Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Start: Saturday 02 May 2026 - Cowes to Le Havre (110nm)
Image: Nicolas Dezeustre’s Sun Fast 3600 Princesse Gotionude II © Rick Tomlinson/RORC
The overall win under IRC for the Cervantes Trophy Race was decided by just 13 seconds after more than 20 hours of racing. Nicolas Dezeustre’s Sun Fast 3600 Princesse Gotionude II won overall, just 13 seconds ahead of Nick Martin’s Sun Fast 3600 Diablo, racing double handed with Joe Slipper. Sam White’s JPK 10.80 Mzungu!, racing fully crewed, was third, only 1 minute 40 seconds behind the winner. Derek Shakespeare’s J/122 Bulldog was fourth, just 1 minute 54 seconds off the overall win. After a tactical Channel race of light airs, shifting breeze and hard choices, the top four were separated by less than two minutes on IRC corrected time.
Line Honours Winners
Greg Leonard’s Class40 Mach 40.6 Swift took Monohull Line Honours in the 2026 RORC Cervantes Trophy Race in an elapsed time of 17Hrs 32Mins 28Secs. First to finish in the IRC Fleet was Graeme Lewis’ CM60 Venomous in 17Hrs 54Mins 02Secs. Peter Coote’s Dazcat 1295 Slinky Malinki took Multihull Line Honours in 18Hrs 51Mins 47Secs and corrected out to win the Multihull Class.
The Société des Régates du Havre (SRH) is France’s oldest yacht club and one of the historic homes of cross Channel racing. That tradition gives the Cervantes Trophy finish a special place in the RORC offshore season. The prize giving was officiated by flag officers from both clubs: SRH Commodore Augustin Savalle Anthonioz, RORC Commodore Deb Fish and RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare, supported by SRH Commission Voile Christophe Lachèvre and RORC Racing Manager Chris Jackson.
The SRH Clubhouse bar was full of stories from the race to Le Havre, as winners and crews reflected on a tactical and exceptionally close contest from Cowes.
Quotes from the Boats
Nicolas Dezeustre’s Sun Fast 3600 Princesse Gotionude II © Joe Slipper
“Winning the Cervantes Trophy Race overall under IRC is a fantastic feeling, it is our first RORC victory overall after many years of competing!” commented Nicolas Dezeustre, owner of Princesse Gotionude II, whose home is Le Havre. “We are very, very happy. For us, this is a big result and a great moment for the whole team. To win a RORC race like this, against such a strong fleet, is something special. It is one of the best memories I have had in sailing so far.
Nicolas Dezeustre’s Sun Fast 3600 Princesse Gotionude II © Rick Tomlinson/RORC
“The crew is very important. We are a close team and that makes a big difference offshore. Everyone worked hard, stayed focused and kept pushing the boat all the way to the finish. It was not easy, but the spirit on board was excellent and that is one of the reasons we are so pleased with the result. For the season, this is a great start. It gives us confidence and motivation for the races ahead. We will enjoy this win with champagne and then we will look forward to the next challenge.”
Nick Martin's Sun Fast 3600 Diablo © Rick Tomlinson/RORC
Nick Martin’s Diablo was second overall and won IRC Two Handed ahead of Rob Craigie’s Bellino, racing with RORC Commodore Deb Fish. Third in IRC Two Handed was Gavin Howe’s Tigris, racing with Alaric Bates.
“Thirteen seconds is just bizarre,” commented Diablo’s Nick Martin, talking about the margin to overall victory. “Before the start, if someone had said top five, I would have been delighted. Top three double handed would have sounded wonderful, but here we are, second overall by just 13 seconds. The grumpy part of me immediately thinks, where did we lose that? But really, I am thrilled. It was incredibly close and massive respect to Princesse Gotionude II, because they sailed a great race.
