70 teams from eight different nations have entered the Royal Ocean Racing Club Myth of Malham Race, with the first start at 1300 BST from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line on Thursday 02 June. The start of the race will be streamed live by the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
The course mirrors the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race, taking the fleet around notable headlands with complex tides, including Portland Bill and Start Point. The Eddystone Lighthouse, nine miles off the Cornish Coast, is the turning point for the 230-mile race with a finish just outside the Solent. This weekend, celebrations will take place all over the United Kingdom for Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. After IRC time correction, class winners and the overall winner of the Myth of Malham, will have their own cause for celebration.
IRC SZ & Zero
Lance Shepherd’s Volvo 70 Telefonica Black will be making its first Squadron Line start for the RORC Season’s Points Championship and on paper the pro-am crew have the fastest IRC rated boat. However, Racing in IRC Zero, the favourites for Line Honours must include the long-awaited debut for the Swedish CF-520 Rán 8. Niklas Zennström’s Rán Racing team returns to offshore racing with the RORC with a stunning new design. RORC Commodore James Neville will be racing his HH42 INO XXX , a solid performance in the Myth of Malham will put INO XXX into the season lead for IRC Zero. VME Racing’s CM60 Venomous is the largest boat in IRC Zero, skippered by James Gair.
IRC One
Jean-Eudes Renier & Rob Bottomley’s MAT12 Sailplane and Michael O’Donnell’s J/121 Darkwood with a top Irish crew, will both be in action. Both teams are challenging for the season lead in class. Ed Bell’s JPK 1180 Dawn Treader returns to racing in the UK after a great performance in the RORC Caribbean 600. In form teams in IRC One include Astrid de Vin’s Dutch JPK 1180 Il Corvo, overall winner of the North Sea Race, and Derek Shakespeare’s J/122 Bulldog, class winner for the de Guingand Bowl Race. Four British First 40s will be in action including Ronan Banim’s Galahad Of Cowes, the London Corinthian Sailing Club’s Tango and two entries from Hamble based race training school, Sailing Logic: Lancelot II and Arthur.
IRC Two-Handed
33 teams racing Two-Handed forms the largest class for the Myth of Malham Race. Richard Palmer’s JPK 1010 Jangada is the overall leader for the RORC Season’s Points Championship and will be racing with Rupert Holmes. Eight of the top Two-Handed teams for the season will be in action: Jangada, Diablo, Purple Mist, Sea Bear, Tigris, Atomic, Red Ruby and JAGO. Back in action after racing abroad is the 2021 Two-Handed RORC Season’s Points Champion Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, sailed by Rob Craigie & Deb Fish. Shirley Robertson & Dee Caffari will be racing Rockit, one of 13 Sun Fast 3300 racing in IRC Two-Handed.
IRC Two
29 entries are expected to be on the start line for IRC Two, the majority racing Two-Handed. Fully crewed entries include the Army Sailing Association’s Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier and Trevor Middleton’s Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep, which are both entered for this year’s Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race. Stephen Hendry’s First 40.7 Flying Fish, sailed by Christian Buehrlen, won class in the North Sea Race. Catherine and Patrick Keohane’s JPK 1080 Ikigai will have last year’s race winning navigator Campbell Field among the crew.
IRC Three & Four
A diversity of boats will be racing in IRC Three with ten different designs rated under IRC for class honours. The largest and highest rated entry is Janet Hairsine Wilson’s Swan 44 Finnish Line, sailed by Michael Wilson. The smallest boats in IRC Three are Charles Martin’s JPK 9.60 Blue Bird and Projection 920 Wee Bear, sailed by Nick Lee & Edward Bayliss. Four J/109s will have their own battle with IRC Three; Rob Cotterill’s Mojo Risin’ will be racing against the Royal Armoured Corps Yacht Club’s White Knight 7 and the Royal Navy Sailing Association’s Jolly Jack Tar. Mike Yates will be sailing J/109 JAGO two-handed with Eivind Bøymo-Malm. IRC Four features a competition between two fully-crewed classic yachts, Stuart Greenfield’s S&S 34 Morning After and Christophe Declercq’s Belgian Contessa 32 Lecas.
Live coverage of the start of the Myth of Malham Race will be streamed on the RORC Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOceanRacingClub) with expert commentary from RYA Race Director and winning Skipper for the Volvo Ocean Race, Ian Walker. For race fans in Cowes, the best vantage points of the start will be along Cowes Green and Egypt Esplanade. Competing boats can be tracked using AIS data, when in range, via the free YB tracker player: https://yb.tl/mom2022. There is also a YB Races App for the Myth of Malham Race available free to download on smart devices.
Image: 70 teams expected for the RORC Myth of Malham Race © James Tomlinson