puts the race amongst the most difficult to complete, let alone win. The 2014 entries include an amazing variety of yachts and sailors; exceptional people who come together as a team to attempt to climb one of offshore racing's biggest mountains.

To read the full article see the minisite

One of the closest races of the RORC Season's Points Championship took place over the weekend with side by side battles right through the fleet of seven classes racing in the 10^th fixture of the series. The race started on the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, with the RORC fleet beating into a light southwesterly wind helped on by a positive tide. After leaving the Solent, the wind was enhanced by sea breeze, giving the fleet a tactical dead beat to a DZB buoy south of Anvil Point followed by a run to a virtual mark south of the Isle of Wight, before beating up to Poole. The course then took the competitors around the south of the Isle of Wight bringing them into the finish at Gilkicker via the Nab Tower.

Harry Heijst's S&S; 41, Winsome was the overall winner, the Dutch team claiming their first winner's trophy of the 2014 season, as well as their first win in IRC Four. Winsome had a tremendous battle with Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10, Foggy Dew, taking the victory by just 2 minutes after 24 hours of racing.