French veteran wins unique Rolex Fastnet Race<\/p>\n
Published on September 16, 2015 by admin \u00a0\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0 No Comments<\/p>\n
Daniel Foster<\/p>\n
A record-sized fleet of 356 boats set off on 16 August to compete in this year\u2019s Rolex Fastnet Race \u2013 the 46th instalment of the event. \u00a0The biennial race, and its organisers, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, are both celebrating their 90th birthdays this year.<\/p>\n
The Rolex Fastnet Race is deemed to be one of the toughest offshore yachting races as the winds in August tend to be strong to gale-force westerlies. \u00a0But this doesn\u2019t put people off, as the popularity of the Race is such that 300 boats signed up within just 24 minutes of the entry list opening in January this year.<\/p>\n
The Race follows a mammoth 603 nautical mile course starting at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. \u00a0The yachts then follow the southern coastline of England westward down the English Channel, before rounding Land\u2019s End. \u00a0After crossing the Celtic Sea, the Race loops the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland before returning, via the Isles of Scilly, to cross the finishing line at Plymouth.<\/p>\n
Route<\/p>\n
The first Fastnet was raced 90 years ago in 1925 with only seven boats competing. \u00a0Of the seven starters, two boats retired and one made such slow progress that there was no one awake to record her time when she crossed the finish line. \u00a0Jolie Brise (now one of the most famous pilot cutters in the world) won that inaugural race in 6 days, 14hrs and 45mins. \u00a0Jolie Brise was built in 1913 and has won the Fastnet three times, the only boat to have done so in its 90 year history.<\/p>\n
The stiff westerlies that tend to accompany the race are certainly nothing to scoff at.\u00a0 In 2007, the weather was so bad that no less than 207 out of the 271 boats competing retired \u2013 that\u2019s over 76% of the field. \u00a0This year, by contrast, the weather forecast was for light winds, and a high pressure over the Celtic Sea saw the wind drop altogether for most of the first two days leaving a lot of the fleet becalmed between the Lizard and the Scilly Isles.<\/p>\n
Daniel Foster<\/p>\n
The overall winner of the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race was veteran G\u00e9ry Trentesaux sailing in 35ft Courrier Du Leon with his exceptional six-person crew.\u00a0 The win was made all the more remarkable as at the beginning of the race she crossed the starting line too early and had to make her way back on a fast ebbing tide, losing 40 minutes before she\u2019d even set off.<\/p>\n
This is Trentesaux\u2019s 13th time racing in the Fastnet, following his first attempt in 1977.\u00a0 He said of his victory, \u201cWhen I was young, the Fastnet was the biggest, most unique race in the world so racing it at 18 was fabulous.\u00a0 Things have changed a lot over 40 years but this will be a very great memory, one of the very best of my sailing career.\u00a0 It is incredible to win this mythic race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trentesaux\u2019s compatriots also did well this year with France claiming seven of the top ten spots under IRC this year.<\/p>\n
Multihull line honours was claimed by the favourite \u2013 131ft Swiss trimaran Spindrift 2.\u00a0 The monohull race was a photo finish with the 100ft Maxi Comanche from the United States pipping fellow American yacht Rambler at the post by a mere four minutes.<\/p>\n
Kurt Arrigo<\/p>\n
Comanche\u2019s skipper, Ken Read, said, \u201cIt was honestly one of the most bizarre races I\u2019ve ever been in in my life \u2013 starts and stops and people being left behind for dead and then all of a sudden they are sailing around you.\u00a0 It was phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 47th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will be held in August 2017, with the entry list opening in January.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget to make a note in your diaries if you want to enter as it\u2019s sure to be a sell out.<\/p>\n
via French veteran wins unique Rolex Fastnet Race\u00a0|\u00a0MarinaLive Gibraltar<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" French veteran wins unique Rolex Fastnet Race Published on September 16, 2015 by admin \u00a0\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0 No Comments Daniel Foster A record-sized fleet of 356 boats set off on 16 August to compete in this year\u2019s Rolex Fastnet Race \u2013 the … Continue reading