The Long Way Home: Round Britain and Ireland Race Sets Sail on its 50th Anniversary

The Long Way Home: Round Britain and Ireland Race Sets Sail on its 50th Anniversary

There are sailing races where the first gun marks the beginning of an afternoon's competition, followed by cold beer, hot food and a comfortable berth before darkness arrives.

The 2026 RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race is most certainly not one of them.

Today, the fleet leaves Cowes and begins one of the great offshore adventures in European sailing: 1,805 nautical miles non-stop around Britain and Ireland, taking competitors from the familiar waters of the Solent into the Atlantic, around the wild western coast of Ireland and eventually north towards Muckle Flugga, before turning south again for the long road home.

By the time these sailors return to Cowes, the freshly pressed sailing kit and race-day smiles will be distant memories. Some will have raced through several weather systems. Crews will have eaten meals at peculiar hours, slept in wet clothing, repaired things in unpleasant places and made tactical decisions while desperately short of sleep.

That is the Round Britain and Ireland Race.

This year's edition carries particular significance because 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Half a century after the event was established, the challenge remains gloriously uncomplicated in principle.

Sail around Britain and Ireland. Do not stop. Come back to Cowes. The reality is considerably harder. A Race Around the Edge of Europe The geography alone makes this race extraordinary. From Cowes the competitors leave the relative shelter of the Solent and eventually find themselves exposed to some of the most unpredictable waters around the British Isles. The course takes the fleet into the Atlantic and north towards Muckle Flugga in Shetland at almost 61 degrees north. Weather can change dramatically across those latitudes. Strong tides, headlands, offshore wind farms, shipping, fishing vessels and rapidly changing sea conditions add complications that simply do not exist on a conventional offshore course.

Navigation becomes inseparable from endurance.

Finding another half knot of boatspeed is useful. Knowing when to stop pushing the crew and protect the boat can be considerably more valuable. The winners of this race are rarely simply the sailors who can make their yacht go fastest for an hour. They are the crews who can keep making good decisions after five days at sea.

Fifty Years of Offshore History The Round Britain and Ireland Race has evolved considerably during its history, yet sailing around these islands has always held a special fascination for offshore sailors.

Britain and Ireland provide something approaching a natural ocean racecourse. There are great headlands, exposed Atlantic coastlines, narrow tidal waters and some wonderfully remote pieces of sea. The RORC race developed into a formidable non-stop challenge and has attracted everything from professionally campaigned offshore machines to Corinthian yachts whose crews simply wanted to discover whether they could get around. That mixture remains central to its character.

The 2022 race provided one of the finest demonstrations of just how close IRC offshore racing can become. Rob Craigie and Deb Fish raced the Sun Fast 3600 Bellino double-handed and finished second overall behind Jangada after almost 15 days at sea. The corrected-time difference was only seven minutes and 19 seconds. Consider that for a moment. After 1,805 nautical miles, nearly two weeks of weather, tides, sail changes, navigation and exhaustion separated two boats by little more than the time it takes to make a pot of tea. That is offshore handicap racing at its finest. Bellino Comes Back With Four Bellino returned this year with a different configuration. Craigie and Fish  now RORC Commodore  are racing four-up, joined by RORC Griffin Offshore Pathway graduates Nicole Hemeryck and Joe Griffiths.

Fish knows this race particularly well.

This is her third Round Britain and Ireland Race, and she was part of Derek Saunders' Corby 45 Incisor of Wight, which won overall in 2000. The fascinating question will be how the four-person Bellino compares with the substantial double-handed fleet.More hands should mean more opportunity to keep the boat working at maximum efficiency, although every additional sailor also changes weight, watch systems and life aboard.

Pata Negra Returns

One boat carrying serious history into today's start is Pata Negra. The Lombard 46 won the race overall under IRC in 2018 with Giles Redpath at the helm and has subsequently collected podium finishes in both the RORC Transatlantic Race and RORC Caribbean 600. This time Sam Hall leads the campaign, with his father Andrew aboard and the Welsh Dragon of Pwllheli Sailing Club flying over proceedings. There is considerable experience aboard despite only Jules White having previously completed this particular race. Their philosophy is perhaps the right one for 1,805 miles of offshore racing: get the boat and crew home in one piece. That may sound conservative on the morning of a race. Ten days later it can look remarkably clever.

The Next Generation Goes Offshore

One of the most encouraging aspects of this year's race is the presence of younger sailors. RORC Griffin carries eight sailors aged between 18 and 30 from the Griffin Offshore Pathway, co-skippered by Nuala Sellwood and Albert Barber. The programme's roots stretch back to 1947, making today's youth-development efforts part of a much longer RORC tradition.

Offshore racing remains one of sailing's greatest classrooms. There is nowhere to hide behind a coach or shore team when something goes wrong at three o'clock in the morning. Young sailors learn navigation, leadership, engineering, sail handling and decision-making because the sea demands it. Germany's Lwe von Bremen provides another fine example. Its crew of four women and three men are aged between 22 and 30 and have spent five years building towards this race. Most have already completed two Rolex Fastnet Races together. Round Britain and Ireland represents the next considerable step.

A Grand Old Lady Returns

Perhaps one of the most evocative entries is the restored Nicholson 55 Quailo III. More than half a century after completing the Royal Western Yacht Club's double-handed stopping race around Britain and Ireland, she is heading around these shores again. RORC Rear Commodore Andrew Tseng leads an international Corinthian crew including British, Dutch, Australian and Canadian sailors. There is even a family thread running through the fleet. Rupert Baddeley sails aboard Quailo III while his son Ollie races aboard RORC Griffin.

Old boat, new generation, same sea. Few things illustrate the enduring appeal of this race better.

Never Ignore the Small Boats The big yachts will attract attention as they charge away from Cowes. IRC racing, however, has a habit of rewarding patience. Mark Brown's JPK 1010 Jetpack is among the smaller and lower-rated boats in the race, although anyone dismissing her because of size would be unwise.

The JPK 1010 already has impressive form around this course. Sistership Jangada won the 2022 race overall under IRC. If the weather produces extended lighter periods, the larger boats may find themselves parked while smaller competitors continue carrying their handicap advantage around the course. At the other end of IRC Three sits a yacht with character to spare. Dirk Lahmann's 1978 Two Tonner Snifix Dry completed the 2022 race in 17 days. Lahmann famously marked his arrival by changing into his best clothes, complete with cravat, before stepping ashore for a gin and tonic with his wife.

There are worse ways to finish an offshore race. The Gun Fires Today For now, all of that lies ahead.

The boats are prepared. Food has been packed into lockers. Weather files have been studied until there is little left to study. Sail inventories have been checked and watch systems discussed. Soon Cowes will begin disappearing astern. The fleet may leave together, but within hours each yacht will be living a different race. Some will chase line honours. Others will watch IRC corrected time. Double-handed crews will begin the relentless business of balancing speed against sleep. For some competitors, simply returning to Cowes having completed the course will represent one of the greatest achievements of their sailing lives. That is why, after 50 years, the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race still matters. It takes sailors beyond the familiar racecourse and asks a wonderfully old-fashioned question. How good are you when there is nobody around to help?

Today, we begin finding out.