A THRILLING race from the Isle of Wight to France ended with just over a minute separating the leading yachts, as Midnight Blues claimed overall victory in the 2026 RORC Nautical Cloud Cherbourg Race.
The 75-nautical-mile offshore contest, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and JOG, started from Cowes on Friday last week (September 4), before crews crossed the English Channel to the finish in the French port of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.
French skipper, Jean-Eudes Renier, and Joe Lacey, guided the Pogo RC Midnight Blues to IRC Overall honours and monohull line victory after a dramatic battle with Gery Trentesaux's Courrier Pogo.
Midnight Blues crossed the line just 67 seconds ahead, but securing victory by 2mins 3secs after IRC correction.
Simon Bamford and Ben Ibbotson aboard Sun Fast 3300 Kestrel, completed the overall podium.
The race proved fiercely competitive, with the top 15 boats separated by little more than an hour on corrected time.
The victory earned Midnight Blues a notable treble — taking IRC Overall, IRC Two and Monohull Line honours.
Elsewhere, Jon McColl's Shuttleworth 34 Shockwave was the fastest multihull across the Channel, completing the course from Cowes to Cherbourg in 6hrs 33mins 25secs.
However, Didier Bouillard's Minor Swing claimed the multihull class win after time correction.
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