Annual Pursuit Race

Date: 19 September 2026

Location: Cowes, United Kingdom

Organizer: Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC)

The Annual Pursuit Race is the Royal Ocean Racing Club's season closer in the Solent, sailed from Cowes on 19 September 2026. The format flips normal handicap racing on its head. Boats start at staggered times based on their IRC rating, slowest first, so in theory the whole fleet converges at the finish and the first boat across the line wins outright. No corrected-time maths, no waiting for results ashore. The course is around 30 nautical miles, and the race is the final scoring event of the 2026 RORC Season's Points Championship before attention shifts to the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October. The club's seasons prizegiving follows the racing, which gives the day a social weight beyond the result. Most of RORC's programme is serious offshore work, so the Pursuit Race is the rare fixture that is competitive and relaxed at the same time. It makes a good spectacle from the Cowes shoreline too.

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