Brief History of the Fastnet

The First Race

Some critics refused to acknowledge the first Fastnet race in 1925 as a true ocean race as racing did not cover long distances across an ocean or sea. However, the race quickly evolved due to the popularity of the new sport of ocean racing in England.

The first race catered for a new breed of yachtsman, the amateur cruising man looking for a challenge, which cruising alone could not satisfy. Typically, he would sail the yacht himself and perhaps only employ a deck hand or two, unlike the pre-war yachtsman who needed up to 30 men to sail his huge racing yacht.

After racing in the 1924 Bermuda race aboard one of the entries, Northern Light, a young Englishman named Weston Martyr was so impressed with the sport that he wrote a letter about it to an English yachting magazine. ‘It is,' Martyr wrote, ‘without question the very finest sport a man can possibly engage in for to play this game at all it is necessary to possess, in the very highest degree, those hallmarks of a true sportsman: skill, courage and endurance.'

On his return to England and following his enthusiasm, a committee was set up to promote an English ocean race. The committee consisted of Martyr, E. G.Martin, who had purchased a converted Le Havre pilot cutter called Jolie Brise and Malden Heckstall-Smith, the editor of the yachting magazine. The committee proposed a course of 615 miles from the Isle of Wight to the Fastnet rock off the south-west coast of Ireland and then back to Plymouth. They were to race for the Fastnet Challenge Cup.

The yachts rounded the Isle of Wight either eastwards or westwards, according to the state of the tide in the early Fastnet races and the Scillies and the Fastnet Rock could be rounded in either direction for many years.

The first Fastnet race attracted seven boats to the start line. The fleet consisted mainly of a collection of old cruising boats starting the race from the Royal Victorian Yacht Club at Ryde on 15 August, 1925. It turned out to be a typical race for the course with the faster yachts making good time and safely in port when the slower entries were hit by high winds and uncomfortable seas. Two boats retired and one made such slow progress that she was unable to reach the finishing line before the timekeepers had gone home.

Two boats in the race stood out among the fleet - Jolie Brise, the 56-foot pilot cutter and Gull, a 30 year old yacht. Battling it out on the race course, Jolie Brise ended up with a resounding victory, finishing 20 hours ahead of her rival in 6days, 14hrs, 45mins at sea. In future years she went on to win the race again in 1929 and 1930. She is still sailing today and won the 2000 Tall Ships Race Overall.

It was during this first race that the owner of Jolie Brise, George Martin announced the formation of the Ocean Racing Club. The race had been fun and it was proposed that it should be held again the following year.

The Early Years

The Fastnet race was now firmly established by the 1930's after running races for several years with fluctuating numbers. The 1930 race saw six American and two French yachts competing alongside the nine British entries.

The early Fastnets saw a high proportion of yachts failing to complete the course. This was mainly due to the toughness of the course, inexperienced crews, old, slow and ill-equipped yachts and the traditional designs of the British yachts lagged behind their fellow competitors from across the pond. Bad weather was also a dominant factor and the 1931 Fastnet saw gale force conditions and many problems for participating yachts, with one person being lost overboard. The tragedy marred what otherwise would have been a classic Fastnet, as the four leading yachts raced the last miles in close company and finished within minutes of one another.

This race was also the end of an era for Jolie Brise who were outclassed by the new yachts now taking part in the race. It was at this time that the British were persuaded to build several new yachts in order to keep the Fastnet race alive and several new competitive yachts were produced to meet the American challenge and to race in the 1935 Transatlantic race.

It was not until 1957 however that the Admiral's Cup was introduced. As a private challenge by five well-known British yachtsmen to their American counterparts, the Challenge consisted of a series of races which included the Fastnet as the final race. The Admiral's Cup soon became known as the most hotly competed ocean racing event in the world and the Fastnet as one of the toughest ocean racing challenges. The 1927, 1930, 1949 and 1957 races went down on record as being the toughest Fastnets ever. In 1957 there were 29 retirements from the fleet of 41 yachts. Two years later the Admiral's Cup was thrown open to teams from all nations and the Swedish S & S-designed yawl Anitra won the Fastnet in this year.

Advances in Ocean Yacht Racing

Over the next couple of decades, yacht design for ocean racers moved swiftly and the introduction of multihulled catamarans and trimarans into ocean racing was making an impact. By the 1950's synthetic fibres were introduced and more sophisticated equipment began to bring about change. By the 1960's a more ruthless attitude to racing was emerging and the competitive spirit was sharpened by the introduction of such races as the Admiral's Cup and other major events. The Fastnet of 1965 saw the design of a radical new boat - Rabbit - a 34-foot sloop, which incorporated new ideas ensuring its victory in Class III.

