Max Klink's Botin 52 "Caro" has won the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race and has now been officially honoured. No other boat still in action on the 695 nautical mile course can catch up with the Swiss racing machine in the battle for overall victory in the 50th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's offshore classic.
I never expected that we would be able to win" (Max Klink)
The fact that the first twelve hours of the race were so tough, with gusts of up to 45, 46 knots off the south coast of England, made victory all the sweeter for Max Klink and his professional crew. "This is a legendary group of sailors who I've been lucky enough to sail with for a few years," said the Swiss owner, "but when we set off for this race I never expected we could win. It's a dream come true, and it's even more wonderful that this is the 50th anniversary edition."
Max Klink continued: "For the first twelve hours we were just in survival mode, trying not to break anything and keep the boat at 100 per cent. I wasn't thinking about a title or a trophy, it was just about surviving the conditions." The team with tactician "Ado" Stead managed to do this very well. Klink used to have a 65-foot boat, but is very happy to have taken a step down in boat size and a step up in competition level.
Boats like 'Caro' and 'Rán' are built for tough conditions" (Max Klink)
"The 50-footers are so competitive now and the racing is so close," said Klink, recalling how close they came to suffering a similar fate to former Fastnet winner Niklas Zennström's CF520, the Rán 8, which was knocked out of that Fastnet race early due to structural problems.
Max Klink said: "The line (ed.: between success and failure) is very thin. But boats like 'Caro' and 'Rán' are built for the tough conditions. You just have to remember that there are times when you have to slow the boat down and not do anything stupid. That's where the experience of these guys comes into play. At one point we had everyone in the cockpit, no one was moving anywhere else. We kept the boat speed to no more than six knots and tried to get through the really nasty swell."
52-foot yacht beats two VO65s
The sailors on the Fastnet winner "Caro" were: William Parker, Wade Morgan, Ryan Godfrey, Justin Ferris, Jono Swain, James Paterson, Harry Hall, Cian Guilfoyle, Andrew McCorquodale, Andy Green, Adrian Stead and owner Max Klink. In the battle for the calculated overall IRC victory and the coveted Fastnet Challenge Cup, two VO65 yachts that had just been active in the Ocean Race Sprint Cup, the second-placed Polish "Wind Whisper" and the US-flagged Team Jajo, had to admit defeat.
In the largest group of 100 boats entered in the IRC double-handed classification, in which just over 50 per cent had had to abandon the race by Thursday, the JPKs in particular were able to put in a good performance. Although some Sun Fast boats were faster, four JPKs finished in the top four places, followed by a Sun Fast 3300 and a J/99.
Töpsch and Balser best German two-handed crew in IRC
The race was won by the French JPK 10.10 "P'tits Dousdous en duo" with Alban Mesnil and Romain Gibon. The French JPK 10.10 "Tracass" took second and third place ahead of their compatriots on the JPK 10.30 "Juzzy".
As the best German team, Rasmus Töpsch and Bertil Balser on the JPK 10.10 "Sharifa" sailed to a strong 16th place, which was even worth fourth place in IRC 3A. Dirk Clasen's Humphreys 39 "Ginkgo" won the IRC 1A classification group, in which Tobias Brinkmann's Pogo 44 also shone with third place. In this class too, less than 50 per cent of the 19 boats entered are expected to finish in the end.
"SignForCom" was the best German boat in the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race
The "SignForCom" with Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink can be considered the best German boat overall in this anniversary edition, even without a direct comparison. With fourth place in the hotly contested Class 40, the two young professionals achieved a brilliant performance. The fast sailing time of 3 days, 10 hours and 49 seconds made the new Pogo 40 S4 the fastest German racer in the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race in 43rd place on the line honours list, even though larger GER boats were underway.
"We're really happy about this. We never thought it would happen," said Lennart Burke two days after his two-handed team's furious final. "But after what we experienced ourselves, we have huge respect for everyone who made it to the finish. Especially after the start, this is a great achievement, which also has a lot to do with perseverance."
Our boat needs a lot of love now" (Melwin Fink)
24-year-old Lennart Burke and 21-year-old Melwin Fink will be bringing their Class 40 to Fehmarn in the coming days. "She's on her last legs, has around 9,000 nautical miles behind her now and needs a lot of love," said Melwin Fink about the long-planned three-week refit at home before the "SignForCom" crew heads back to France and into the preparation phase for the Transat Jacques Vabre in autumn.
A little tip at the end: If you see the "SignForCom" in the Kiel Canal next Sunday (6 August), you could take pity on it and tow it along for a while if you have the power. "Our boat doesn't move at all under engine power. That's not its strength. You can only manage about five knots," said Lennart Burke with a twinkle in his eye.
