Palanad 4 Takes IRC Lead in RORC Round Britain Race

The marathon RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race enters its seventh day with six boats now round Muckle Flugga, the most northerly point of the 1,805nm course. While Johnny Vincent’s Volvo 70 Pace is powering south towards Cowes and Monohull Line Honours, the battle for the biggest prize of all has taken another twist: Antoine Magre’s Palanad 4 is the new projected leader for IRC Overall.

On Day 7, 1100 BST, Pace had just 204 miles remaining and was expected to finish in the early hours of Sunday 16 August. Behind her on the water, Jens Kellinghusen’s Ker 56 Varuna 6 and Antoine Magre’s Mach 50 Palanad 4 are also heading south, followed by the three leading Class40s: Pierre LeBoucher’s Penfret, Jon Tyrrel’s Gambit and Greg Leonard’s Swift.

The separation at the front of the IRC fleet really began to open after Bull Rock. Pace rounded with Varuna 1 hour 34 minutes behind and Palanad 5 hours 35 minutes astern. By St Kilda, Pace had stretched the gap to 7 hours 40 minutes over Varuna and 12 hours 45 minutes over Palanad.

Then Pace properly put the hammer down towards Muckle Flugga. Pace Boat Captain Anthony Haines summed up the high-speed ride north as “25 knots of boat speed, wet, noisy and physical.”

The Volvo 70 covered the sector from St Kilda in just over 18 hours, extending her advantage over Varuna to almost 18 hours. Palanad was faster than Varuna on the same leg and recovered nearly an hour and a half; at Muckle Flugga, Varuna remained second on the water but her advantage over Palanad had been cut to 3 hours 36 minutes.

Palanad 4 moves ahead under IRC

Course position, however, does not decide the overall winner, that is decided by IRC corrected time. At Muckle Flugga, Pace still held the advantage, but the latest VMG-based projections at 1100 BST on Day 7 have Palanad approximately 6 hours 8 minutes ahead of Pace for IRC Overall. Varuna is currently projected around 10 hours behind Pace, putting her third among the IRC Zero leaders.

The turnaround gives added significance to Antoine Magre’s comments earlier in the race. With Pace and Varuna stretching away, Palanad was concentrating on staying “within reach for when the breeze comes in.” That persistence is now paying dividends.

The figures remain projections rather than results. Pace has just over 200 miles remaining, while Palanad and Varuna have considerably further to race and will encounter different weather and tidal conditions on the way to Cowes - and the overall winner could still come from much further back.

IRC One – Pata Negra in command

Sam and Andrew Hall’s Lombard 46 Pata Negra leads the projected IRC One standings and remains firmly in the wider IRC Overall equation. Pata Negra currently holds a substantial advantage over the double-handed JPK 1180 Frida, with Nick Edmonds’ J/45 Stickleback third. Espresso Martini Too and Xantho follow in the class standings.

The race has not been without problems for Pata Negra. The crew has carried out sail repairs at sea, but hard work and considerable skill on board have kept the disruption and resulting losses to a minimum.

Before the race Sam Hall stressed that the priority was to “finish in one piece, both crew and boat.” With hundreds of hard miles still ahead, that philosophy is proving particularly relevant as Pata Negra continues to lead IRC One and remains a potential contender for the overall prize.

IRC Two – minutes separate the leaders

The closest corrected-time battle in the fleet is developing in IRC Two. Double-handed Sky Business – GameOn, sailed by Ian Hoddle and Willow Bland, heads the latest projection, but Bellino is just 33 minutes behind. Simon Bamford and Zeb Fellows on Kestrel are a further 1 hour 23 minutes back, while Mzungu!, RORC Griffin and Tigris remain very much part of the fight.

Only a handful of hours separates the top six after nearly a week of racing. Hoddle described the contest earlier in the race simply as “very close racing since the start.” GameOn and Bellino are also among the strongest challengers to the IRC Zero boats for a high overall finish, and with so much racecourse remaining the hierarchy can still change dramatically.

IRC Two-Handed - Still wide open

Sky Business - GameOn, sailed by Ian Hoddle and Willow Bland, leads the IRC Two-Handed division. Kestrel, raced by Simon Bamford and Zeb Fellows, is second, less than two hours behind on the current projection, with Mzungu!, sailed by Sam White and Nathan Steffenoni, third. Kestrel has been flying, with the crew joking that their charge north has been fueled by Dundee Cake.

Tigris, sailed by Gavin Howe and Maggie Adamson, holds fourth. For Adamson, who comes from the Hebrides, the passage through her home waters carried extra significance, and she produced a series of postcard-perfect images of the rounding. Frida is raced by Tim Behrendt and Andreas Buchheim, with Ronin sailed by Benjamin Grosman and Klaus Rasmussen.

Before the start Hoddle predicted an “incredibly intense 1,800-mile match race”. More than halfway around Britain and Ireland, that is exactly what has developed, while the strength in depth behind them means the Two-Handed contest remains one of the most competitive divisions in the race.

IRC Three - Jetpack powers on

Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack leads IRC Three, but Zanzibar is keeping the pressure on. The Swan 44 Astrid is third, ahead of Richard and Emma Breese’s double-handed J/105 Mojo, with Snifix Dry and AJ Wanderlust completing the six.

For the smaller boats there is still an enormous amount of racing ahead and plenty of opportunity for the standings to change. Richard Breese summed up one of the frustrations of the race after Mojo became trapped in light winds: “If you want to find no wind, just follow our track.”

Class40 – a race and a glimmer of glory

Immediately behind the three leading IRC Zero boats are the remaining Class40s, all now around Muckle Flugga. Penfret leads Gambit and Swift as the trio head south. Unlike the IRC fleet, Class40 is decided purely on elapsed time, so every minute gained or lost is absolute.

William Hill reported from Penfret earlier in the race: “The Class40 pack is right on our heels, but we’re still ahead, pushing hard.

There is also a race record in play. The Class40 benchmark is 8 days 4 hours 14 minutes 49 seconds, set by Phil Sharp’s Imerys Clean Energy in 2018. To break it, the leading Class40 must reach Cowes before approximately 17:44 BST on Monday 17 August. With Penfret, Gambit and Swift now heading down through the North Sea, the clock is very definitely running and all three are ahead of record pace.

The marathon continues bar two

There have been two retirements. The Class40 Tjoba and Graeme Lewis’s maxi Venomous have withdrawn from the race with boat issues. All crew are safe and well.

For everybody else, the marathon continues. Pace is closing rapidly on Cowes and should deliver the first monohull finish in the early hours of Sunday. But Line Honours will settle only one part of this race.

Palanad now leads the projected contest for IRC Overall, Pata Negra heads IRC One, GameOn and Bellino are separated by minutes in IRC Two. Jetpack is under pressure in IRC Three, and three Class40s are racing south with both division victory and a race record at stake. There is still a huge amount to play for in the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race.