The 1965 Admiral's Cup had also attracted teams from Sweden, Holland, France and the US. Irish and Australian teams also took part as relative newcomers. In 1967 the Australians took the Admiral's Cup trophy back to Sydney showing they were now in the same league as the Americans and Europeans.

By the 1970's British ocean racing saw a great upsurge in popularity with heroes such as Francis Chichester, Robin Knox-Johnston and the then leader of the Conservative party, Edward Heath achieving 7th in class with Morning Cloud in the 1969 Fastnet and going on to lead the British Admiral's Cup team to victory in 1971.

In 1973 the International Offshore Rule (IOR) was introduced as the sport began to grow and inter-ocean racing expanded. Sponsorships were also introduced and ocean racing was now a professional sport.

Fastnet 1979

1979 will stick in everyone's memory as the year of the Fastnet tragedy when the biggest-ever fleet of 303 was caught in a vicious storm when led to 17 deaths. Following the disaster, New Special Regulations were introduced to improve watertight integrity, trisails and VHF radios became mandatory, qualifications for competing were introduced and the number of starters limited to 300. In 1983 restrictions on electronic aids were also lifted.

Fastnet 1999

Since this time the legendary Fastnet race has gone from strength to strength with improved communications and safety regulations in force, the race is considered a supreme challenge to ocean racing yachtsmen in British waters.

Since 1957 the Fastnet race has been the final race of the Admiral's Cup competition but in 1999, major innovations to the Admiral's Cup led the Management Committee to introduce a number of changes in the race programme. These included re-designing the event as a stand-alone series outside of Skandia Life Cowes Week, limiting the number of professionals on board each boat and incorporating the Wolf Rock Race as the principal offshore race.

The Fastnet race now retains its place in the racing calendar immediately after Skandia Life Cowes Week and is open to all but does not form part of the programme for the Admiral's Cup.

The 1999 Fastnet attracted 213 yachts from over 9 countries to take part, including several world famous yachts and celebrities alike including Ellen MacArthur racing Kingfisher and Ted Turner's maxi Sayonara. New speed records were set, with the fastest 60ft multihull Fujicolor, reaching15.98 knots during the race.

The winner of the Fastnet Challenge Cup, for Best Overall in BCT, IRC was Catherine Chabaud from France, racing the Open 60 Whirlpool-Europe 2. Chabaud took 5 days 22hrs and 59mins to complete the course.

The weather saw light SW winds at first becoming calm during the starting sequence. During Sunday and Monday winds of up to 28 knots NE were recorded at the Fastnet Rock and some yachts sailed the entire course without tacking. Later, winds generally dropped and became variable or SE for many yachts on their return from the Rock. A large number in this group were forced to kedge off the Lizard for several hours before reaching Plymouth.

New Speed Records Set in Fastnet 1999

Fastest monohull without water ballast	Boomerang	11.13 Knots
Fastest monohull with water ballast	RF Yachting	11.48 knots
Fastest 60ft multihull	Fujicolor	15.08 knots
Fastest Volvo 60	Illbruck 2	11.36 Knots
Fastest Open 60	Whirlpool-Europe 2	11.43 knots

Trophies

Apart from the prestigious Fastnet Challenge Cup and trophies in all the main categories including Fastnet Rounding Trophies. Special trophies are also awarded for navigator of best yacht overall, best sailing school yacht, best Irish yacht, oldest yacht to compete and first British yacht home to name a few. RORC Medallions are also awarded in each class.

Fastnet 2001

The 2001 Rolex Fastnet attracted 229 yachts from over 9 countries to take part, including several world famous yachts including Giovanni Agnelli’s Frers One-off Stealth and Ludde Ingvall’s Nicorette.

The winner of the Fastnet Challenge Cup, for Best Overall in IRC was Piet Vroon from Holland, racing his Lutra 52, Tonnerre de Breskens. Piet took 3 days 02hrs 23mins and 31secs to complete the course, winning it for the first time in 20 attempts.
The excitement of the start was heightened by 28 knots of wind and square beating conditions. A decent breeze prevailed to enable some boats to stay offshore at Portland Bill. However, the fleet split and the front of the fleet experienced totally different weather patterns to the middle and back markers.

For mid fleet boats a South Westerly breeze became a North Westerly at the Fastnet Rock to give them a fast reach home. The tail end of the fleet even experienced a South Easterly as they came inshore form the Lizard into Plymouth, meaning that some boats returned from the Rock on starboard gybe.