“The key thing for me was Joe Slipper,” continued Martin, talking about his new crew. “We had done one race together before, but for this one we had no practice. We literally jumped on board and got going. Joe was fantastic, especially overnight, really focused on driving and trimming. He has natural instinct, huge energy, massive passion and a real desire to win. With his energy and my ideas, it felt like a good combination, and it paid off. He is only 21, but I think he is a bit of a rock star for the future.”
Third overall and in IRC Three was Sam White’s Mzungu!, racing fully crewed. The Mzungu! crew enjoyed a refreshing pint in the SRH bar after the race. Zeb Fellows, who was racing on board, commented: “It was very exciting Channel racing, with lots of tactical calls to make, and most of the time we felt we were on the right side of them. It was incredibly close at the finish, with only two or three minutes covering the top five, so every second really counted. We did very well as a group. It was a good team, good fun and very competitive.”
Winning IRC Two and correcting out to third overall was Bulldog owned by RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare. Second was Ronan Banim’s Galahad of Cowes and third was Simon Harwood’s Talisman.
“Bulldog had a very tidy race and we are delighted to win our class,” commented Shakespeare. “It was a tricky, mostly light airs race with a lot of variability, but the big strategic picture was that at some point the wind was going to shift south. We made the call to head south for that shift and, although others tacked mid Channel and went east because that was the favoured tack at the time, we stuck with our decision. The wind did not make it easy. It went right for quite a long time before eventually going left in the small hours of the morning. When we picked that shift up, we were able to point straight at the finish. There were moments of no wind, a horrible squall and plenty of rain, but the crew was great, the boat was good and everything worked well. It was a proper tactical and meteorological challenge, and a great first offshore race of the season.”
The Cervantes Trophy Race was the first outing for Trevor Middleton’s new charge, the JPK 1180 Black Sheep, skippered by Jake Carter. For the team, the focus is on learning how to sail the boat fast in a build up to this year’s Round Ireland Race. Black Sheep won IRC One ahead of Sport Nautique Club’s Orange Mecanix 2, skippered by Maxime de Mareuil. Cameron Davis’ Espresso Martini Too was third.
“Winning IRC One is a great way to start with the new Black Sheep,” commented skipper Jake Carter. “For a first outing in the JPK 1180, it was not bad at all. The crew are in good spirits and the boat came through well. We are heading home with some of the team going straight to bed and others still carrying on, which probably says plenty about the spirit on board."
After the leading boats had made Le Havre, the breeze faded significantly across the Channel. Inka Luhrs & Richard Bretherton’s Sun Fast 3200 Zanzibar, racing Two-Handed, made the best of the conditions to win IRC Four.
With little prospect of making the finish in a reasonable time, a number of crews made the decision to retire, preserving boats and teams for the busy RORC season ahead. However, several boats gritted their teeth and waited for the wind to fill to complete the Cervantes Trophy Race. Notably, Simon Harwood’s Talisman, which was rewarded with second place in IRC Two. In IRC Four, Rob Cotterill’s Mojo Risin took second in class and Mark Brown’s Jetpack third. Also toughing it out to finish was Andrew Tseng’s Quailo III in IRC Three.
The world’s largest offshore racing series, the RORC Season’s Points Championship, continues on 15 May. First raced in 1931, the RORC North Sea Race is one of the Club’s longest standing offshore races, linking the UK and the Netherlands. Starting from outside the Royal Harwich Yacht Club across a demanding 165nm North Sea course, the North Sea Race finishes off Scheveningen, Netherlands.
The Cervantes Trophy Race is the first race of the RORC Cowes Offshore Series which brings together a wide range of boats, sailors and ambitions, from experienced offshore campaigns to youth development teams and double handed specialists.
Filmed ahead of the Cervantes Trophy Race, the opening race of the series, this video looks at the people and stories behind the entries. From Trevor Middleton’s new JPK 1180 Black Sheep and Rich Corbin’s Farr 40 Espresso Martini Too, to Sue Geary and the Tall Ships Youth Trust team on Challenger 2, the series celebrates the breadth of modern offshore racing.
Click here for the video, additional images and full results