Man with a mission
As Director of Racing for the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Chris Stone is a busy man. He’s responsible for the hefty schedule of offshore and inshore events around the world that make up the club’s racing programme. A native Aussie with a longstanding background in sailing event management, he has been in this particular role for five years, and his knowledge and passion for sailing is obvious from the off.
We chat as he’s preparing to leave for Helsinki, Finland where he will discuss plans for the club’s newest event – the RORC Baltic Sea Race. Organised in conjunction with the Ocean Racing Alliance, this new 630nm race will set off on 21 July, with IRC, MOCRA and Class 40s among the fleets racing a loop around the Swedish island of Gotland, some 250nm southwest of Helsinki. The star of the entry line-up so far looks to be Arto Linnervuo’s new foil-driven Infiniti 52, Tulikettu.
“It’s a good opportunity for RORC to explore other parts of Europe we haven’t been to before, good for membership, and good for IRC,” explains Chris, as he confirms a
