The 2019 edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will start on Saturday 3rd August 2019, which is two weeks earlier than the original published date. Unusually, the race will now run the week before Lendy Cowes Week, whose dates remain unchanged, starting on Saturday 10th August. This break with tradition, in consultation with Lendy Cowes Week, has been made for a number of … [Read more...]
Concise home as Dongfeng Race Team leads VO65s around the Rock
Unchallenged, Concise 10 blazed into Plymouth this morning, first boat home in the 47th Rolex Fastnet Race. Tony Lawson's MOD70 trimaran crossed the finish line off Plymouth breakwater at 05:55:00 BST with a race time of 42 hours and 55 minutes. This time didn't come close to the overall multihull record for the Rolex Fastnet Race but it was still respectable considering they … [Read more...]
Classic upwind start for record breaking Rolex Fastnet Race
The Solent laid on 'classic' conditions for the start of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's 47th Rolex Fastnet Race. In brilliant sunshine and with brisk westerly winds gusting up to 20 knots, the giant fleet tacked up the western Solent before compressing through the usual bottleneck at Hurst Narrows. A record-sized fleet of 368 boats started the race, 12 more than two years ago, … [Read more...]
Can France make it a Rolex Fastnet Race hat trick?
In the last two editions of the RORC's biennial flagship event from Cowes to Plymouth via southwest Ireland's most famous rock, French boats have not just won, they have dominated. For example in the last race in 2015, Géry Trentesaux's JPK 10.80 Courrier Du Leon won by more than two and a half hours, and, despite racing in IRC Three, beat all of the IRC Two boats … [Read more...]
Rolex Fastnet Race . Fight to be first home
While the Judel-Vrolijk 115 Nikata will be the largest yacht competing among the 350 or so yachts starting the Rolex Fastnet Race on Sunday 6 August, the battle for line honours glory looks set to be between two titans of the grand prix racing world. Finnish Whitbread Round the World Race legend Ludde Ingvall returns having previously put in one of the most … [Read more...]
Crystal ball-gazing for the Rolex Fastnet Race winner
Second-guessing the winner under IRC among the 340 boats competing in August's Rolex Fastnet Race is tough. The outcome of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial flagship event will depend on the weather: A brisk start should favour the big boats; a light start and lively finish the smaller ones, but it is not simple given the race's complexity with headlands and … [Read more...]
Rolex Fastnet Finish. A case of quick quick slow for fastest boat in the world
The world's two fastest offshore racing trimarans had to endure the world's slowest finish in the early hours of this morning in the Rolex Fastnet Race. Having jockeyed for the lead since leaving the Solent on Sunday, the Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard co-skippered Spindrift 2 was ahead past the Lizard in the early hours of this morning, only for the wind to switch off … [Read more...]
Strong female entry in record breaking Rolex Fastnet Race
Strong female entry in record breaking Rolex Fastnet Race A key feature of this year's Rolex Fastnet Race will be the number of high profile women taking part, when the world's largest offshore race sets sail from Cowes on Sunday 11th August. Yet again the Royal Ocean Racing Club's flagship event is breaking new records in terms of the size of its fleet with 372 boats … [Read more...]
Rolex Fastnet Race 2013. Cowes – Fastnet – Plymouth
Rolex Fastnet Race: The race starts from one of yachting’s most famous locations: the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Sunday 11th August 2013. The start sequence begins with the first warning signal at 11.50 BST for the 45th edition. The sequence last for two hours from 1200 to 1400. One of sailing’s greatest contests reconvenes in August in the shape … [Read more...]
Rán 2 Aiming for Third Win
Fastnet Challenge Cup winner aims for three in a row. Niklas Zennström’s 72’ mini maxi Rán 2 is hoping to win the Rolex Fastnet Race for an unprecedented third time in a row. Against mounting odds in 2011, Niklas Zennström's 72-foot Rán 2 became the fourth yacht to claim successive overall race wins. Securing a third victory this year would elevate Rán 2 to the most successful … [Read more...]
