On the night of 13-14th August 1979 – the 3rd day of the Fastnet Race, which started from Cowes – a disastrous storm struck which claimed the lives of 19 sailors.
The tempest that hit the 1979 race would have killed far more had it not been for the heroic efforts of naval aviators, coastguards and good samaritans, who staged a mass rescue which saved the lives of 140. This amounted to the UK’s biggest-ever peacetime rescue operation, spearheaded by Royal Navy Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall.
303 participating sailing yachts – including that of former Prime Minister Edward Heath in Morning Cloud – took part in the 28th biannual Fastnet Race, starting in Cowes, rounding the Fastnet rock off the coast of Ireland, and finishing in Plymouth (today, the race ends in Cherbourg, France).
Only 86 yachts finished the race. 194 retired and 24 were abandoned (5 of which were lost and believed sunk).
As the event got underway on 11th August, a low was forming over the Atlantic and moving towards Ireland. It met up with the race on the night of 13th August, hitting the yachts with winds of Force 10-11 and waves of up to 60ft.
The devastating storm caused at least 75 boats to capsize, sinking 5. Although 19 sailors were lost to the ferocious winds and huge waves, 75 were rescued by Fleet Air Arm crews and another 65 were picked up by lifeboats, good samaritan vessels, the Dutch Navy and the Irish Naval Service.
15 helicopters from RNAS Culdrose took part in the rescue, and personnel with search and rescue experience were recalled from their Summer holidays. Further helicopters and crews from other naval air bases were deployed, including Yeovilton and HMS Gannet in Prestwick.
The yacht racing community has learned lessons from the Fastnet disaster and improved its safety and stability standards. The Fastnet Race – now known as the Rolex Fastnet Race – is still 1 of the most famous and popular races in yachting, and it is held every other year. This year it was won by Max Klink’s Car.
A memorial to the sailors who lost their lives is to be found at the Holy Trinity Church in Cowes.
The memorial reads:
“This garden given by the R.O.R.C. and these stones from the Fastnet Rock by Irish Yachtsmen are in memory of those lost at sea in the storm during the Fastnet Race August 1979.”
The 19 sailors who lost their lives were:
- Paul Baldwin
- Peter Dorey
- Robert Robie
- Robin Bowyer
- Peter Everson
- David Sheahan
- Sub-Lt Russell Brown
- Frank Ferris
- Sub-Lt Charles Steavenson
- David Crisp
- William Le Fevre
- Roger Watts
- Olivia Davidson
- Richard Pendred
- Gerrit Jan Willerink
- John Dix
- Peter Pickering
- Gerald Winks
- John Puxley
I remember this incident as my family had a group of sailors next door in rented accommodation. My memory was them going about their business some eating bacon sarnies while walking to get to the shores..
Worked with Paul Baldwin in a bank. Asked what he was doing for the weekend and he just said going sailing. Never saw him again