IRC : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

No introduction needed for Jean-Pierre Kelbert, who gave his initials to the JPK yard, whose various models have won everything in IRC over the past twenty years, both in France and internationally. A busy SME owner with more than 50 employees, the 62-year-old builder still has an undiminished appetite for competition and is lining up solo once again in the third edition of the Cap Martinique, which starts on Sunday from La Trinité-sur-Mer bound for Fort-de-France, with a strong fleet of 32 double-handed crews and 14 solo sailors. A race that also shapes up as a battle between boatyards.

Overall winner in January of the Rorc Transatlantic Race, Palanad 4, a 50-foot scow designed by Sam Manuard and built at JPS Production, is helping to shift the goalposts in IRC racing. The owner, Olivier Magré, and the architect—who was part of the crew for the transat—decode the concept of a boat looking to confirm her form in the RORC Caribbean 600 (starting Monday, February 23rd).

The start of the 80th edition of the iconic Rolex Sydney Hobart will be given on December 26. Over the last ten years, French sailors have taken part in this race, often with success. For Sailorz, five of them share their stories: Alexis Loison, Corentin Douguet, Quentin Vlamynck, Frédéric Puzin and Éric de Turckheim. 

At its peak, the Admiral’s Cup was considered to be the unofficial world championship of ocean racing. It was held without interruption from 1957 to 1999, before its last edition in 2003. Re-launched 22 years later by its organisers, the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) – which is celebrating its centenary this year – the event will take place from 17 July to 1 August. Tip & Shaft tells you all about this comeback.

The first leg of the Transquadra Madeira Martinique sets off from Marseilles on 3 July for the Mediterranean fleet, and from La Turballe on 7 July for the Atlantic fleet. This eleventh edition brings together 49 boats – some in the new cruiser category – and 84 sailors (70% of whom are rookies), representing a marked drop in participation compared with previous editions. Tip & Shaft talks to Mico Bolo, the event organiser, and some of the participants. 

60 boats have entered the second edition of the Cap Martinique, which sets off this Sunday 14 April from La Trinité-sur-Mer bound for Fort-de-France. The 100 sailors will be competing, either solo or double-handed, on a majority of JPKs, Sun Fast and Figaro 2s. Who are the best placed to perform? Tip & Shaft takes a look.

On Sunday, 32 sailors, including 10 newcomers, 6 sailors from outside of France and 5 women, will be lining up at the start of the 54th edition of the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec in Caen. As before each major race, to judge the quality of those taking part, Tip & Shaft questioned a group of experts, including the two most recent winners, Tom Laperche (2022) and Pierre Quiroga (2021), the Spaniard, Pep Costa, who competed in the last two races and remains very close to the circuit, Jeanne Grégoire, head of the Finistère ocean racing training centre in Port-la-Forêt, Julien Pulvé, former coach at the La Rochelle training centre and Yann Chateau, the Race Director of the Solitaire.

On Saturday more than 120 boats will set off from Valletta in Malta for the 2022 edition of the Middle Sea Race, a 606-mile classic that circumnavigates Sicily. Within this fleet will be no fewer than five former MOD70s, surely signalling a renewed interest in these 70-foot trimarans launched back in 2011. Tip & Shaft looks closer.

In mid-August more than 80 solo sailors and duos – most of them at least in their forties – will set off from Lorient and Marseille embarking on the tenth edition of the Transquadra. The race is contested every three years in two stages to Madeira and onwards. This hugely popular transatlantic race sees a majority of boats racing that were specially designed for open waters, racing with small crew. Tip & Shaft investigates to what extent the event influences the model and marketing choices of builders and designers of cruiser-racers.

Isle of Wight based Brit Jules Salter is a Volvo Ocean Race winning navigator who clocked up his fourth participation on the last edition sailing with AkzoNobel. This week he had his first experience of racing two handed offshore on the SunFast 3300 Leyton on the 428 nautical miles Drheam Cup, racing with Henry Bomby. There was even time to reminisce about his favourite ever team win, the Barlo Plastics’ Tour de France a la Voile triumph twenty years ago.