MOD70 Duel Lights Up the Channel Race

RORC Channel Race

Start: Friday 19 July 2025

Course: Solent Start – Around Marks – Solent Finish (Approx. 160nm)

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC)

The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Channel Race had it all—zero to 25 knots of wind, and sunshine to heavy rain. Half of the fleet competing were taking part in the opening salvo of the 2025 Admiral’s Cup. Unsurprisingly, the high-tech boats raced by elite sailors dominated the leaderboard for the Channel Race. The top 22 boats overall under IRC were all Admiral’s Cuppers.

Read the race report here:

From Light Air to Full Send: Admiral’s Cup Opens with a Test of Endurance

JPK 1080 Muzungu! leads the charge in IRC Three © Paul Wyeth/RORC

Congratulations to all the class winners of the RORC Channel Race, including Volvo 70 Green Dragon, skippered by Danqi Wang, Hanno Ziehm’s Marten 49 Moana, Sam White’s JPK 1080 Muzungu!, Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack and Daniel Jones’ Class40 Gambit.

Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster © Paul Wyeth/RORC

Full praise should go to Ross Applebey’s Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster, not only for winning IRC Two, but also for beating six Admiral’s Cup boats after IRC time correction.

FULL RESULTS

Zoulou & Argo © Paul Wyeth/RORC

In the Multihull Class, there was a terrific match race between two foiling MOD70s, with the duel going to the wire. Jason Carroll’s Argo crossed the line just over three minutes ahead of Erik Maris’ Zoulou.

Argo’s Brian Thompson commented after racing:

“We were never more than 0.4 miles apart from Zoulou the entire race—sometimes just a minute between us at MOD70 speeds. It was an intense duel. Zoulou led from just before the forts to about 30 miles from the finish, and we were constantly fighting to stay in touch. We’ve raced each other enough now that it’s always close—sometimes only 10 minutes separating us after a 48-hour race. It’s that kind of rivalry that really drives both teams to push harder and improve.

Zoulou’s team has come a long way with their boat setup, but we know Argo inside out, so we were able to stay in the groove and try a few new settings during the race. We got a bit lucky with the wind shifts near the mark off the French coast—an unexpected easterly filled in and allowed us to close the gap. After that, it was full send—30 knots of boat speed, dodging marks at night, both boats absolutely sending it into the finish. It was totally exhilarating.

Looking ahead to the Rolex Fastnet Race, it’s going to be a different game again, as we’ll have four Ultims. If it stays light, we’ll be in the mix, but once the Ultims get up and flying, they’ll be hard to catch. The start will be crucial—if we can stay close through the Solent, we’ve got a shot at holding on. It’s going to be fantastic to line up. The pace, the tactics, the boat-on-boat duels—it’s why we do this. The Fastnet is always full of surprises, and we’re ready for whatever it throws at us.”

The next race in the RORC Season’s Points Championship will be the 100th anniversary of the Rolex Fastnet Race. Starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line on July 26th, the world’s largest offshore race is expecting a record fleet of 455 boats for the 695nm course finishing in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. For full coverage, visit: https://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/