When the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race began two years ago, the opening conditions were stormy and rainy. Many crews decided not to tackle the race at all due to the risks involved or gave up early. On the first night, the sailors experienced winds of 40 knots, and even more in gusts. The waves had piled up to five or six metre high mountains in the tidal area.
The stormy edition two years ago
430 boats started the Rolex Fastnet Race 2023. 100 crews had given up after the first 24 hours, 166 (around 39 per cent) at the end of the race. The damage assessment: one yacht sunk, four mast breaks, several injuries, a total of 28 Coastguard interventions, some of which concerned the same case.
François Gabart's Ultim "SVR Lazartigue" was the first ship home two years ago. 1 day, 8 hours, 38 minutes and 27 seconds had set a new course record. The blue giant will be there again this time.
The existing monohull course record was established two years ago by Charlie Dalin and Pascal Bidegorry on the subsequent Vendée Globe winner "Macif - Santé Prévoyance". They crossed the finish harbour of the Rolex Fastnet Race after 2 days, 7 hours, 16 minutes and 26 seconds achieved. The best marks will be difficult to break in the current races in view of the rather soft start and the limited wind forecasts.
100 years of the Fastnet Race: a rather tame start
Just in time for the anniversary race 100 years after the premiere in 1925, the conditions at the start of the 51st Rolex Fastnet Race on 26 July were completely different. The challengers gradually entered the race from shortly after 12 noon German time. Despite light winds, "SVR Lazartigue" had already passed Hurst Castle before 2 pm. This year, Tom Laperche is the skipper of the record holder. On board with him is the most internationally successful sailor of his generation, Peter Burling, who won the SailGP event in Portsmouth with his Black Foils just last weekend.
The nine fastnet starts for multihulls, Imocas, Class40, IRC Super Zero, the Admiral's Cup fleet, IRC 1, IRC 2, IRC 3 and IRC 4 were characterised by a whole series of early starters. Many had underestimated the pushing current in the lighter winds, which pushed them over the line prematurely. An annoying offence that is punishable by a two-hour time penalty in the Rolex Fastnet Race.
While the Red Arrows, the British Royal Air Force aerobatic team, painted their formations in the sky over the Isle of Wight, the Ultims pulled away on the water in nine knots of wind from the south-west, slowly at first, then increasingly quickly. The other groups followed. In the fifth start, the Admiral's Cup classes AC 1 with the German yachts "Imagine" and "Elida" and AC 2 with the GER yachts "Ginkgo", "X-Day" and "Edelweiss".
"Varuna 6" and "Rafale" off to a strong start
Around six hours after the start, "Imagine" and "Elida" were in 11th and 13th place in AC 1, while Dirk Clasen's Humphreys 39 "Ginkgo" started the Fastnet Marathon in the evening in ninth place in AC 2. Thomas Reinecke's Millenium 40 "Edelweiss" and Walter Watermann's Farr 42 "X-Day" with skipper Lars Hückstädt were in 13th and 15th place at around 7 p.m. German time, although there was still a lot of movement and position changes after the first 50 nautical miles.
In the "Line Honours" overall ranking of all monohulls, Jens Kellinghusen's Ker 56 "Varuna 6" and Henri de Bokay's Elliott 52 "Rafale" were the best German boats in the top thirty after around 30 nautical miles. At the front of the field of monohull racers, record-breakers such as "SKH Scallywag", "Leopard 3", "Black Jack 100", "Pyewacket 70" and Christian Zugel's "Tschüss 2" battled it out for the top positions. The best Imocas at the time were "Initiatives Cœur" and "Charal".
Whilst the gigantic Fastnet fleet was heading out of the Solent on three, two or one hulls and at the Ultims "Banque Populaire" took the lead ahead of "SVR Lazartigue" for the time being, according to the tracking two boats had given up the race by 5 pm.
REPLAY! The live broadcast from the start:
100 years after its premiere, the Rolex Fastnet Race offers a history, fascination and challenges like no other long-distance race in the sailing world:
