Fastnet Race

The Fastnet Race is a famous biennial offshore yachting race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom. Generally considered one of the classic offshore races, 'Fastnet' is a difficult contest testing both inshore and offshore skills, boat and crew preparation and speed potential. From its inception, the Fastnet Race has proven highly influential in the growth of offshore racing, and remains closely linked to advances in yacht design, sailing technique and safety equipment.

The Fastnet Race has been sponsored by the Swiss watch manufacturing company Rolex since 2001. The Race prize is known as the Fastnet Challenge Cup.

Description

The Fastnet Race takes place every two years over a course of 608 nautical miles (1,126 km). The race starts off Cowes 50°45′34″N 1°18′1″W / 50.75944°N 1.30028°W / 50.75944; -1.30028 on the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England at the Royal Yacht Squadron. Leaving The Solent through The Needles Channel, the race follows the southern coastline of England westward down the English Channel, before rounding Land's End. After crossing the Celtic Sea, the race rounds the Fastnet Rock 51°23′3″N 9°36′1″W / 51.38417°N 9.60028°W / 51.38417; -9.60028 off the southwest coast of Ireland. Returning on a largely reciprocal course, the race rounds the Scilly Islands before finishing at Plymouth 50°22′17″N 4°8′33″W / 50.37139°N 4.14250°W / 50.37139; -4.14250.

The Fastnet is a challenging race. Taking place in August, the race is often provided with Westerlies that are strong to gale force in strength. The succession of low pressure systems which advance on the British Isles across the North Atlantic Ocean provide a constantly moving weather pattern for which Fastnet navigators must plan. These depressions are mostly centered north of the English Channel. Knowledge of where meteorological disturbances are likely to occur, and how best to use them, is the keynote to success in the race.

Coastal landmarks passed along the route include: The Needles, Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard, Land's End, the Fastnet Rock, Bishop's Rock off the Scillies and Plymouth breakwater.

History

Weston Martyr, a British yachtsman, conceived the idea of the Race after having competed in Bermudan yacht races. Entered by seven vessels, the inaugural Fastnet Race was won by Jolie Brise in 1925.

The International Offshore Rule (IOR) was introduced in 1973, and the yachts and crews began taking sponsorships.

1979 Fastnet Race

A severe storm during the 1979 race resulted in the deaths of eighteen people (fifteen competing yachtsmen and three rescuers) and the involvement of some 4,000 others in what became the largest ever rescue operation in peace-time. This led to a major overhaul of the rules and the equipment required for the competition.^[1][2] Several books have since been written about the 1979 race, which remains notorious in the yachting world for its loss of life.^[1][3][4] In the 1979 race, "15 sailors died, five boats sank, and at least 75 boats flipped upside down", that is turtled.^[2]

Capsize of Drum (1985)

The Race drew further attention from outside the sport in 1985 when the maxi yacht Drum capsized after the keel sheared off due to a design error. The boat was helmed by the New Zealander Phil Holland, brother of its designer Ron Holland. Pop star Simon Le Bon, co-owner and crew member of Drum, was trapped under the hull with five other crew members for twenty minutes, until being rescued by the Royal Navy. The Search and Rescue Diver was Petty Officer Air Crewman (POACMN) Larry "Scouse" Slater of 771 Naval Air Squadron who appeared on This Is Your Life on 9 April 1986.^[5]

Capsize of Rambler (2011)

In 2011, the 100-foot maxi yacht Rambler 100^[6] capsized after her keel broke off between Fastnet Rock and the Pantaenius Buoy (a temporary race mark placed southwest of the Fastnet Rock^[7]). All 21 crew were rescued safely. Sixteen were rescued from the upturned hull, by the RNLI Baltimore Lifeboat^[8] Hilda Jarrett. A further 5 crewmembers, including the owner/skipper George David, had floated away from the vessel, but managed to link themselves together. They were in the water for approximately 2.5 hours, before being rescued by a Baltimore based diving vessel, Wave Chieftain. One of these crewmembers, Wendy Touton, suffered hypothermia and was taken by helicopter to Tralee General Hospital.^[9] Four crew-members had been below decks at the time of capsize and were not adequately dressed for egress into the sea. All uninjured crew were taken to Baltimore.^[10] The Naval Service patrol ship LÉ Aoife remained with the hull, worth $10,000,000 before the capsize, before it was towed to Barleycove by the Castletownbere-based tug Ocean Bank.^[11][12]

Fastnet Race 2005

The 2005 Race was sponsored by Rolex and organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club with the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth.

