Royal Ocean Racing Club
Ocean racing club in London and Cowes.
- Location
- London and Cowes
- Region
- London
- Type
- Ocean racing club
- Founded
- 1925
- Website
- rorc.org
- Details checked
- 2026-10-19
About the club
The RORC grew out of a challenge. In 1924 Joseph Weston Martyr came home from the Bermuda Race and urged British yachtsmen, in Yachting Monthly, to take up ocean racing. With Evelyn George Martin, owner of Jolie Brise and later the club's first Commodore, and Malden Heckstall-Smith, he organised the first 'Ocean Race'. It started from Ryde on 15 August 1925, rounded the Fastnet Rock and finished in Plymouth. That race became the Fastnet, and the club grew out of it.
Clubhouses
The London clubhouse has been at 20 St James's Place since December 1941, after the club's Pall Mall Place premises were bombed in 1940. King Haakon of Norway officially opened it in July 1942. The Cowes clubhouse is on The Parade.
Racing
The club runs a full domestic season including the Rolex Fastnet Race, along with transatlantic races, racing in the Caribbean and events run with other organisers worldwide. It also runs the RORC Rating Office.
How to join
The RORC has about 4,000 members worldwide in two categories, Ocean Racing and Corinthian. Applicants need a proposer and a seconder who are current members. Unless you are a boat owner or applying for Corinthian membership, you also need a certificate of competency signed by the skipper of a boat you have completed a qualifying race on. There are reduced rates by age band up to 29. New members pay a joining fee of half the annual subscription.
Contact
London: 20 St James's Place, London SW1A 1NN, +44 (0)20 7493 2248. Cowes: The Parade, Cowes PO31 7QU, +44 (0)1983 295 144. Membership: [email protected].
Related guides: Cowes Harbour guideSources
- www.rorc.org/membership/rorc-history
- www.rorc.org/membership/rorc-premises
- www.rorc.org/membership/join-the-rorc
- www.rorc.org/contact
- www.rorc.org/
Details checked against the club's own website on 19 October 2026. Contact the club to confirm prices, times and visitor arrangements before you go.
Map
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