Skip Sheldon’s Reichl/Pugh 65 Zaraffa claimed victory in IRC SZ, Piet Vroon’s Lutra 52, Tonnerre de Breskens won IRC Overall, IRC 0 and IRM. First in IRC 1 was Gery Trentesaux’s Courrier Nord, the Spanish yacht Calima claimed IRC 2 and the S & S Classic Clarionet won IRC 3. With France, Holland, Spain, USA, Great Britain and Ireland all collecting the “chocolates” the Fastnet remains one of the major offshore sailing events in the world.

Fastnet 2003

The 245 strong fleet, split into seven classes, started in a 12 knot Easterly winds and a building West going tide in the Solent. These conditions resulted in a downwind start, the entire fleet setting spinnakers for the run West down the Solent.

Ecover led away the Open 60’s, whilst in Super Zero Charles Dunstone’s Nokia had the lead start in a class that included the glamour boats, Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo and Robert McNeil’s Zephyrus V. Class Zero started with the 2001 winner, Piet Vroon’s Tonnerre de Breskens first across the start whilst the majority of the fleet in Classes 1, 2 and 3 had to fight to find space. The multihull start ranged from 40 foot trimarans to Tony Bullimore’s 100 catamaran Team Pimsic.

Alfa Romeo rounded the Fastnet Rock on Monday at 00:37 followed an hour later by Zephyrus V. The first multihull, Team Pimsic rounded the Fastnet Rock at 11:25 on Tuesday morning. Consolidating on their breakaway tactics around Portland Bill at the beginning of the race, Jazz followed Tonnerre de Bresken around the Fastnet Rock just 60 minutes later on Tuesday morning, the smaller boat correcting out to lead by more than 2 hours at this point.

After a close fought dual over the final few miles, Alfa Romeo collected line honours in a thrilling finish at 19:12 in Plymouth on Tuesday evening. The Reichel/Pugh 90 foot monohull beat Zephyrus V, also designed by Reichel/Pugh, to the finish at the breakwater by 10 minutes to continue her already impressive resume of line honours for major offshore classics. The 18 man crew onboard Alfa Romeo spent 57 hours and two minutes at sea and missed the course record for the monohulls by some four hours.

It was to be another 2 hours before Nokia slid across the finish line, setting the IRC reference time to beat for the Fastnet Challenge Cup. First of the Open 60’s Sebastian Josse’s VMI, found the line off the breakwater at 01:30 on Wednesday morning. Although six boats had made it to the finish line in Plymouth, at 16:00 on Wednesday afternoon 90 boats had still not rounded the Fastnet Rock lighthouse 260 miles up the track. On Thursday the fleet still at sea were enjoying the steadiest winds of the race so far with 10-18 knots Easterlies blowing right across the Celtic Sea and the Western Approaches. All five Open 60’s had finished on Thursday, the final three crossing the finish line in close formation with Dominique Wavre’s Charman 3 beating Mike Golding’s Ecover and Nick Maloney’s Skandia Set Sail.

Winner of the 2001 race, Piet Vroon was back this year to sail his 20th Fastnet and although he won line honours in class his boat didn’t perform as well in the light airs of this year’s race. Class Zero was left to smaller boats this year and Jazz crossed the finish line at 01:02 on Thursday morning to take Class Zero honours from sistership Roxy 9 owned by Robert Davies. The Dutch Grand Soleil 44,Holmatro, owned by Holmatro NV, lead the Class 1 fleet at the Fastnet Rock by four and a half hours, finishing at 21:00 on Wednesday - their lead had grown significantly. Jonathan Goring’s J109, Jeronimo, led the largest class, the 75 strong Class 2 fleet, finishing at 00:11 on Friday morning. The last boat in Class 3, Gareth Davis’ Contessa 32 Kalimari rounded the Fastnet Rock at 13:10 on Thursday afternoon. The Easterly winds at this stage made progress for the fleet still at sea steady, but relatively slow, as they worked to windward in the building seas.

Fastnet 2005

Check out the RORC website on a regular basis leading up to the start of the 2005 Rolex Fastnet race. Starting on Sunday 7th August 2005 the 608 mile race is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club with the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth.

Classes:
IRC (for yachts up to 30.5 metres/100ft LOA)
IRM
Open 60
Multihulls
2-Handed division
IMS, ORC (Club) - Classes will be offered if there are 15 or more entries

Sources:
The Royal Ocean Racing Club programme, archives
The Royal Ocean Racing Club, Ian Dear - published by Adlard Coles 2000
The Champagne Mumm Book of Ocean Racing - An Illustrated History, Ian Dear - published by Severn House Publishers 1985