Fastnet Race 2007

The RORC in 2007 set an entry limit of 300 boats for the first time. The start of the 2007 Race was postponed by 25 hours, due to a severe weather warning. This was the first time this had been done in the race's 83 year history. Overnight gale force winds and resulting extreme seas forced over three-quarters of the boats to retire, sheltering in ports along the south coast of England, including Torbay, Plymouth and Weymouth.

By 10:00hrs on 16 August 207 boats of the 271-strong field had retired with at least three suffering rig problems.^{[13] [14]}

Despite the conditions, Mike Slade's Icap Leopard 3, launched in June 2007, set a new record of 44 hours 18 min, taking almost 9 hours off the previous record set in 1999. Ger O'Rourke's Chieftain was the overall winner on corrected time.

Fastnet Race 2009

Fastnet Race 2011

A record number of 320 boats entered the 2011 Race – the largest total since the ill-fated 1979 Race (303 entries). A total of nineteen nations were represented, with the bulk of entries still from Britain and France.

Fastnet Race 2013

Plymouth Yacht Haven was selected as host port RORC Increased the number of entries to meet demands. With the entry limit of 300 filled within 24 hours, over 100 boats on the waiting list and entries from multihulls, IMOCA 60s and Class 40s were still coming in, demand for places in 2013's Fastnet Race has been at its highest level thus far.^[15]

Winners (the following results are to be considered provisional): IRC Overall: Night And Day, a JPK 10.10 owned by Pascal Loison; MOCRA Multihull: Oman Air - Musandam, a MOD 70 owned by Sidney Gavignet.

Race records

Monohull vessels

The monohull race record is 42hrs 39min, set by Ian Walker's Volvo Open 70 Abu Dhabi (UAE) in 2011. The other two Volvo Open 70 participating in the 2011 Fastnet Race (Groupama 4 and Team Sanya) also broke the previous record, which had been set by ICAP Leopard in 2007.

Multihull vessels

The multihull race record is currently held by the 130-foot trimaran Banque Populaire V, skippered by Loïck Peyron, with a total elapsed time of 32hrs, 48min (an average speed of 18.5 knots),^[16] set in 2011. Peyron held the previous multihull record, set in 1999 in the 60-foot ORMA trimaran Fujcolor II of 40hrs, 27min.^[16]

Corrected Time Winners

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Year	Yacht	Owner	Designer
1925	Jolie Brise	Lt Cdr E. G. Martin	Alexandre Pâris
1926	Ilex	Royal Engineers	Charles E. Nicholson
1927	Tally Ho	Lord Stalbridge	Albert Strange
1928	Nina	Paul Hammond	Starling Burgess
1929	Jolie Brise	Lt Cdr E. G. Martin	Alexandre Pâris
1930	Jolie Brise	Lt Cdr E. G. Martin	Alexandre Pâris
1931	Dorade	Olin Stephens	Sparkman & Stephens
1933	Dorade	Olin Stephens	Sparkman & Stephens
1935	Stormy Weather	Olin Stephens	Sparkman & Stephens
1937	Zeearend	Kees Bruynzeel	Sparkman & Stephens
1939	Bloodhound	Ike Bell	Camper and Nicholsons
1947	Myth of Malham	Capt. J.H.Illingworth	John Laurent Giles
1949	Myth of Malham	Capt. J.H.Illingworth	John Laurent Giles
1951	Yeoman	Owen Aisher	Camper and Nicholsons
1953	Favona	Sir Michael Newton	Robert Clark
1955	Carina	Dick Nye	Philip Rhodes
1957	Carina	Dick Nye	Philip Rhodes
1959	Anitra	Sven Hansen	Sparkman & Stephens
1961	Zwerver II	Otto van der Vorm	Sparkman & Stephens
1963	Clarion of Wight	Derek Boyer DFC	Sparkman & Stephens
1965	Rabbit	Dick Carter	Dick Carter
1967	Pen Duick III	Éric Tabarly	Éric Tabarly
1969	Red Rooster	Dick Carter	Dick Carter
1971	Ragamuffin	Syd Fisher	Sparkman & Stephens
1973	Saga	Erling Lorentzen	Sparkman & Stephens
1975	Golden Delicious	Richard & Harvey Bagnall	Ron Holland
1977	Imp	David Allen	Ron Holland
1979	Tenacious	Ted Turner	Sparkman & Stephens
1981	Mordicus	Taylor and Volterys	Mauric/Gaubert
1983	Shamrock	Maller & Snoeren	Hellevoetsluis
1985	Panda	Peter Whipp	Philippe Briand
1987	Juno III	M Peacock	Rob Humphries
1989	Great News	John Calvert-Jones / Tom Blackaller	Farr Yacht Design
1991	Min-O-Din	John Humphries/Matt Humphries	David Thomas
1995	Nicorette (ex-Charles Jourdain)	Ludde Ingvall	Ribadeau-Dumas/Simonis Voogd
1997	Royal Blue (ex-Nicorette)	Gunnar Ekdahl	Ribadeau-Dumas/Simonis Voogd
1999	Whirlpool-Europe 2	Catherine Chabaud	Philippe Harlé – Alain Mortain
2001	Tonnerre de Breskens	Piet Vroon	Lutra Design Group
2003	Nokia	Charles Dunstone	Reichel/Pugh
2005	Iromiguy	Jean-Yves Chateau	Ron Holland
2007	Chieftain	Ger O'Rourke	Farr Yacht Design
2009	Rán 2	Niklas Zennström	Judel Vrolijk
2011	Rán 2	Niklas Zennström	Judel Vrolijk
2013	Night And Day	Pascal Loison	Jacques valer

