Commodore's Letter

As I write this column Cowes Week is underway and the entrants for the Rolex Fastnet Race are making final preparations to their boats for what looks at present, judging by the long-range forecast, to be another light wind affair. This year we have had an unprecedented surge of interest in the latest edition of the biannual ocean race across the Irish Sea and back to Plymouth that laid the foundation for the RORC in 1925.

The largest number of boats to enter our premier race previously was 289; this year we quickly reached our limit of 300 boats, requiring us to open a waiting list. We imposed this limit after a careful review of the event following the stormy 1979 race, and we have continued to monitor our resources as a club and of the available rescue services in case a similar storm should hit the fleet.

We will, however, soon look closely again at the factors that made us limit the number to 300, to see if there is a case to accommodate more entrants in the future as the race continues to grow in popularity. One major difference that we have this year is the RORC tracking that will be onboard each yacht, enabling families and friends to follow the progress of the boats in some detail.

A celebration of 50 years of the Admiral's Cup was held just before Cowes Week, and was attended by over 100 people who had either taken part or contributed in some major way to that event's success over the years. Two members of crews from the original event were present, as well as a large number of people from overseas representing many of the nations that have taken part over the years. During the course of the evening many a story was told of some great successes and some pretty embarrassing disasters as well.

One of the strong messages that came out of the evening was a widely held belief that there remains a place for the Admiral's Cup to flourish again, something that I believe is reinforced by the fact that we have so many boats taking part in our offshore races this year. I continue to sound out all the interested parties to see if we can find a format for Admiral's Cup racing that will accommodate those owners and ­sponsors who will, together with the RORC, once more make the event a success.

As we head towards the end of the season I should take time to thank all the volunteers as well as the club's staff at St James's and Lymington who make racing possible for all of us sailors. Those who start and those who finish our races, at all hours of the day and night, and often sitting in a boat in very unpleasant conditions, they make it happen for us. In particular, without the dedicated and expert guidance of Janet Grosvenor, who has led the race team now for a number of years, we would not have the high quality of racing that many other clubs are rightly jealous of and seek to emulate.