First MOCRA arrives
Jason Carroll's MOD70 Argo has screamed into Cherbourg, marking the first MOCRA multihull to cross the finish line.
11 August 2021
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The latest arrival into Cherbourg, finishing at 3:22pm BST 10 August (12:22pm AEST 11 August), was the on-the-water leader in the MOCRA class – Jason Carroll’s MOD 70 trimaran Argo. An inclusion that sailed a relatively lonely race following Giovanni Soldini’s near sistership, Maserati, retired after an exploded winch.
“The start in 27 knots was spectacular, but everyone pulled off a good port tack start and was safe, which was good,” recounted Argo’s Brian Thompson.
“It was pretty bumpy out there and great racing. We were alongside for Sodebo for a little while and obviously alongside Maserati for a really long time, all through the day. It was sad to see them having to retire.”
Argo is the first MOCRA to take the longer route around the North of the Casquets TSS en route to the Cherbourg finish line.
“That was because we had five knots of tide against us on the final approach,” explained Thompson.
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“If we had come the other way we would have been VMG running with five knots of tide against us. Another factor was that the wind that was there – 8-10 knots – was up by Start Point. After going around the TSS, we then crossed the worst of the tidal stream [heading south] at high speed.”
However, leading the multihull class under the MOCRA rule remains Adrian Keller’s Irens 84-foot performance cruising catamaran, Allegra, which Thompson felt looked untouchable for the class win.
The big IRC Zero boats, notably the Polish duo, I Love Poland and Sailing Poland, continue to hold a powerful grip on this class and the overall IRC prize. This afternoon they were approaching Bishop Rock while still well ahead on the water, as the ClubSwan 125 Skorpios was on route to arrive in Cherbourg.
Royal Ocean Racing Club Commodore James Neville’s INO XXX was the first IRC One boat to round the Fastnet Rock at 2:30pm BST (11:30pm AEST), holding a 3.5-mile advantage over the second-placed Elliot 44CR Matador of Swede.
“It was a tough first 24 hours, pretty horrible,” said Neville of their first 24 hours.
“We got ourselves quite nicely south. It was just tough – very wet, everything was soaking – just what you love! We did a few sail changes and kept the boat moving. The shifts were pretty good and we came in up the east side of the TSS at Land’s End. Then the weather improved and we had some tide under us going north. Now the Irish Sea is beautiful, a real glamour. We are reaching into the Rock in about 12 knots. It is a beautiful afternoon.”
The breakaway IRC Two leaders on the water, the JPK 10.80s Sunrise of Britain and Il Corvo, had 40 and 50 miles respectively left in their pursuit to the Rock.
A mid-Celtic Sea drag race is taking place for bragging rights to be out in front of IRC Three, with Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier on the left side of the course with Raging-bee², Hey Jude and defending champion Léon close behind. This trio also leads under IRC corrected time, although it is impossibly close between them.
The IRC Four front runners were halfway across the Celtic Sea, making around 7.5 knots. Here, David le Goff’s JPK 10.10 Raphael continues to lead both on the water and under IRC corrected time from Harry J. Heijst’s S&S 41 Winsome.
Pulling up the field over the course of today have been the JPK 10.10s: the Pinteaux family’s Gioia and British favourites Jangada.
To follow the race as it unfolds, click here.
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