430 entries lined up for the 695-mile Rolex Fastnet Race on Saturday 22nd July.
Great Britain and France boasted more than a century of entries each and a total of 27 nations are entered. Two ULTIM Trimarans SVR Lazartigue (France) with skipper Francois Gabart and Banque Populaire (France) with skipper Armel Le Cleac’h were the largest vessels at 105 feet overall.
With a length of 88 feet. Lucky (Ex Rambler 88) was the largest monohull. Lucky entered the race believing they had a 75 per cent chance to better the monohull record of 2 days and 8.5 hours.
Ellie Driver was aboard the Sunfast 3300 Chilli Pepper alongside her dad Jim and competing in the double-handed category.
Following a 6-month refit, the Imoca 60 Medallia – skippered by Pip Hare – returned to the Rolex Fastnet complete with extended foils.
Starting off the RYS line in very brisk winds, some of the fleet was soon in trouble even before they reached The Needles. By midnight on the 22nd of July, over 70 of the fleet had not started or retired. After a very short spell of their race, numerous boats sheltered around the Island at Osborne Bay, Newtown Creek and Yarmouth. Others made it to Poole, where they sheltered for the night.
Cowes-based competitor Peter Morton’s Maxi 72 Notorious in IRC Super Zero retired. A trio of French offshore racing legends were among a group that returned to Cowes: Marc Guillemot’s Wellness Training/MG5, Roland Jourdain’s Outremer 59 We Explore and the Fife classic Moonbeam skippered by world record breaker and former Vendée Globe race director Jacques Caraes.
There were more casualties of both crews and boats through the early hours of Sunday, but the ULTIMs raced on passing the Fastnet Rock, and – by the afternoon of the 23rd – they were well on their way to Cherbourg, France.
By mid-evening, it was announced by the RORC that the 32m ULTIM Trimaran SVR Lazartigue – skippered by François Gabart – had taken Multihull Line Honours in the 50th Edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race.
SVR Lazartigue’s elapsed time of 1 day 8 hours 38 minutes and 27 seconds bettered the outright Multihull Race Record – set by skippers Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in 2021 – by 36 minutes and 27 seconds.
Soon to follow into Cherbourg was Banque Populaire at 22:36 BST gaining 2nd in Line Honours Multihull and 2nd in ULTIM.
Meanwhile, a good proportion of the fleet are still in the Celtic Sea and the slower boats are yet to reach Lands End.
