A day and a half into the Round Britain and Ireland Race, and the two boats carrying New Zealand sailors are firmly in the hunt.
Johnny Vincent's Volvo 70 Pace, with four time Volvo Ocean Race winner Kiwi Stu Bannatyne aboard, leads the race on projected elapsed time. Antoine Magre's Mach 50 Palanad 4, carrying Kiwi sailor Oakley Marsh, sits third. But neither currently leads the contest that decides the John Illingworth Trophy, that honour belongs to Rob Craigie's much smaller Sun Fast 3600 Bellino.
Pace sets the pace
At 21.5 metres, Pace, former Round the World raceboat, is the biggest boat in the 32 boat fleet. She was making 11.8 knots at the latest report, with a projected elapsed race time of 8 days 18 hours 31 minutes.
Bannatyne, who is in his first Round Britain and Ireland Race, is one of the boat's watch captains, alongside fellow watch leader Neal McDonald and navigator Jules Salter under skipper Johnny Vincent.
"This has been on my bucket list for a long time," he said before the start.
On raw speed, Pace has the advantage. Under IRC, things become much closer.
Palanad 4 holds third
Behind the Volvo 70 and Jens Kellinghusen's Ker 56 Varuna VI sits one of the most interesting boats in the race. Magre's scow bowed Mach 50 Palanad 4 was at the last check projected third on elapsed time at 9 days 23 hours 57 minutes, while making 9.3 knots. Marsh is one of eight sailors aboard.
Palanad 4 was less than five hours behind Varuna VI on the tracker despite giving away nearly two metres in length. More importantly, she was also third under IRC.
Before the start, Marsh told Go Boating NZ that the crew had confidence in the Mach 50 when the breeze came in. The opening stages have done little to undermine that confidence.
The projected elapsed leaderboard stood at:
| Rank | Boat | Type | Est elapsed time | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pace | Volvo 70 | 08d 18h 31m | 11.8kn |
| 2 | Varuna VI | Ker 56 | 09d 13h 15m | 10.7kn |
| 3 | Palanad 4 | Mach 50 | 09d 23h 57m | 9.3kn |
| 4 | Penfret | Class40 | 11d 01h 43m | 8.6kn |
| 5 | Venomous | Carroll Marine 60 | 11d 09h 41m | 9.0kn |
Notably, Pierre Leboucher's Class40 Penfret does not race under IRC, but her fourth place on projected elapsed time puts her ahead of several considerably larger boats.
Bellino leads under IRC
With IRC ratings applied, Bellino moves to the top. Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 was making only 5.7 knots at the latest report, roughly half Pace's speed. Yet her projected corrected time of 14 days 4 hours 30 minutes put her first overall.
| Rank | Boat | Type | Est corrected time | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellino | Sun Fast 3600 | 14d 04h 30m | 5.7kn |
| 2 | Pace | Volvo 70 | 14d 06h 31m | 11.8kn |
| 3 | Palanad 4 | Mach 50 | 14d 07h 22m | 9.3kn |
| 4 | Ronin | JPK 10.80 | 14d 10h 46m | 6.4kn |
| 5 | Varuna VI | Ker 56 | 14d 13h 50m | 10.7kn |
With the weather expected to be changeable, we will be watching those overall handicap spots with interest. Who can forget Min River, the little 10.3 m two-handed entry that won the 2025 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race? David vs Goliath, and here too with 11.15 m vs 21.50 m, almost twice the length.
Repairs begin early
None of the 32-strong fleet has retired. But further down the fleet, the race has already begun taking its toll. Remco Schilderinck's Xantho struggled through light wind early before a problem with her J3 forced a headsail change and repair. Then a mainsail car came loose near the Casquets traffic separation scheme.
"The first 24 hours on board Xantho were challenging," Schilderinck reported. The crew completed both repairs and had the boat making good progress towards Lizard Point.
Mzungu! had a different problem. The JPK 10.80 was transmitting AIS but had stopped receiving signals from surrounding vessels. Co skipper Nathan Steffenoni sent a crew member aloft to check the masthead connection. "So I thought I'd send Sam up the top," he said. By the time Sam returned to the deck, the instruments were working again.
History in the making
Beyond the story of the Race's 200th anniversary, lie so many individual stories. There is history in the fleet too. Andrew Tseng's 1971 Nicholson 55 Quailo III is sailing the course more than 50 years after taking part in the Royal Western Yacht Club's two-handed race around Britain and Ireland in 1974. That makes her first race older than many of this year's sailors. Out of 1974's 61 starters, Quailo III was considered by competitors to be the "only real thoroughbred ocean racer" in a race historically defined by the aggressive development and dominance of multihulls. She is currently sitting in 23rd on IRC overall and 27th on overall monohull Line Honours.
A long way north
All of this remains an early snapshot. Most of the fleet still had more than 1,600 nautical miles ahead, with the race taking the boats up Britain's western seaboard, around the north of Scotland and down the eastern side before the return to Cowes.
For now, Pace has the overall line honours lead. Bellino has the projected trophy. And two New Zealand sailors are sitting very comfortably in the argument.
