IRC Zero Preview - 50th Edition - Saturday 22nd July 2023 - Cowes to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin via the Fastnet Rock
Image: RORC Commodore James Neville's Ino Noir and Eric de Turckheim's NMYD 54 Teasing Machine will both compete in IRC Zero in the Rolex Fastnet Race starting on Saturday July 22nd © Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com
Teasing Machine is a strong tip for success in IRC Zero, and arguably for an overall win in this 50th edition Rolex Fastnet Race. RORC Vice Commodore Eric de Turckheim always ensures his NMYD 54 is immaculately prepared in every respect. Teasing Machine has shown great consistency in the past year so far this season to find herself leading the RORC Season’s Points Championship, thanks to overall IRC victories in the 2022 Rolex Middle Sea Race, the RORC Transatlantic Race in January and the Myth of Malham Race at the end of May, as well as finishing runner-up in the RORC Caribbean 600.
Having retired in 2021 and finishing in 11th place overall in 2019, this team is certainly capable of much more. Sailing on board will be the same close-knit team as usual, including Volvo Ocean Race winner Laurent Pages, who has been project manager and tactician for de Turckheim’s team since 2014.
Pagès says the team is feeling quietly confident about its build-up to the 22 July start in Cowes. “Since last summer we have had an amazing run of successes, so we know we are in good shape technically and the mood and spirit is really good in the team. “Next week we start the race from La Trinité to Cowes, then we do the Cowes to St Malo Race. These races are our final tuning and training to make sure we arrive in really good shape, prepared and relaxed, ready to start the Fastnet.”
While for many competitors Teasing Machine is considered the boat to beat, Pagès sees many likely contenders for IRC Zero victory. “There is such a wide range of performance in IRC Zero. There are a number of boats we will be watching: Ràn, Black Pearl, Caro, Warrior Won, Ino Noir. Spirit of Lorina could be a contender, but maybe in the end we’ll see a small boat coming from the back in a strong position, Phosphorus is a boat we know well [the old Teasing Machine] or Albator for example.”
In the 235 mile Myth of Malham Race, seen by many as the best warm-up for the Rolex Fastnet Race, Teasing Machine enjoyed a close dog fight with RORC Commodore James Neville’s brand new Carkeek 45 Ino Noir. The name Ino Noir is a play on pinot noir, the wine-coloured hull closely colour-matched to Neville’s Aston Martin DB11 AMR. Beautiful though she may be, custom race boats aren’t usually expected to be quick straight out of the box, but Ino Noir finished second overall in the Myth of Malham. There is surely more to come from this exciting boat. Built by Jason Carrington, Ino Noir shows a number of features typical of a sleek Carkeek design - the chamfered aero-friendly foredeck, reverse sheer bow, twin rudders and water ballast.
Neville explains the philosophy of his new boat: “Looking at how all the developments in the FAST40+ - hull shapes, appendages, rigs, sails etc – have come on, we wanted to capture that learning, just as the PAC52s have taken all the learning from the Super Series 52s, and applied that to an offshore boat.”
Now it’s up to James Neville and his loyal team to see if Ino Noir can help them improve on a very successful Rolex Fastnet Race in 2021, when his Judel/Vrolijk-designed HH42, Ino XXX, took victory in IRC One but ended up second in IRC Overall behind Thomas Kneen’s Sunrise.
Neville versus de Turckheim, Commodore versus Vice Commodore, who beats who in the battle of the RORC Flag Officers could come down to what kind of conditions the Fastnet throws their way. The longer waterline length should stand Teasing Machine in good stead for upwind conditions, whereas the lighter weight of Ino Noir makes the Carkeek design particularly potent on any offwind leg and in light airs in particular. Ino Noir also scored second overall in the RORC 2023 Morgan Cup, beaten by another Carkeek design, Rán, the CF 520 owned by Swede Niklas Zennström, back-to-back overall winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2009 and 2011. Fourth overall in last year’s Rolex Middle Sea Race, Rán’s crew is headed up by long-time skipper and former Whitbread/ Volvo Ocean Race campaigner Tim Powell.
“The first goal when we built the boat was for the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race - the 50th anniversary, so obviously a big race,” explains Powell. “Everything we are doing is leading up to that.”
