RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race 2026 - Day 10
by Louay Habib / RORC 18 Aug 21:16 UTC
From 9 August 2026
Palanad 4 romps home third on the water in the 2026 RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race © Rick Tomlinson / RORC
Palanad 4 Proves the Concept as Class40 Battle Goes to the Wire
Antoine Magré's radical Mach 50 Palanad 4 finished third on the water in the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race behind Pace and Varuna 6 in an elapsed time of 8 days 1 hr 44 mins 31 secs. After IRC time correction, the Sam Manuard-designed scow holds second place overall with Varuna now third.
Antoine Magré described the experience on Palanad 4. "The Round Britain and Ireland Race was a real test, with up to 30 knots but also six complete shutdowns. Keeping pace with Varuna was especially satisfying. We caught her off Ireland and at Muckle Flugga, where the scow bow really comes into its own.
"Palanad is only 13 months old but has already sailed 28,000 miles. This race proved her strength, speed and competitiveness under IRC, while showing us where we can improve for next year."
Although Palanad 4 is not a Class40 its radical scow bow springs from the same broad design thinking as the three smaller Class40s which decided their title today. All eyes were on Penfret, Swift and Gambit and an extraordinary battle that was too close to call was eventually decided in the Hearing Room.
Class40 Dogfight Goes to the Wire
The battle between Penfret, Swift and Gambit has been one of the fiercest and most compelling contests in the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race.
Exiting the Solent after the start, Swift held a wafer-thin advantage at No Man's Land Fort. 400 miles of racing later, Swift was still ahead at Bull Rock, with Penfret trailing by 15 minutes and Gambit by 45 minutes.
The order changed dramatically on the long 400nm leg to St Kilda. Penfret surged into the lead and opened an advantage of 1 hour 15 minutes over Swift, with Gambit 2 hours 33 minutes behind. This was Penfret's biggest recorded lead during the race. However, Penfret had gone inside Bills' Rocks located nine miles offshore which was to prove to be very costly.
The tenacious Gambit responded strongly during the 160nm leg to Muckle Flugga, producing the fastest section of the three and powering back into second place. Penfret's advantage over Gambit was slashed to 51 minutes, while Swift slipped to third, 1 hour and 4 minutes behind the leader.
After racing over 500nm into the North Sea, at Holm Approach Buoy, the relentless Swift had regained second place, 1 hour and 15 minutes behind Penfret. Gambit was then two and a half hours behind the leader, the largest recorded spread between the three boats during this absorbing contest.
The battle compressed dramatically after Holm Approach Buoy. Swift clawed back against Penfret, reducing the lead to just 26 minutes. Gambit had mounted an equally impressive recovery, regaining over an hour.
The deltas from the race show that the Class40 battle was never a straightforward procession. The lead changed three times with Penfret fastest on four of the eight completed sections and Swift and Gambit fastest on two apiece.
After grueling days of close racing, the three Class40s were in sight of each other, setting up a thrilling final battle on the approach to the Solent with the added jeopardy of a protest from Swift against Penfret for not sailing the proper course.
Le Boucher's Penfret crossed the finish line first in an elapsed time of 9 days 29 mins and 40 secs. Even though they knew a protest was pending, they still celebrated, it had been an incredible battle. Second over the line, just 1 hr 28 mins 54 secs later was Greg Leonard's Swift with Jon Tyrrell's Gambit third, less than eight miles astern. However, at a Hearing Penfret was deemed to have not sailed the course.
Although Le Boucher, the French skipper of Penfret, was disappointed at the outcome of the result, he was very positive about the Round Britain and Ireland Race experience. "It was a fantastic battle with three teams so competitive throughout," commented Le Boucher. "I will be racing in the Route du Rhum this November and this has been great preparation for that. Penfret went through all possible wind angles and conditions, so the data we have got is very important. Physically this was a very tiring race, especially the last night upwind in 20 knots of wind when we were constantly tacking. This race has been a great and really valuable experience."
The winner of the Class40 Division of the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race was Greg Leonard's Swift. Daniel Jones' Gambit, skippered by Jon Tyrrell, was second.
Greg Leonard spoke about the tremendous battle during the race: "Racing Swift in the Round Britain and Ireland Race is just an unbelievable experience. The Class40 fleet has evolved to the point where there's no let-up at all. There's no break, no respite, no quarter given. We raced 1,800 miles and were within sight of the other Class40s almost the whole way around, effectively match racing for days on end. That's incredibly intense and incredibly fun.
"The course itself is spectacular. This time we had pretty kind weather—relatively warm upwind along the south coast of England, then a lot of downwind and reaching, which made it fast and exciting. If I do this race again and you could order that weather for me, I'd be grateful. Up off St Kilda in particular, the scenery is just stunning: dramatic coastline, amazing light, and wildlife everywhere—whales, seals, birds. You're pushing the boat hard, but you're also very aware you're in a pretty special place.
"On board it's full-on. We don't have powered winches or hydraulics; everything is human-powered and old-school, with big loads for a 40-footer. With three of us, everyone is grinding, trimming, moving sails, sleeping less, constantly tweaking the boat. Your hands, abs, chest, arms - everything hurts. But when you look at the tracker afterwards and see that line all the way around Britain and Ireland, knowing you did that with sail power and human power, it feels like a real accomplishment. It's an epic race."