19:00 Monday 28 July 2025
IRC One: Maxitude first around the Rock, Bedouin still shining
The first boats in IRC One rounded the Fastnet Rock on Monday afternoon. First to pass was Maxitude, Xavier Bellouard’s brand new Lombard-designed Lift 45, about half an hour ahead of Moana, Hanno Ziehm’s Marten 49. Géry Trentesaux’s Sydney GTS 43 Long Courrier has also gone round in third place on the water.
IRC One includes the newly launched Lombard-design Lift 45, Maxitude which is first to round the Rock in class © Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com/RORC
However on corrected time it’s still Bedouin, the 2012 Frers-designed Swan 53 from Australia that leads the way. Currently the closest rival to Bedouin in the IRC One battle is the JPK 1180 Dawn Treader. A boat that has so often shown potential but fallen foul of past Fastnet disasters, things seem to be going well for Ed Bell and his team, albeit they are carrying a two-hour penalty for having crossed the Cowes start line too soon. “We’ve got Django ahead of us, then a bit behind there’s Garm and Sunrise, and Fastwave a bit further back,” said Bell. “But we’re aiming to just sail the course as fast as we can, we’re not thinking too hard about the other boats.”
Bell weighed up his options about how to attack the Scilly Isles yesterday but went for the road more travelled. “There was a radical call to go east of the TSS which we saw a few people do, but it seemed a huge risk to us so we stuck with our plan and we’ll keep on sailing our own race.
As for Bedouin, skipper Linda Goddard is thanking her lucky stars while their good fortune holds. “We never go into a race thinking that we're going to win or we're going to do really well, because we don't know what the competition is going to be like. We have no idea where we're going to because we don't do enough racing around here to know enough about the other boats.
“We just always go in with a very positive attitude. We will always do our best and if we do well, all the better. But if we don’t, then we've had a good time. We've tried the best we can.”
Ed Bell's JPK 1180 Dawn Treader is vying for the class lead against Swan 53 Bedouin © Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com/RORC
As Bedouin was approaching the Fastnet Rock, Goddard accepts that maintaining their lead in IRC One could prove more difficult. “This is traditionally a really good upwind boat. So it's been performing well so far, true to its design. But when we turn downwind it could be the lighter boats will go faster, we’ll have to see.
“But we’re not a professional racing boat, it’s not one of those TP52s or big Maxi boats with all that huge experience on board. We’re just sailing along, having a good time, everyone’s happy and trying their best.
“We’re very excited about the photo opportunities at the Fastnet Rock. We’re just working out where everyone’s going to be standing and how we’re going to make the flash go off on the camera, so that’s going to be really good. And very soon we’re going to be starting the afternoon Pilates class; anything to keep our crew members entertained!”
IRC Two: Reaping rewards on the Scilly Isles bets
Chris Power Smith was able to breathe a sigh of relief this afternoon. The Irish skipper and the rest of his crew on J/122 Aurelia had profited nicely from their calculated bet on taking the lonely northerly route around the TSS at the Scilly Isles yesterday.
“We were a bit worried when we saw so few going up north with us,” he said. “But having said that, a couple of the boats that did go up - like Moana [J/122 from the Netherlands] - are right at the top of the class. When we sat down and had a good look at the options, it seemed like a good decision for us. But it was a bit scary when we saw we were up there in such sparse company.
“So it’s great that it’s worked out and last night Yellowbrick (the GPS tracking system) was showing us as class leaders overnight. We’re not looking so good right now, but I think that once we tack on to the starboard layline for the Fastnet Rock we’ll start to go up in the rankings again.”
Corazon took a lonely route north of the Scilly Isles but is starting to see the decision pay off © Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com/RORC
Similar to Power Smith on Aurelia, and almost within spitting distance of each other, Corazon’s skipper Lawrence Herbert admitted that the decision to take the lonely route north of the Scillies had felt a bit ‘squeaky bum’ at times. He too has been relieved to see things start to pay off for the J/133 against the bulk of the fleet who took the more westerly route into the Celtic Sea. “I don’t think we can quite count our chickens yet,” he admitted. “We’ve got to get a bit closer to the Rock before we’ll know for sure and we’re still 45 miles out. The boats that took the westerly route past the TSS - it feels like with the wind shifting they’re going to overlay [sail unnecessary extra distance], but we’ll see what happens.”
Herbert said it had been a difficult Sunday night in a nasty seaway with not a lot of wind. “We rate really nicely [under IRC] with a small J2 headsail, but that meant we didn’t really have the power in the hard stuff to plug through it, which is probably where some of the J/122s have improved on us. We also got some weed on the rudder which was really tricky to get off. It basically meant [crew member] Mark holding on to me while I hung over the side of the boat and got the weed off.”
Now that the Rock is within striking distance, Herbert is hoping they can make the iconic rounding before the light fades. “My parents live within sight of the Fastnet Rock and along with another crew member’s parents they’re going to try and get a rib out to come and say hello to us as we go past. We might be a bit too late, but we’ll see.”
Ross Applebey's Lightwave 48 Scarlet Oyster is currently sat in second place in IRC Two © Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com/RORC
With the rankings changing frequently on the final approach to the Rock, currently it’s Iritis, a Beneteau First 40 2.48T skippered by Hervé Bénic, who holds the lead in IRC Two, ahead of Ross Applebey’s Lightwave 48, Scarlet Oyster. Hot favourites and doublehanded legends, Jean-Pierre Kelbert and Alexis Loison, lie in third place aboard their new JPK 1050 Léon. Once they turn downwind after the Rock rounding, Kelbert and Loison will be looking forward to seeing how this new design performs under spinnaker.
by Andy Rice
