Race Report – Falmouth to Roscoff Race May 3rd 2024

The weather was sunny but some rain was expected. The wind direction and strength were difficult tp predict with different wind models giving very varied forecasts. A region of very light winds was expected and indeed occurred mid-channel and although some of us started with a Code Zero, with the wind from the south predominantly, it was a beat most of the way. Channel traffic was fairly light. Seven boats started and completed the crossing, four in IRC (we welcomed a newcomer, Frank Lawry in Sueno) and three in RYA YTC (with James Davis in Largo making his debut). The wind for the final stretch was superb, at around 20kn and most of us had a tight beat to the finish line at high speed in a very choppy sea.

In IRC, all four boats finished, with Jackdaw crossing the line first and Bellissima second. However, the two Sigma 33 boats came second and third overall when times were corrected, with only 2.00 minutes separating Jackdaw, the winner, and Afrita, which came second.

In RYA YTC, Blue Horizon crossed the line first, coming in an hour before Nightowler, but corrected there was only <12 minutes between them as Blue Horizon took the Trophy. Largo finished a little after the Finish time but still enjoyed their race. The Prize Giving was well attended in the Marina bar, La Hune, with some initial persuasion needed to keep the bar open after 1800 CET to allow us to have the event there, but in the end the owner was delighted to serve so many thirsty Brits! We were grateful to Neil Hopkins and his team at the RCYC for organising this year’s Roscoff race. It turned out to be a great race with challenges from both wind and tides, but ending up with some close corrected finish times. A race with just 2 minutes between 1st and 2nd in IRC and <12 minutes in YTC, in a race that some of us took 19.5 hours, is great racing!