The CF520 is certainly a striking- looking race boat. With her aggressively chamfered topsides forwards, a Dreadnought-styled bow and a 2.1m long bowsprit, it’s a look that also appealed to serial campaigner Richard Matthews who’ll be skippering his CF520, Oystercatcher XXXV, in his 25th edition of the Fastnet. Matthews admits he’s addicted to the race. “It’s the pleasure and challenge of doing another Fastnet. For us it’s the pinnacle of our racing and at 74 years old, it is a challenge and an experience to enjoy during the race and afterwards. I have an excellent crew, most of whom have sailed several Fastnets with me.”
There is a cluster of other potent race boats around the 50ft mark. Launched in 2021, Max Klink’s Botin 52 Caro came out top of a strong contingent of 52-footers in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, finishing third in class and overall. One of the 52s they beat in Hobart was Warrior Won, owned by American Christopher Sheahan. Among Warrior Won’s crew are a number of round-the-world veterans such as Stu Bannatyne and Richard Clarke who have helped the boat win the RORC Caribbean 600 Race, while Adrian Stead won the Rolex Fastnet Race twice with Rán.
Warrior Won won the RORC Caribbean 600 in 2022, as well as the Transpac overall in the same year. Sheahan loves the challenge of the Rolex Fastnet Race course. “The Fastnet involves the Solent starting zone, which is narrow, full of current plus 350+ plus competitors. The headlands along the south coast of England are challenging then once into the Celtic Sea it’s full-on with strong winds and often large waves and a very confused sea state.”
Built in 2007, but still going as strong as ever, is Ron Hanley’s Cookson 50 Privateer, winner of the 2013 RORC Caribbean 600. Only recently this canting-keeled rocket smashed the course record in the 270nm Volvo Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Race. If it’s a strong-wind Fastnet, Privateer is a serious contender for class victory and perhaps even for the overall prize. Navigator and past RORC Overseas Rear Commodore Ed Cesare commented: “Privateer is looking forward to her third Fastnet as a boat and team. We are coming off a most enjoyable participation in the Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Race -. As for the Rolex Fastnet, we had to stand down from the 2021 race due to COVID so look forward to the new finish line in Cherbourg. The race course usually suits the Cookson 50, so we hope to acquit ourselves well. We nearly won it in 2015 so hope to match that performance, maybe exceed it!”
Launched in 2022 and another to watch will be Arto Linnervuo’s Infiniti 52 Tulikettu, which has a programme principally focussing on the world’s 600 mile offshore races, and especially the RORC Baltic Race. Tulikettu is the first example of the Hugh Welbourn-designed Infiniti 52 and is equipped with a lateral, sliding Dynamic Stability Systems (DSS) foil, which when deployed provides added righting moment to leeward. Tulikettu competed in her first race, the 2023 RORC Transatlantic Race in January.
A perennial performer in RORC racing is the de Graaf family who race their 2010-built Ker 43 Baraka GP very effectively. The Dutch family unit took line honours in the RORC Cervantes Trophy Race earlier this season as well as third place overall in the Myth of Malham Race. Dirk de Graaf is looking forward to his first assault on the new Cherbourg route with his brother Oliver, their father Harmen and the rest of the crew. “We are a Corinthian crew, but we push as hard as we can,” said Dirk. “We’re very happy with how our season is going and it will be great to be doing the Fastnet after missing it two years ago because of the pandemic.”
Baraka shows excellent speed upwind and is also very potent in offwind conditions provided the wave state doesn’t kick up too much. “The boat is very fast downwind in flat water but there’s not much volume in the bow and our square-topped mainsail can push the nose down if it’s blowing more than 18 knots in big waves. But we have configured the sail plan to be as competitive as possible on the reach and offwind legs while still trying to keep our upwind speed.”
There are a number of youth-oriented programs looking to make their mark in IRC 0. Former Olympic coach Bill Edgerton heads up a team of young sailors aged 22 and under who are part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Griffin Initiative, and who will be racing on board Henry Bateson's Iceni 39 Andrasta.
Previously raced as Teasing Machine before Eric de Turckheim acquired his current boat, Phosphorus II has competed under the ownership of Mark Emerson since 2017 when the yacht finished 16th overall in the Fastnet, following up with 23rd in 2019 and a strong 6th place in 2021. Mark Emerson is one of the many RORC members who like to give opportunities to young sailors, fielding a youthful crew each season. His aim this year is simple: “We’d like to do better than previously!”
