Please select your home edition
Edition
Henri-Lloyd Dynamic Range

Bellino wins RORC Myth of Malham Race

by Rupert Holmes / RORC 7 May 2024 17:49 BST 4-5 May 2024
Sun Fast 3600 Bellino at the start of the RORC Myth of Malham Race © Rick Tomlinson / RORC

The overall winner of RORC Myth of Malham Race, after IRC time correction, was Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, racing Two-Handed with RORC Commodore Deb Fish.

Eric de Turckheim's NMD 54 Teasing Machine blasted round the 235 mile course to take line honours by a huge margin in the RORC Myth of Malham Race that provided plenty of tactical challenges for navigators, along with remarkably close competition for many.

Despite the earlier timing than usual - on the early May bank holiday - conditions were largely very pleasant, including a long downwind leg from the start at Cowes to the Eddystone light house, south of Plymouth in around 10 knots of breeze. However, competitors had to negotiate complex weather patterns associated with a small area of low pressure in the west of the English Channel, including a front off the coast of South Devon.

This timing and intensity of this was "massively uncertain" according to Deb Fish and Rob Craigie, co-skipper on Bellino. "The big question was about the timing, so it was quite challenging to work out where to position yourself.

Teasing Machine's elapsed time of 25.5 hours represents an impressive average speed made good of just over 9 knots. On the other hand, some of the smaller entries, a few of which didn't finish until almost 24 hours after the big French boat, had a different experience, including a long shut down on their final night at sea.

Early challenges included a hole in the wind in the Needles Channel, less than 15 miles from the start. Bellino gained an early advantage here: "We had been trying to stay out the pack and could see there was more pressure towards the island shore," says Fish. "We were nearer to that than a lot of the other boats and managed go our own way."

From there it was a matter of playing the wind shifts to maximise gains. Bellino opted to go north of the rhumb line whenever possible, while Tim Goodhew and Kelvin Matthews' Sun Fast 3200 Cora tended to keep in the middle and Gareth Edmundson's JPK 10.30 Insert Coin initially to the south and then further north.

"The run down to the Eddystone was really tactical and interesting," says Goodhew. "Boats that did well in our size bracket all did different things - that showed it was super complicated, because there wasn't one strategy dominating the race, which is not often the case."

Bellino reached the Eddystone at much the same time as the front, in which the wind speed picked up to 18 knots, with the wind shift turning the leg home into a reach largely under Code 0, rather than a beat. "We were expecting a very slow wind shift, allowing us to sail to the lay line," says Fish, "but then we saw boats converging from the south sailing on a completely different wind angle. It was a race for both watching the AIS and keeping your eyes out the boat and trying to work out what was happening, which makes it very interesting."

At the half way point Cora held the overall lead after time correction, according to Bellino's Rob Craigie, and it was only in the later stages of the race that the smaller boat slipped back. "The wind faded from the west, and ultimately shut down for the boats behind us, but we could see Bellino still going well when we had only 6-7 seven knots of breeze at times," adds Goodhew.

"We could see it slipping away quite convincingly in the last 15-20 miles of the race, when the real challenge for us was to keep the boat going and try to keep up with the breeze before it shut down." Nevertheless, Cora won IRC Class 3 and took second overall as well as second in the double handed fleet.

Craigie and Fish on Bellino spent the second half of the race looking over their shoulders at Sam White and Sam North on the JPK 10.80 Mzungu!, winners of both IRC 2 and double handed last year. At the finish Bellino was just six minutes ahead of Mzungu! and took overall victory 18 minutes ahead of Cora after IRC time correction.

The battle for the final podium place in the overall standings could not have been closer - with three boats finishing inside 45 seconds after IRC time correction. Per Roman's Swedish JPK 11.80 Garm took third overall, just 8 seconds ahead of Insert Coin, and Mzungu! fifth. The latter two boats took second and third places respectively in IRC2.

In the past few years the Myth of Malham has tended to favour larger boats, but in this edition Teasing Machine slipped to ninth in the overall standings. However, she retained the lead in IRC Zero, ahead of Mark Emerson's A 13 Phosphorus ll and the de Graaf family's Ker 43 Baraka GP.

