During the last week in June four PCC boats, Ctrl-J, Jaha!, Hero and Salamander of Kip will be making the crossing across the Irish Sea for the bi-annual Cork Week Regatta.

For Salamander of Kip, the passage to Cork represents one leg of of a very special voyage. Celebrating it’s 50th year, Salamander of Kip will head up to Scotland after Cork Week to where she was built to mark this special anniversary.

A full event round-up will be posted in due course but for now, we wish all PCC boats and sailors making the crossing fair winds and following seas and good luck in the regatta.

The recent Shanghai Cup, the Bristol Channel IRC Championships and Nimrod Cup were held over two weekends in May 2026 with sixteen boats from across the Bristol Channel once again coming together for some spectacular racing. The first weekend in Portishead delivered champagne sailing conditions across three races on the Saturday while Sunday saw racing suspended on safety grounds due to stronger winds than forecast.

With an impressive four overall Shanghai Cup wins to date for PCC boat Ctrl-J, skippered by Andy Williams, many questioned whether he could do it again for a fifth record-breaking year. At the end of day one in Portishead, Ctrl-J took the coveted first overall spot, with CBYC boat Silverback, skippered by Will Boland in second overall and PCC boat Hero, skippered by Simon Britten in third overall.

Improving weather conditions on Sunday afternoon meant that the annual passage race, that sees boats relocate from Portishead to Cardiff for the second leg ran successfully with PCC boat Hero, skippered by Simon Britten finishing first followed by CBYC boat Joyride finishing second and fellow CBYC boat Marco Polo finishing third.

The Cardiff leg started with more champagne sailing conditions and the competitive spirit of the competitors resulted in some lively starting lineups! With five races run on the Saturday before a lack of wind suspended sailing on the Sunday, the crews mustered in the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club clubhouse to discover if Ctrl-J had retained the overall title and to discover who would occupy the other podium positions.

With an almost faultless performance across the whole Shanghai cup, Ctrl-J retained the title for an incredible fifth consecutive year with CBYC boat Silverback and PCC boat Hero taking second and third overall positions respectively and PCC boat Jaha!, skippered by Ian Bloxham coming fourth. Click here to view the full results.

With another successful Shanghai Cup completed, the organising committee wish to thank all of the competing crews, the many volunteers that made the event happen including the committee boats together with the mark layers, race control teams, Portishead Marina and Cardiff Barrage and the many other people involved behind the scenes. As the Bristol Channel IRC Championships falls under the auspices of RORC events, the organisers also wish to thank North Sails for their kind sponsorship including the amazing prize packages.

The Shanghai Cup, the Bristol Channel IRC Championships and Nimrod Cup will return in 2027. Provisional dates are 29th / 30th May for the Portishead Leg and 12th / 13th June in Cardiff. For more information see the official event website.

While those of us in Portishead were readying our boats for the season ahead, hoping that the weather bucks up soon, committee member Ian Bloxham and PCC member Tim Harcombe recently headed to Antigua to take part in the Nelson’s Cup Regatta and the RORC Caribbean 600 (C600), the latter being a non-stop 600 nautical mile offshore race, which weaves its way through eleven Caribbean islands.

The C600 attracts an international fleet of over 600 sailors and all types of yachts – from the huge super-maxis and multi-hulls, through to IRC boats. Ian and Tim were racing aboard Faenol, a First 36 from Pwllheli Yacht Club under IRC 2.

The conditions for this year’s event were challenging for all crews, with 20+ knot breezes and large ocean swells. The trade winds had also shifted slightly to be more southerly than usual which led to longer upwind legs, particularly the 50Nm closing stretch between Redonda and the English Harbour finish line. The party on the dock soon made the endurance at sea very worthwhile though!!

Ian said, “It was an amazing experience to be part of such a prestigious and international fleet. We were very pleased with our position of 7th in class and 28th overall.”

Congratulations to Ian and Tim on completing the course and welcome back! Just in time to join the PCC Spring 2026 race series, albeit a slightly different proposition!

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 11^th 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

In the days ahead of this year’s Round the Island Race it’s fair to say that the weather forecast was not favourable! An Atlantic low suggested average wind speeds of 30 knots gusting 40 which would have made things somewhat ‘fruity’.

So it was a relief all round when the very strong wind decided to go elsewhere and was replaced with winds in the mid-20s for this iconic race. Having completed all the logistics of getting Assassin from Portishead to the start line, the team lined up for the IRC start at 07h30 together with a overall fleet that numbered well over 800 yachts of varying sizes and configurations.

The first upwind leg to Hurst Narrows was brisk and saw the fleet split between the two shorelines to get out of the foul tide. Converging at the Needles Channel, conditions became a little more testing until we rounded the Needles lighthouse and bore away. Lining up on St Catherine’s Point, the fleet was split between those flying spinnakers in the gusty and choppy conditions and those sticking with white sails.

As we got through the swell at St Catherine’s, the wind eased and we headed across Ventnor and Shanklin bays through a foul tide chop. Once again, the fleet headed to the coast before coming out to ensure a successful rounding of the Bembridge Ledge bouy.

After rounding, the fleet then hardened up as they sailed back up The Solent to the finish. As if to make a point, the weather gods sent squalls and strong gusts to test the crews one last time before Assassin crossed the finish line at 16h13 in torrential rain!

Heading back to the mooring, team Assassin reflected on a great day out, the enormity of the assembled fleet and the particular highlight of racing 3 other Prima 38’s – which we later found out had briefly featured in the following YouTube video of the event – you can see Assassin and company at 1m23.

Photo credits: Mike Sweet & John Schutte

The Bristol Channel IRC Championships 2025, sponsored by North Sails, held its second and final leg over the weekend of 24th/ 25th May. Racing in Cardiff and Penarth Roads, just off Cardiff Bay, it saw the fleet re-group from across the Bristol Channel.

Organised by PCC and Cardiff Bay Yacht Club (CBYC), the regatta aimed to run racing across both Saturday and Sunday. With a typical bank holiday forecast breaking the recent spell of settled weather, crews were anticipating a weekend of mixed conditions.

Saturday’s racing initially saw less wind than forecast with holes and shifts scattered over the course. The committee set a series of windward / leeward races using a combination of laid and navigational marks.

As the breeze filled in the racing became fast and furious, with the lighter boats planing downwind and all crews being tested to the limit. The racing was close, with the results being decided by seconds not minutes. There were some impressive broaches as the wind speed climbed towards a force 6 and after 3 races the teams returned to the bar at CBYC. For a review of the action, see the video below.

With Sunday’s racing cancelled on safety grounds, the podium positions saw representation from the length of the Bristol Channel with boats from Cardiff Bay and Pembrokeshire taking second and third. The winner, for an impressive fourth consecutive year, was the Portishead J109, Ctrl-J skippered by Andy Williams, who was awarded the stunning Shanghai Cup and a host of prizes from event sponsors North Sails. For the full regatta results, visit the event website.

A huge thank you to the organising committee for another successful Bristol Channel IRC Championships and to event sponsors North Sails. Thanks are also due to Cardiff Barrage for getting the boats in and out together with the crew at CBYC for their hospitality after the racing.

Photo & video credit: Tim Gifford