RORC Cervantes Trophy Race 2025 Preview

ByStuart Johnstone
Three women smiling on a boat with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club will be hosting the first of its summer-long series of offshore sailing races for hundreds of enthusiastic sailors from across the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and others from around the world. The RORC Offshore Season Point Series is the most popular circuit of offshore races worldwide and this year it incorporates the famous Fastnet Race- a true test of endurance and teamwork.

Starting off the classic Royal Yacht Squadron starting line off Cowes, the teams will race down the Solent from Cowes to Le Havre, France on a 110.0nm race track that crosses the infamous “La Manche”, the English Channel. Over 100 boats are participating along with a formidable contingent of J/Teams.

IRC 1 Division
In a “big boat” race, this 14-boat division often fields the overall winners in the IRC Division. Hoping for the best will be multiple race winner, the J/121 DARKWOOD- sailed by Mike O’Donnell’s crew of Irish mercenaries. Giving them plenty of competition will be the Frenchman Francois Charles on his J/133 SUN HILL IV and the British crew on the J/45 STICKLEBACK.

IRC 2 Division
This 15-boat fleet will be contending with one of Great Britain’s top offshore crews, the past RORC Offshore Champion Derek Shakespeares J/122 BULLDOG. Another British J/133, Lawrence Herbert’s CORAZON, will be hoping to fulfill the time-honored tradition of J/133s getting onto the podium in almost any weather conditions!

IRC 3 Division
By far the largest fleet in the race will be the 35 boats participating in the IRC 3 division. Four J/99s will be giving it a go to top many French and British crews. Those J/99s include Jean-Baptiste Brians’s JOLLY JUMPER, Jean-Lion Flip’s YALLA, Alain Waha & Matt Waite’s FURTHER WEST, and Phillippe Rios’s GWAHIR VENTURI from France.

IRC 4 Division
In the second largest division with 29 boats will be eight J/crews! Three more J/99s, including Jerome Baudy & Clement Garitan’s AN AEL 4, Mark Kendall’s JIRO, and Steven Deutsch & Tim Tolcher’s RAGING BULL. Joining them will be four highly regarded, race-winning J/109s; including James Fitchett’s JUMUNU, Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN, Gillian Burgess’s RED ARROW (from the Royal Air Force Sailing Association), and Jamie Parker’s WHITE KNIGHT 7 (from the Royal Armoured Corpos YC). Finally, going up against all of that fire-power will be Richard & Emma Breese’s J/105 MOJO,

IRC Double Division
The sole J entrant in this large fleet is Steven Deutsch and Tim Tolcher’s J/99 RAGING BULL. They will have their hands full with many top teams from England and France.

For more RORC Cervantes Trophy Race sailing information
https://www.rorc.org/2024-race-programme