Dutch three-time Volvo Ocean Race sailor Gerd-Jan Poortman is back with the Ker 46 ROST - Van Uden and a young team of sailors in their late teens and early 20s representing the Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team. The idea is to give the young sailors two years of intensive training and coaching, to equip them with the skills and mindset to go on to forge a lifelong career in offshore sailing.
Another Ker 46 to watch is Dominique Tian's Tonnerre de Glen. Marseille-based Tian has been competing with the same crew for seven seasons, and was the IRC winner in last summer’s 480nm Palermo to Montecarlo race. The line honours winner in that race, Jean-Pierre Dreau’s Lady First III, a Mylius 60 will be competing with experienced offshore professional in charge, Christopher Pratt, who recently raced with Team Malizia in The Ocean Race.
Another Frenchman, Jean Pierre Barjon bought the 2015-built Botin 65 Spirit of Lorina two years ago and has already been enjoying good success in the past year. The boat won IRC Zero and finished second overall in the Rolex Middle Sea Race, and won the International Maxi Association’s 2022 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge. Barjon is looking forward to the Rolex Fastnet Race: “It is a legendary race, in its anniversary,” said Barjon. “We look forward to turning around the legendary rock, against all these competitors coming for the same goal as us: to try to win.”
The team on the Botin 56 Black Pearl is led by Stefan Jentzsch whose racing interest is almost exclusively offshore. He and team manager, former America’s Cup navigator Marc Lagesse, bring together an impressive veteran crew whose CVs are stuffed with multiple Volvo Ocean Races, dozens of Fastnets, Transatlantics even a few America’s Cups.
Stormvogel is one of the post-WWII ‘modern classics’, one of the most successful yachts of the 1960s. Launched in 1961 for the Dutch plywood tycoon Cornelius Bruynzeel, Stormvogel claimed line honours in that year’s Fastnet before heading off on a tour of the globe’s top offshore races including Newport-Bermuda, Gotlund Runt, Transpac, Sydney Hobart, China Sea Race, Middle Sea, etc. Despite being over 60 years old, Stormvogel finished 7th overall in IRC Overall in the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race. She is still a class act and quite capable of outpunching her more modern rivals.
For Hervé d’Arexy’s aluminium 50-footer Akela, the 2023 race is a chance to set right their misfortune in 2021 when the yacht was forced to withdraw just hours before the start. While crossing the Channel to reach the start, Akela hit an object, breaking her two rudders and requiring a Pan-Pan distress call. “This year we are back”, said crewman Benjamin Gillet. “We are determined to compete and give everything to push the boat to its maximum.”
Another famous aluminium boat is Kialoa II. Considered one of the first ‘maxi’ yachts, the 73-footer was designed for Jim Kilroy by Sparkman & Stephens in 1963. After an early career winning most of the maxi ocean races of the day (including the 1965 Transpac and 1971 Sydney Hobart Race, as well as a second place on the water in the 1969 Fastnet Race), she was donated to the US Coast Guard before being sold on and refitted, brothers Patrick and Keith Broughton then finding her in 2016. They committed to sailing the yacht as in her heyday, taking Kialoa II back to the same offshore races that made her famous, including the 2017 Rolex Fastnet Race in which she finished 37th in class.
Father & daughter duo Stuart and Emily Read are looking forward to competing together as part of the team on CV3 Adventurous with Clipper Events. Emily is new to sailing, although she has rowed across the Atlantic, so should prove tough enough for the task.
Veteran of four Vendée Globes and twice winner of the Barcelona World Race, for Jean-Pierre Dick the 695-mile Fastnet course is a relative walk in the park. He’s still taking it very seriously, however, racing his Verdier-designed JP54 Notre Mediterranée-Ville de Nice doublehander with Fabien Biron. “The Rolex Fastnet Race is very special,” said Dick. “The south of England coast is nice and the course is complicated with always a lot of strategy. We have the TSSes where there are not easy decisions and then the Celtic Sea is often difficult. I like the course and its history. For me the Fastnet is a legendary offshore race.”
The 50th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race starts from Cowes, Isle of Wight on Saturday 22nd July.