50th Rolex Fastnet Race: Burke and Fink "super happy" about fourth place

The battle for the podium in the Class 40 group came to an exciting end during the night. The first nine boats crossed the finish line within half an hour! Sixth place in Cherbourg for the Class 40 sailors Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink probably means fourth place in the overall Class 40 classification, because the "Alla Grande Pirelli" and "Ibsa", which crossed the line in second and fifth place respectively, still have to add their early start penalties of two hours each to the time they sailed.

From the fastnet to the finish, everyone was on an equal footing" (Lennart Burke)

With their performance, Lennart Burke, 24, and Melwin Fink, 21, on their Pogo 40 S4 "SignForCom" were once again able to assert themselves at the top of the Class 40. In their third regatta together, the young professionals were even in the top three at times. "After the Fastnet rock, we initially drifted around alone without seeing anyone on the horizon. We were already thinking: 'Now it's over. Now we're standing here and everyone is sailing away'," said Lennart Burke.

But then the duo got back into the game, as Burke reports: "Fortunately, the wind came up with a big spin right after the rounding. That allowed us to catch up. And then it was just full throttle, full throttle, full throttle to the finish. It was super tight. From the fastnet to the finish, everyone at the front was on an equal footing again." Melwin Fink's realisation: "When we crossed the finish line, we had two boats in front of us within a mile and a few behind us within sight. But we were able to prevail. The Class 40 is a match race class."

The Swiss "Caro" leads the battle for the Fastnet Challenge Cup

The 50th Rolex Fastnet Race in the Class 40 was won by Erwan Le Draoulec and Julien Hereu on the Verdier design "Everial". Second and third places went to William Mathelin-Moreaux and Pietro Luiciani on the VPLP design "Dékuple" and the Italian Guelfi Class 40 "Influence" with Andrea Fornaro and Corentin Douguet. The second and fifth-placed "Alla Grande Pirelli" and "Ibsa" on the water will probably have to settle for ninth and eleventh place after adding up the two-hour time penalties following their early starts.

In the IRC overall standings, everything now points to a victory for Max Klink's Swiss "Caro" as the race continues. Botin 52 completed the almost 700 nautical mile course of the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race in 2 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 2 seconds. This resulted in a calculated IRC time of 3 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 29 seconds - probably good enough to beat the other 203 boats still in the ranking on Wednesday in the battle for the Fastnet Challenge Cup.

It would be indescribable to win something we never expected" (Maximilian Klink)

Victory in the IRC Zero division is already out of reach for the "Caro" team. Nevertheless, Max Klink was initially cautious: "Winning the Rolex Fastnet Race is every sailor's dream. It would be indescribable to win something we never expected." British professional Adrian "Ado" Stead acted as tactician in his eighth Fastnet Race on "Caro".

Ado Stead said: "We worked hard and didn't leave anything on course. After a difficult start to the race, we got going again really well. The breeze came up just before the end. That meant we were able to get into Cherbourg at speed. We saw the VO65 and 'Lucky' slowing down on the way there yesterday afternoon, so we got a few chocolate bars and worked extra hard over the last few miles."

The IRC failure rate is around 44 per cent

With 160 retired teams, the IRC fleet alone suffered a loss of around 44 per cent by the fourth day after the start of the anniversary edition. The enormously high cancellation rate was mainly due to the stormy start. One boat sank. Four broken masts, injuries and further breakages on board many yachts kept the crews, organisers and rescuers on their toes. In the overall IRC rankings, 15 German yachts made it through or were still sailing on Wednesday.

Dirk Klasen's Humphreys 39 "Ginkgo" from the Kieler Yacht-Club was the best German boat in 16th place in the overall IRC rankings on Wednesday morning and was leading in IRC 1A. She was expected to arrive at the finish harbour in Cherbourg in the evening. In 38th place on the morning of 26 July was the JPK 10.30 "Vela Roja" with Christian Teichmann, which is expected to reach the finish on Thursday.

For many of the crews, the challenge of the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race continues:

Click here for the tracker and the intermediate results of the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race.