Two New Zealand sailors look set to finish first and second (IRC) overall in the 2026 RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, after already taking first and third across the finish line, in one of the strongest showings by Kiwis in the event’s 50 year history. Final placings won’t be official until the whole fleet is home and RORC has ratified the results, but on everything reported so far, this is shaping up as a race New Zealand sailors dominated from both ends of the experience spectrum.
Stu Bannatyne crossed the line first, as watch captain aboard Johnny Vincent’s Volvo 70 Pace, in an elapsed time of 6 days, 14 hours and 47 minutes. It was Bannatyne’s first crack at this specific race despite four Volvo Ocean Race victories already to his name, and RORC’s own report on Jens Kellinghusen’s Ker 56 Varuna 6 finishing one-and-a-half days later states plainly that she “did not better the time set by” Pace, effectively confirming the overall win in the organising body’s own words, even ahead of formal ratification.
Second across the line went to Varuna 6, with Palanad 4, carrying Wellington’s Oakley Marsh, third on the water the following afternoon. On IRC corrected time, though, the placings flip. Varuna 6 rates too high to trouble the podium and sits well down the overall order despite her result on the water, while Palanad 4 currently projects second overall, a result that isn’t locked in until she’s confirmed and every other boat is home, but one that’s held up through the closing stages of the race.
It wasn’t a straightforward run for Marsh’s boat. Palanad 4 lost real time at Muckle Flugga, sailing into a wind hole and foul tide strong enough to push her backwards at one point, and spent the following days clawing into a lead over Pace that at one stage came down to as little as 17 minutes on corrected time before swinging the other way entirely once Pace finished. The final approach wasn’t consistent either, three separate wind shutdowns in the closing 48 hours, one of them costing the crew three hours stuck off the English coast while Varuna 6, sitting slightly further offshore, slipped through the same gap.
One detail from the race is worth a mention on its own. Palanad 4‘s crew list, includes Sam Manuard, the naval architect who designed the Mach 50 himself. Manuard sailed the boat he drew, in the race that’s now gone a long way toward proving the design, alongside Marsh, and the rest of the crew.
For Marsh, 28, this was his first fully crewed offshore result at this level, against crews with considerably more sea miles behind them, and a likely second overall on IRC is a strong return for it. There wasn’t much time to savour it either. He was booked on an evening ferry back to France on the day he finished, straight into his next race, which starts this coming weekend.
