If ever the stars aligned to see a sport’s popularity grow exponentially, they did so for the recent story of double-handed offshore racing. Societal changes, a brief hint of a future Olympic Games role, and even social distancing all conspired to make double-handed big boat racing a phenomenon. Add in a high level of competition, plus the increasing availability of purpose-designed yachts and the growth in the double-handed scene has been explosive.
One of the most surprising developments of the last decade is just how competitive double-handed offshore racers have become against fully crewed boats. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than in the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race when Cherbourg surgeon Pascal Loison and his pro-sailor Figarist son Alexis, sailing their JPK 10.10 Night And Day, won not only the race’s Two-Handed class and the hotly contested IRC 3 class, but also the race outright on IRC against a giant field of 294 boats. Among their opponents were 249 fully crewed boats featuring several top international campaigns.
Double-handed competition in the Fastnet has now reached the stage where IRC 3 is entirely dominated by double-handers, with nine of the top 10 spots in 2019 occupied by two-man crews in the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s biennial offshore. The class was again topped by Alexis Loison, then sailing with Jean Pierre Kelbert aboard the French boatbuilder’s own JPK 10.30 Léon.
Denne historien er fra August 2021-utgaven av Yachting World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 2021-utgaven av Yachting World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER
As temperatures drop, Andy Rice gets tips on how to handle the cold from self-confessed Arctic weather fan and winning Clipper Round the World Race skipper Bob Beggs
SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC
Sweden offers cruisers a warm welcome for winter - Janneke Kuysters has advice on how to boost your sailing time in the region
NIKKI HENDERSON
SEARCHING FOR MORE SPEED? BEFORE TINKERING WITH TINY ADJUSTMENTS, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT THE BASICS RIGHT THE POWER DRIVING THE BOAT
MATTHEW SHEAHAN
WHAT WILL THE BOATS OF THE 38TH AMERICA'S CUP LOOK LIKE? THAT'S THE $20 MILLION QUESTION IF BRITAIN OR NEW ZEALAND DECIDE TO DEPART FROM THE AC75
60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race
The 45th running of the Mediterranean offshore, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, saw a spectacularly random mix of conditions - even for a race which is famed for its variable weather patterns.
Italy win first Women's Cup
The first ever Women's America's Cup was won by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli after a single, twoboat shoot-out final on 12 October.
'Three-peat' for ETNZ
As Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand came into this year's 37th America's Cup as clear favourites. But the Kiwi camp has far more than just the structural advantage of being the ones that wrote the Protocol for the competition, and the originators of the AC75 concept.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
SWEDISH DESIGNER GABRIEL HEYMAN POURED A LIFETIME OF IDEAS INTO THIS PILOT SALOON CRUISER, WHICH INCLUDES ARGUABLY THE LARGEST COCKPIT AVAILABLE AT THIS SIZE
LIVING HISTORY
THE ICONIC SEASON-CLOSING REGATTA LES VOILES DE SAINT TROPEZ WAS AN IMMERSIVE HISTORY LESSON FOR CROSBIE LORIMER
CHANGE OF PLAN
LEAVING AUSTRALIA, MARIANNE URTH NEVER PLANNED TO MAKE LANDFALL IN THE ISLANDS OF VANUATU, BUT THE EXPERIENCE WAS MAGICAL
