RORC Social

DATE: Thursday 9^th April 2015
VENUE: RORC London Clubhouse; 20 St. James's Place, London, SW1A 1NN
TIME: from 18.00

As always, please feel free to come along to the RORC London Clubhouse for informal drinks from 18.00. Guests of members are welcome to attend.

Dinner will be available in the Dining Room from 19.30.

While the sun came out for the final day of the RORC Easter Challenge, sadly the wind failed to materialise on the Solent and at 1130 BST Principal Race Office Stuart Childerley hoisted the AP over A announcing an end to the regatta.

Fortunately the RORC Easter Challenge is a `coaching regatta' and use was made of the lost time at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse where Jim Saltonstall's seminar on the Racing Rules of Sailing was delivered to another packed house. The prizegiving followed, held outside on the club's terrace where the main silverware was presented, along with a considerable tonnage of Easter eggs.

A stiff northerly breeze gave the second day of the RORC Easter Challenge more of a winter feel, rather than a spring one. But an early start and the shifting 15 knot winds that built towards 20 were enough for the Race Committee to hold four races, making up for yesterday's one.

In IRC One, Antix, Anthony O'Leary's turbo-ed Ker 40 is the runaway leader, having won all but one of the five races held. O'Leary's team on Antix, two-time winner of the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, now holds the biggest lead across the RORC Easter Challenge's four classes.

After forecasts earlier this week indicated the RORC Easter Challenge would kick off on `breezy Good Friday', in the event the breeze shut down for two hours in the middle of what was a chilly overcast day on the Solent. Eventually the slow moving warm front shifted sufficiently for a 6-8 knot southeasterly to establish. This allowed just one race to be held.

The RORC Easter Challenge being a training regatta, complete with on the water coaching led by Jim Saltonstall and supported by the North U Regatta Services team all the way from the USA, the day began with some practice starts, before the wind shut down.

After a two hour wait there was slightly too much excitement for the IRC One start with several top boats such as Mike Greville's Erivale III, Mike Bartholemew's GP42 Tokoloshe II and the new C&C30; Checkmate XVI all over early. In the event it was two time Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup winner Anthony O'Leary aboard his latest Antix, a turboed Ker 40, that came out on top with a pleased James Gair skippering the Cowes Race School's Mills 39 Zero II second.

After a successful RORC Caribbean 600, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's European season sets sail this week with the RORC Easter Challenge, running on the Solent from Good Friday (3rd April) to Easter Sunday (5 April).

The event provides an opportunity to gently ease teams into the UK season, to test their latest gear and sails or, in some cases, boats, with the unique opportunity of free assistance, both on the water and ashore, from the RORC's coaching team led by Jim Saltonstall.

As a sign that the UK is at long last emerging from darker economic times, IRC One will be bristling with new hardware with Mike Bartholomew's GP42 Tokoloshe facing stiff competition from the de Graaf family's Ker 40 Baraka GP, plus three new additions to the RORC Easter Challenge fleet.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Churcher's Cuisine á Porter as the new caterer for the RORC Cowes Clubhouse.

Having previously worked for a Michelin Star Restaurant in the New Forest, Sarah Churcher brings a wealth of experience to RORC Cowes. Her previous clients include the Extreme Sailing Series, the Oracle America's Cup Team as well as private Superyachts, the Marlboro Rally and Moto GP Teams.

As owner and founder of Cuisine á Porter, Sarah has built up a reputation for providing quality and consistent menus which will now be available to RORC members and guests at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse.

For RORC Cowes restaurant bookings please call +44 (0)1983 293 581.

This year's Interclub Youth Keelboat Regatta was eagerly anticipated by the RORC team after last year's success. For the second year running Peter Morton had kindly put Salvo, his JND35, at the team's disposal. 12 youth teams from yacht clubs along the South Coast, from Blackwater to Poole, were present at the event organised by the Royal Southern Yacht Club on Saturday 28th March. Regatta rules are that 60% of the team must be under the age of 25, including helm, with yachts allowing the owner or owner's representative on board for the 4 races to be held over the day.

There's no such thing as solo... How the smallest boat in the fleet took on the Sevenstar Round Britian and Ireland Race.

Tuesday 14^th April 2015
19.00 at the RORC London Clubhouse

RORC Member Conrad Manning competed in the 2014 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race double handed on RARE. He will talk about the challenges he faced taking on this tough race on such a small boat with only two crew.

Free for members, £10 for non-members.
A two course dinner will be available at £15 per person following the presentation.

To book please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call +44 (0)207 493 2248.

While it is always tempting to spend money on new sails or other go-faster widgets, coaching is often overlooked by amateur crews as a means of gaining boat speed through improved trim and set-up or just generally getting around the race course in a more efficient, slick manner.

One option is to hire your own coach. Another is to take part in the RORC's UK season opener, the RORC Easter Challenge, taking place over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend (3^rd to the 5^th April), where some of the country's leading experts will be on the water to offer crews advice. This might be general observations, but crews are also encouraged to ask the coaches to focus on any specific aspects they feel in need of attention. And all of this is FREE to competitors.

As always, the RORC Easter Challenge coaching team will be led by uber-coach Jim Saltonstall, ably assisted by RORC CEO and former America's Cup coach Eddie Warden Owen, plus Mason King. After making their successful debut at the event last year, the Easter Challenge will also see the return of North U Regatta Services, represented by sailmaker/coaches Chuck Allen and Andreas Josenhans, who are flying across from the USA especially for the event.

Based out of North's Rhode Island loft, Allen is a former two time college all-American champion and now a one design specialist while Josenhans, from Canada, is a two time Soling and Star World Champion, was a trimmer on Bill Koch's America's Cup winner, America3, and holds a lengthy, distinguished CV in elite level international yacht racing.

North U Regatta Services regularly attends regattas in the USA such as the NOOD series and Quantum Key West Race Week.