Line Honours Winners

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Year	Yacht	Owner	Designer	Elapsed Time
1925	Jolie Brise	Lt Cdr E. G. Martin	Alexandre Pâris	6day 3h
1926	Hallowe'en	Col J. F. N. Baxendale	William Fife	3day 19h 5m
1927	La Goleta	R. St.L. Beverley	Alden
1928	Nina	Paul Hammond & others	Starling Burgess
1929	Jolie Brise	Bobby Somerset	Alexandre Pâris
1930	Jolie Brise	Bobby Somerset	Alexandre Pâris
1931	Patience	H. E. West	Charles Nicholson
1935	Kismet III	-	William Fife
1937	Bloodhound	Isaac Bell	Charles Nicholson
1947	Latifa	Michael Mason	William Fife
1949	Latifa	Michael Mason	William Fife
1953	Bloodhound	Isaac Bell	Charles Nicholson
1955	Mare Nostrum	-	Sparkman & Stephens
1979	Condor of Bermuda	Bob Bell	John Sharp
1981	Condor	Bob Bell	Ron Holland
1983	CONDOR	Bob Bell	Ron Holland
1985	Nirvana	Marvin Green	Dave Pedrick	2day 12h 34m
1989	Steinlager II	Peter Blake	Bruce Farr
1995	Nicorette (ex-Charles Jourdain)	Ludde Ingvall	Ribadeau-Dumas/Simonis Voogd
1999	RF Yachting	Ross Field	Bruce Farr	2day 5h 8m
2001	Stealth	Gianni Agnelli	Frers	2day 10h 58m
2003	Alfa Romeo – Shockwave	Neville Chrichton	Reichel/Pugh	2day 9h 2m 0s
2005	Maximus	EBS Yachting	Greg Elliott	2day 20h 2m 7s
2007	ICAP Leopard	Mike Slade	Bruce Farr	1day 20h 18m 53s
2009	ICAP Leopard	Mike Slade	Bruce Farr	2day 11h 9min 36s
2011	Banque Populaire V	Loick Peyron	VPLP	1day 8h 48m 46s
2013	Spindrift 2	Yann Guichard and Dona Bertarelli	VPLP	1day 14h 53m 58s

External links

• Rolex Fastnet Race Homepage
  • Royal Ocean Racing Club – organising club for the Fastnet Race

Personal Accounts

• BBC World Service programme, 25 August 2010 – Matthew Sheehan, a sailor in the ill-fated 1979 Race talks to BBC Witness about his experiences and the drowning of his father
• "Night of the Long Grinds" – BBC Sport, Rob Hodgett's Blog, 14 August 2009

References