Derek Shakespeare's J/122 Bulldog finished approximately half an hour later than Garm after IRC time correction, to take second place in IRC1, with Michael O'Donnell's J/121 Darkwood third in that class.

Jean-Lin's J/99 Yalla! finished second in IRC3, an hour behind Cora. However, these were the only two boats to escape the shutdown on the second evening of racing and the third placed boat, Philippe Beneben's Sun Fast 3200 Platypus didn't finish until eight hours later.

The sole entry in IRC4, Henry and Edward Clay's Contessa 38 Flycatcher of Yar, finished with an elapsed time only fractionally shorter than 48 hours, but was only two places behind Platypus in the overall standings.

Two of the new Sun Fast 30 one designs racing were crewed by young sailors from RORC's Griffin Project. Rosie Hill's team on Cap Sela finished with a commanding lead on Charlie Muldoon's Cap Polaris, and Kevin Armstrong's third placed Cap Altair.

RORC's next event is the North Sea Race from Harwich to Scheveningen on May 10. Organised in the UK in association with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club and EAORA and in The Netherlands with the Yacht Club Scheveningen and the North Sea Regatta.

View full results here
Online entry for North Sea Race

For more information about the Royal Ocean Racing Club: www.rorc.org

Related Articles

Event video from the RORC Caribbean 600
Interviews and spectacular footage from the 16th edition Sit back, get the popcorn ready and enjoy this event film; with interviews and spectacular footage from the 16th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's 600NM race around 11 Caribbean Islands. Posted on 22 Mar
RHKYC and RIYC set sail for Admiral's Cup
15 teams from around the world have entered prior to the 28th February deadline The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) is delighted to announce that 15 teams from around the world have entered the 2025 Admiral's Cup prior to the 28th February deadline. Posted on 20 Mar
RORC Easter Challenge - Kick start your season
Complimentary coaching is available to all competitors Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the RORC Easter Challenge is an open event raced in the Solent and hosted by the RORC Cowes Clubhouse. Posted on 18 Mar
Nazca's Leave-no-trace Fastnet Campaign
Competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race without any fossil fuels onboard Amongst the Rolex Fastnet Race fleet on the start line this coming July, there will be an entry with a difference, one quietly trying to change the world. Posted on 18 Mar
No more excuses
2025 is all about the club sailors, the weekend warriors, the open meeting stalwarts I was wondering if things were going to slow down in sailing after the huge events of 2024, namely the Olympics, America's Cup and Vendée Globe but, if anything, they've speeded up. Posted on 17 Mar
‘Modern classics' converge on Rolex Fastnet Race
Yet another record-sized fleet heading for July's race This year's special centenary edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Rolex Fastnet Race may have the biggest fleet on record when it sets sail from Cowes on 26 July. Posted on 11 Mar
The 600 Sweet Spot
The world of offshore racing is booming around the world The world of offshore racing is booming around the world. Record entries, some of the world's fastest yachts and highest profile campaigns, and a plethora of Corinthian teams have the 'classics' on their bucket list. Posted on 4 Mar
A Truly Special 2025 RORC Caribbean 600
A spectacular display of offshore racing prowess, attracting a diverse fleet of 66 boats The 2025 RORC Caribbean 600 marked its 16th edition with a spectacular display of offshore racing prowess, attracting a diverse fleet of 66 boats from 32 countries. Posted on 2 Mar
2025 Offshore Double Handed Worlds set for Cowes
The Royal Ocean Racing Club will be hosting the event in September The Royal Ocean Racing Club will be welcoming the Offshore Double Handed World Championship to Cowes, UK in September 2025. Posted on 1 Mar
Get me to the Caribbean 600 Prizegiving!
Multihull, IRC One & IRC Two class winners decided. Congratulations to the latest class winners to be announced: Thomas Kassberg's ORC 50 Malolo, Philippe Franz's NM43 Albator, Team Scarlet on Emily, skippered by Ross Applebey, Ulysse Pozzoli's Class40 Team Renovatec and Jeremi Jablonski's Avanti. Posted on 28 Feb