Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), in association with the UNCL, Yacht Club de Dinard, Société Nautique de la Baie de St Malo, JOG and the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race is a true RORC Classic. Starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes, Isle of Wight, from 1100 BST on Friday 11th July, PCC boat Assassin was among the fleet of over 150 boats that lined up on the start line for this iconic race.
Glorious conditions produced a spectacular start. The fleet headed west in tropical temperatures and a solid easterly breeze with spinnakers flying right from the start. Approaching Hurst Narrows, the easterly gradient breeze in the Solent faded away in a transition zone created by the new breeze in the English Channel. It was slow going for the fleet in unstable light airs for the first 24 hours, and the extreme heat added to the challenge, but the wind eventually picked up, creating a superb finish into St Malo.
Despite Assassin planning a fine dinner in St Malo, the weather had other ideas and the Assassin crew had to make do with a very late moules et frites at the local Irish pub! Then, in a further twist, instead of having the whole of Sunday to relax in St Malo, the team had to instead leave St Malo late morning given the stronger winds that were building towards the English coast. Unlike the race to St Malo, this meant that the team were rewarded with a fast sail back to Portland covering the distance in 18 hours.
Photo credits: RORC, Mike Sweet & Charles Washbourn