Could two shiny new JPK 1050s cause trouble in IRC Two?

Case in point: Léon, the works boat, borrowed by Hervé Chataigner and offshore legend Gildas Morvan for June’s Transmanche dash across the Channel. Not content with simply showing up, they smashed the course record. And this was before Chataigner had even taken delivery of his own 1050, Pilou. One gets the feeling they’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of what the boat can do.

Chataigner’s secret weapon is Morvan — a sailor with serious credentials: America’s Cup in ‘95, Olympics in ‘96, two decades on the Figaro circuit, multiple transatlantic races in IMOCA 60s, and a resume built on grit and podiums. Together, they’re aiming Pilou squarely at Léon — which will be helmed by Jean-Pierre Kelbert himself, alongside none other than Alexis Loison. That name should ring bells. Loison and his father Pascal won the 2013 Fastnet overall — still the only doublehanded crew to ever claim the big trophy.

Loison is back on board Léon, a boat from the same design family as Lann Ael 3. “Fast reaching and downwind,” he says. “She’s lighter than the last one.” That might be understatement. Ludovic Gérard thinks so too — he’s bringing his new JPK 1050 Solenn for Pure Ocean to the line, teamed up with Eliott Coville. After eight seasons with the JPK 1080 version of Solenn, Gérard’s expecting speed and smiles from the new ride.

Meanwhile, the latest Lann Ael has already proven her point. Didier Gaudoux’s semi-scow Manuard-Nivelt NM 35 tore it up in last year’s blustery Loro Piana Giraglia, slicing through the 241-mile course in under 25 hours with co-skipper Erwan Tabarly. She’s built for this kind of thing. Light, fast, and designed to surf, Lann Ael 3 also won the first IRC Two-Handed European Championship and comes with the weighty honour of Gaudoux’s 2017 Fastnet win on Lann Ael 2.

Bottom line? When the breeze is hot and on the quarter, these easily-driven, twin-rudder rocket ships are going to be hard to touch. But IRC Two isn’t just a scow-sailed playground.

At the top of the leaderboard in the RORC Season’s Points is Scarlet Oyster, a boat with more bluewater miles than most of the fleet combined. Ross Applebey’s Lightwave 48 has crossed the Atlantic 13 times and logged more than 150,000 miles. She’s a family heirloom, racing since 1999, and aside from one Fastnet missed in 2009 for charity work, she’s been a podium regular: five seconds and two firsts.

Then there’s the rise of the Pogos. Midnight Blues, a 34ft Pogo RC with a hungry crew, is turning heads. Owned by RORC committee man Jean-Eudes Renier and co-skippered by Rear Commodore Joe Lacey, it’s a boat with French offshore pedigree and a helm with serious RORC roots.

Not to be overlooked is Codiam, a well-bedded-in Grand Soleil 43 campaigned by IRC veterans Nicolas Loday and Jean-Claude Nicoleau. Loday, now 74, has sailed the Fastnet more times than most have had hot dinners. A 505 World Champion in 1972, he later coached France to Olympic bronze in ‘84 and even did a leg of the Whitbread. This guy teaches history and geography — and has made both on the water.

Another Grand Soleil 43 to watch: Ikigaï, making her Fastnet debut with a Belgian university crew representing KYCN. Skipper Benoît Stevens wants stories, memories, and a touch of Tabarly-esque adventure. “It’s about seamanship, friendship and unpredictability,” he says — which might as well be the mission statement of this whole race.

Further north, the student crew on Löwe von Bremen, a Sun Fast 3600 skippered by Frederick Nabor, are flying the flag for Germany’s Segelkameradschaft “Das Wappen von Bremen.” From medicine to politics, their academic mix rivals their sail trim.

From New Caledonia comes Alofi, a Figaro 3 fresh from Solitaire campaigns. Skipper Thierry Levayer and offshore thoroughbred Philippe Delamare (fresh off winning the Global Solo Challenge) are here for training — but with over 100,000 miles in the logbook, they’ll be competitive too.

Prime Suspect, a Mills 36 Custom out of Rosslare Harbour, knows Irish waters well and wears RNLI ties on her sleeve. Owned by Keith Miller, Tom O’Connor, and Donal McLoughlin, she’s got Round Ireland and D2D experience and a lifeboatman at the helm.

From across the pond, Avanti, a Hanse 430 out of the USA, brings firepower in the form of Jeremi Jablonski and Marek Mirota — fresh off the Transatlantic Race, no less, and past IRC Two-Handed winners in the RORC Transatlantic.

And flying the flag for Fastnet’s golden age: Crusade, a 1969 Gurney 64 once owned by Sir Max Aitken. Line honours in the Sydney-Hobart, Admiral’s Cup veteran — and yet she’s still racing at the front. A third-place finish in the recent Myth of Malham proves she’s more than just a piece of yachting history.

Just behind her in that same race? Rogan Josh, Richard Powell’s First 40 and the new 2025 IRC Two National Champion. Royal Thames crew, fully amateur, but proving that teamwork and consistency still count for something.

The J/Boat fleet is deep and dangerous in IRC Two. Corazon, Lawrence Herbert’s J/133, took second in the Myth of Malham and boasts a crew of under-30s with three solid RORC seasons under their belt. Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare’s Bulldog, a J/122, won the De Guingand Bowl last year and remains a threat whenever the breeze picks up.

With conditions looking likely to favour the light, planing hulls, the JPK 1050s and Lann Ael 3 could well rocket ahead. But this division’s deeper than the Mariana Trench — full of history, heavyweights, and hungry newcomers.

You wouldn’t bet the rum on any one winner just yet.