IRC BOATS

Alegre takes Palmavela IMA Mini-Maxi Class

Andy Soriano steered his 68’ Mini-Maxi Alegre to victory in the IMA Mini-Maxi class at Hublot Palmavela, the first regatta of the IMA season in the Mediterranean.  Alegre came out of the shed last month after a refit following her 2009 Middle Sea Race win which upgraded the Hall Spars rig, added a new deeper keel and Hall Spars standing rigging, and updated the deck plan to ensure she would start the year competitively against some of the best competition in the world.  In particular her performance against the most recent launch in the Mini-Maxi fleet Alfa Romeo confirmed her enhanced competitiveness in this owner-driver competition, winning a Hublot ‘Big Bang’ collected by his son Andrés.

Transatlantic Race and Atlantic Ocean Racing Series 2011

New York, NY, April 13, 2010 -- The Transatlantic Race 2011 and the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series 2011 were announced today by their organizers: the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron, in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club. The Transatlantic Race, from Newport, RI to the Lizard, west of Plymouth, England, will offer staggered starts from June 26th-July 3rd, 2011 , and is for Racing, Racing/Cruising and Classic monohull yachts with a minimum length overall (LOA) of 40 feet. The minimum crew number is four. There are no maximums. A separate class for racer/cruisers will be offered for Superyachts with LOA greater than 100 feet. Other class assignments will be determined by the yachts that are participating. The Transatlantic Race 2011 is principally for yachts rated under IRC, but level-racing classes such as Volvo 70, IMOCA 60 and Class40 may be included at the discretion of the organizing yacht clubs.

RSYC 2-handed ‘Solent Double’

A total of 65 boats gathered in the central Solent on Saturday 10th April for the start of the 30th year of RSYC Double Handed racing with the Coors Light Spring Solent Double. Although we had a ninety minute wait for the wind to make a steady appearance, the five classes, 2 IRC, 2 Club and 1 multihull began their starts at around 1130 in a light SE wind and a west-going tide.

The fleet beat their way east up the northern shore to stay out of the tide before making for Ryde Middle, then running back down to Flying Fish. With the tide under the boats, there was barely enough wind to fill symmetric spinnackers; asymmetrics appeared to fare better by gybeing down to the mark. The plan was to beat back to the first mark before a finish at 'RORC' but the wind had other ideas and by around 2PM, just on the turn of the tide, it became patchy and the Race Committee made a great job of shortening class 4 at Mackley Construction and all other classes at SE Ryde Middle.

FINAL DAY – RORC EASTER CHALLENGE

Bright sunshine and decent wind gave the competitors in the RORC Easter Challenge a day to remember. Eddie Warden Owen, Chief Executive of the RORC was out on the water coaching everyday and commented after the conclusion of racing.

"Today was brilliant, stunning weather, decent breeze, shifting both ways, classic west Norwest Solent conditions with the breeze coming down the Solent and out of Southampton Water. Early bias on the left gave way to advantage on the right. Great sailing and a real challenge for the competitors."

Corby 33s, 3rd, 9th and 10th after 7 races.