Thirty-two boats crewed by 182 sailors from five continents have begun the 2026 RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, making a clean start from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line in Cowes on Sunday morning.
The fleet beat to windward in a light easterly breeze under bright sunshine, clearing the Solent and rounding the south of the Isle of Wight. Two hours after the start, Johnny Vincent's Volvo 70 Pace held the on-water lead, approaching Bembridge Ledge Buoy at over 10 knots. Jens Kellinghusen's Ker 56 Varuna 6 followed a mile astern.
The Class40 division opened with a tight contest between Pierre LeBoucher's Penfret and Greg Leonard's Swift, with nothing separating the two at the early stage.
The 1,805-nautical-mile course presents one of offshore sailing's most demanding challenges, routing through the English Channel, along Ireland's west coast, past St Kilda and the Shetland Islands, and across the complex North Sea.
Conditions are forecast to toughen significantly tonight. A westerly gradient of 10-15 knots is expected to establish, creating an upwind passage out of the Channel before shifting north-westerly. With the tide reversing during the first evening, crews may face a short, uncomfortable sea as wind and current oppose each other.
RORC Commodore Deb Fish, who navigated Incisor of Wight to overall victory in 2000 and finished second overall double-handed in 2022, returns this year on Bellino with Rob Craigie. The pair are sailing four-handed with Griffin programme graduates Nicole Hemeryck and Joe Griffiths.
Fifty years after the first race, Fish described the event as "the most challenging race in the RORC calendar, without a doubt," citing 1,800 miles of headlands, rocky shores, tidal races, traffic separation schemes, sandbanks and wind farms. "It is the shared hardship that brings crews together," she said. "That is what the race means to RORC."
