50th Rolex Fastnet Race: Mass tasks - "A cauldron is nothing compared to this"
Tatjana Pokorny
· 23.07.2023
A quarter of the fleet has already had to give up
The 50th Rolex Fastnet Race has become the stress test that the crews were expecting based on the weather forecasts. From the start on Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, 93 crews - 88 monohull and five multihull crews - have already had to abandon the long-distance classic. Among them are prominent boats such as Niklas Zenström's Swedish "Ran" with Bouwe Bekking, but also seven German yachts.
No longer in the race under the German flag are the Botin 56 "Black Pearl" of Stefan Jentzsch, Thomas Reinecke's Millenium 40 "Edelweiß", Daniel Baum's one-off "Elida" from the Hamburg Sailing Club, the JPK 10.30 "Hinden" with Jonas Hallberg and Till Barth, the modified X-46 "Juxbox" with skipper Ove Franck, the Swan 48 "Montana" with Marcus Bocks and the Rainbow 42 "Uijuijui" with skipper Maurice Oster.
We're both fine. It could have been worse ..." (Jonas Hallberg)
The two-handed world champions Jonas Hallberg and Till Barth from the "Hinden", who had to abandon the race but arrived safely back in the harbour in Cowes, reported on just how rough the first afternoon and night were on the 700 nautical mile course from Cows via Fastnet Rocks to Cherbourg.
Jonas Hallberg from Kieler Yacht-Club said: "Unfortunately, the jib flew out of the tuff luff and then tore straight away. That's pretty frustrating after all the effort. But we're both fine. It could have been worse. After we broke up, a Sunfast 3600 sank not far from us. We witnessed it live on the radio, so to speak, as the crew had to climb into the life raft and the helicopter flew over us. Of course, we're keeping both fingers crossed for all the remaining German crews."
According to the organising Royal Ocean Racing Club, the crew of the sunken yacht is safe. Further information on the background and course of the accident was initially not known on Sunday morning.
Eight early starters in the Class 40
The many early starters from Saturday have now also been identified. The Class 40 saw the most two-hour time penalties. This could also be relevant in the final standings from the perspective of the clean-start "SignForCom" sailors Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink. Early starters in Class 40 were the co-favourites on "Ibsa" and "Alla Grande Pirelli" with Ambroggio Beccaria, "Edenred - Enjoy Racing 2", "The 3Bros", "Trimcontrol", "BT Blue Alternative Sailing", "Zeiss - Weecycling" and "La Manche Évidence Nautique".
The conditions are pretty much the worst I've ever experienced" (Rasmus Töpsch)
Rasmus Töpsch also reported from the sea on Sunday morning. The skipper of the JPK 10.10 "Sharifa" said: "The conditions are pretty much the worst I've ever experienced. A witch's cauldron is nothing compared to this. The waves are coming from all directions. The wind was at 40 knots all night, gusting to 45 knots. Our jib flew out of the tuff luff. We only have one grove left up ahead, the GPS has failed. The lip is smashed. The remote control from the autopilot drowned. But we made it through the night. We can fix everything so far and continue on our way. We're giving it our all!"
