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Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) News and Results
The Howth Grand Soleil 44 Samatom setting a flying jib and headsail in the coastal class of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023. IRC rule makers say carrying multiple headsails can give distinct advantages with flexibility in sail wardrobe for varying conditions and the ability to increase headsail area by multiple headsails set flying, particularly in a reaching configuration. In recognition of these advantages, from 2024, the number of headsails carried aboard will be counted and rated, subject to IRC Congress approval
A major rule change for 2024 seeks to ensure fair competition among IRC-rated boats with varying sail configurations and address sustainability issues and costs to owners. The IRC international rating system issues certificates for a huge variety of boat designs,…
Tim Goodhew and Kelvin Matthews in the Sun Fast 3200, Cora
It's been quite a year for Tim Goodhew and Kelvin Matthews racing Sun Fast 3200 Cora. After winning IRC Two-Handed and IRC Three for the 2023 RORC Season's Points Championship, Cora has become the Royal Ocean Racing Club's 2023 IRC…
Ross Applebey's Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster was the RORC Channel Race winner
Ross Applebey’s Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster has won the 2023 RORC Channel Race overall under IRC. The top three boats in IRC Two filled the overall race podium with less than four minutes between them after IRC time correction. Ian…
Fastnet Race IRC One winner Gilles Fournier and Corinne Migraine’s J/133 Pintia will compete in RORC's Channel Race
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Channel Race is set to take place on Saturday, August 12th, as part of the RORC Season's Points Championship. Although the number of participating boats will be significantly lower than the world record entry…
Max Klink (right) and tactician Adrian Stead (left) plus the Caro crew with the Rolex Fastnet Race overall winner's trophy - the Fastnet Challenge Cup. The winning crew on Caro are William Parker, Wade Morgan, Ryan Godfrey, Justin Ferris, Jono Swain, James Paterson, Harry Hall, Cian Guilfoyle, Andrew McCorquodale, Andy Green, Adrian Stead and owner Max Klink
Fastnet Race Day Five: Max Klink’s Botin 52 Caro has been crowned overall winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race. After being confirmed as winner of IRC Zero yesterday, no other boat still racing on the 695 nautical mile course can…
Christian Zugel's Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 from Royal Cork and skippered by Howth's Johnny Mordaunt (foreground), has set a new offshore record in the RORC Cowes Dinard St Malo Race
Royal Cork Yacht Club member Christian Zugel, racing Volvo 70 Tschüss 2, skippered by Howth's Johnny Mordaunt, has set a new Monohull Race Record for the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race. Tschüss 2 completed the 151nm course in an elapsed time…
Christian Zugel’s Volvo 70 Tschüss 2
Dublin sailor Johnny Mordaunt is boat captain on the Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 for the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Cowes Dinard St Malo Race, which has attracted 204 boats with over 1,000 crew on board from 16 different nations. This…
Solent-based top Dublin crew James Hynes of Howth Yacht Club (left) with the IRC National Championships trophy with shipmates from the winning JPK 1080 Yes!, skipper Adam Gosling and Mark Williams
The UK IRC National Championships has been the battleground for close victories in the past, with Rán winning last year by 0.005 of a point. However, the 2023 Overall IRC National Champion was decided by an even smaller margin. Adam…
Competitors rose to the challenge on the first day of the RORC's IRC National Championships held in the Solent
Spectacular conditions with an average wind of 16 knots and 20 in the gusts blessed the first day of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s IRC National Championships. A classic Solent day in a south-westerly with glorious sunshine. The competitors rose…
The inaugural IRC Two-Handed European championship will have 60 teams on the start line
The inaugural IRC Two-Handed European championship will have 60 teams on the start line off the south Breton port of La Trinité sur Mer on Sunday, July 2. The championship consists of 500 offshore miles across two challenging races, taking…
Anticipation builds for the RORC IRC National Championships this weekend - Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th June
The Royal Ocean Racing Club IRC National Championships is all set this weekend for three days of multiple short-course racing in the Solent. Four individual UK IRC Class champions and the Overall UK IRC Champion will be awarded at the…
Niklas Zennstrom’s Carkeek CF 520 Rán was the Morgan Cup Race winner from Cowes to Dartmouth
91 boats crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron Line for the RORC Morgan Cup Race from Cowes to Dartmouth. A weak sea breeze and a favourable tide got the fleet away to a smooth start to the east, but as the…
Mark Emerson’s A13 Phosphorus II (GBR) has the lowest IRC rating in IRC Zero for RORC's Morgan Cup Race
Starting on the 16th June, over 90 boats are set for the Morgan Cup Race from Cowes, IOW to Dartmouth, Devon. The Morgan Cup is the tenth race of the RORC Season’s Points Championship, the largest racing series in the…
Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race defending champion Nieulargo (Royal Cork YC) racing southward out of Dublin Bay
There’s more than a few of us around who well remember the launching of the new 280 nautical miles Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race by the ideas-filled duo of Martin Crotty and Peter Cullen of the National Yacht Club. It…
Eric de Turckheim's NMD 54 Teasing Machine
The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s (RORC) Myth of Malham Race attracted a record entry of 147 boats racing under the IRC Rating Rule for the Myth of Malham Cup. The 235nm race attracted the largest entry for any offshore yacht…
De Guingand Bowl race winner, Ireland's Gavin Doyle in the Corby 25 Duff Lite is the smallest boat in the 2023 Myth of Malham race
A record entry of 159 boats is entered for the RORC Myth of Malham Race. The overall winner of the Myth of Malham Cup will be decided after time correction under the IRC Rating Rule. The impressive RORC fleet is…

THE RORC:

  • Established in 1925, The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) became famous for the biennial Fastnet Race and the international team event, the Admiral's Cup. It organises an annual series of domestic offshore races from its base in Cowes as well as inshore regattas including the RORC Easter Challenge and the IRC European Championship (includes the Commodores' Cup) in the Solent
  • The RORC works with other yacht clubs to promote their offshore races and provides marketing and organisational support. The RORC Caribbean 600, based in Antigua and the first offshore race in the Caribbean, has been an instant success. The 10th edition took place in February 2018. The RORC extended its organisational expertise by creating the RORC Transatlantic Race from Lanzarote to Grenada, the first of which was in November 2014
  • The club is based in St James' Place, London, but after a merger with The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes now boasts a superb clubhouse facility at the entrance to Cowes Harbour and a membership of over 4,000