Round Britain & Ireland Race Webinar Recording – 30 April 2026

RORC Shares Hard Won Wisdom for the Round Britain & Ireland Race On 30 April,100 days to go before the start of the 50th anniversary of the Round Britain & Ireland Race on 09 August, the Royal Ocean Racing Club held a live webinar. The recording is now available to watch, giving sailors, supporters and prospective entrants the chance to hear practical advice from those who know the race from the inside. The hour long presentation brought together a highly experienced panel with nine race campaigns between them. The aim was to help competitors prepare for one of the Club’s great offshore challenges. Hosted by RORC Vice Commodore Derek Shakespeare, who will be taking part in his first race. The panel brought together professional, Corinthian, military and double handed perspectives, with contributions from Derek Shakespeare, Pip Hare, RORC Commodore Deb Fish, Will Naylor and Sam White. The aim was clear: to share insight, reduce uncertainty and help crews prepare properly for a race that demands far more than simple endurance. For quick reference see below. 0:00 Welcome and webinar opening 1:49 Round Britain & Ireland Race overview 2:56 Introducing the panel 3:48 100 days to go: preparing early 4:42 Category 1 race requirements 6:30 Qualification, communications and safety preparation 7:13 Pip Hare: strategic race preparation 9:29 Building a race road book 10:27 Marking hazards: wind farms, rigs and restricted areas 12:12 Forecasting, navigation resources and chart choices 15:01 Autopilot modes, systems and redundancy 17:26 Deb Fish: walking the course 19:53 Course overview from Cowes 21:18 Celtic Sea, TSS zones and offshore hazards 24:29 VHF, oil rigs and avoiding costly mistakes 25:51 Wind farms and their effect on breeze 27:36 Sam White: wind farm lessons from 2022 31:14 North Sea hazards and the Goodwin Sands 35:00 Will Naylor: the Goodwin “snuggle” 36:12 Crew management and fatigue 37:36 Preparing a boat for two weeks offshore 39:38 Spares, skills and fixing problems at sea 40:49 Sail choices and managing the whole race 45:52 Sam White: double handed lessons from 2022 47:31 Self reliance offshore 48:50 Debriefing during the race 50:02 Crew resource management and giving everyone a voice 51:03 Using checklists for high consequence errors 53:39 Rounding Muckle Flugga 54:05 Racing close to Bellino and the autopilot failure 55:57 Fatigue and hand steering down the North Sea 58:08 Final days and the pull of the race 59:32 Q&A begins 1:00:04 Sharing content from onboard 1:01:05 Spare mainsail and repair questions 1:02:06 Competitor WhatsApp and racecourse updates 1:02:48 Outside assistance and weather advice 1:03:25 Trysail and watch system question 1:08:04 Crew Match and finding crew 1:08:52 Course changes and race direction 1:10:16 Closing remarks and final advice #rorcracing #RBIR2026 #offshoreracing #ircrating