48th Rolex Fastnet Race: Record fleet for the Fastnet Race: first church service, then start

The regatta is known to sailors around the world and its landmark rises 54 metres into the sky from the Irish Sea: the Rolex Fastnet Race has been sailing around the infamous Fastnet Rock since 1925. The defenceless silent witness to the rounding yachts was erected in its current version in 1904 and has since marked furious record attempts and proud teams, but also storms and the most devastating chapter of the race over 605 nautical miles.

When the starting gun for the 48th Fastnet Race since 1925 is fired on 3 August in the south of England from 1.30 pm German time, it will not be without goosebumps and thoughts of the deadly 1979 edition. There won't be anyone among the 3,000 or so participants who won't be thinking of them 40 years after the biggest catastrophe in international sailing. Back then, 15 sailors and four regatta companions lost their lives in a murderous storm in the Irish Sea. Five yachts sank and 24 were abandoned by their crews, some with fatal consequences. Dozens of boats capsized. On the third and fourth day of the race, which started on 11 August, the historically largest rescue and salvage operation in peacetime was underway. Around 4,000 helpers and staff from the Irish Navy, sea rescue services and commercial shipping were deployed on 13 and 14 August.

Many sailors will be present on 2 August when the service in memory of the victims takes place in Holy Trinity Church in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the south of England. One day later, they themselves will set off on the course from Cowes around the Fastnet Rocks in the Irish Sea and back to Plymouth. The prospects are good that there will be no repeat of the disaster.

"Today, the weather forecasts have become better and more reliable, the rules safer. The participants' safety knowledge has increased. The navigational skills too," explains Chris Stone. The Australian will be in charge of the queen of international offshore regattas for the first time in his role as Regatta Manager of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC). He describes his job as follows: "We feel like the kitchen of international yachting, where things are already boiling months before the start." The race is not just a "monumental challenge" for Stone.

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the 340 starting places advertised were filled within four minutes and 37 seconds of the registration portal opening on 7 January. The organisers have now registered more than 400 boats from 26 countries - a new record. 20 boats are starting under the German flag, including the "Tutima" with skipper Kirsten Harmstorf-Schönwitz, Robert Stanjek and his crew on the Imoca "Einstein", Tilmar Hansen's TP52 "Outsider", the "Haspa Hamburg" (Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt), the "Bank von Bremen" (SKWB) and many more.

Hamburg resident Boris Herrmann is also taking part. The 38-year-old is taking part in the race with Brit Will Harris on his Imoca yacht "Malizia 2", will then take Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg from England to the UN climate summit in New York and wants to be the first German soloist to compete in the non-stop Vendée Globe circumnavigation next year.

The fascination of the Fastnet Race remains unbroken, attracting professional sailors and amateurs alike. Stone cites the "iconic Fastnet Rock", the always spectacular images of its rounding and the "highly demanding sailing tasks" in the tidal and current area as reasons for the appeal of the British sailing classic, the largest offshore regatta in the world.

The organisers' live broadcast of the start, the here can be followed via the homepage, starts on Saturday at 11 a.m. German time. And here are the start times for the various groups (also according toGerman time!):

• Multihulls: 1.30 pm
• Imoca 60 & Class 40: 1.45 pm
• IRC 4: 2 pm
• IRC 3: 2.15 pm
• IRC 2: 2.30 pm
• IRC 1: 2.45 pm
• IRC Z & VO 65: 3 pm