The special 50th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Rolex Fastnet Race set sail with 430 yachts - up from the previous record of 388 that took the last pre-Covid race in 2019.
Mercifully the measures that the RORC introduced this year to help minimise the risk of collisions, including course marshalls and increasing the time between starts to 15 minutes, there were no pre-race collisions as there were two years ago. Another rule was introduced this year to dissuade boats from being over early - those OCS 30 seconds out from the line would incur a mandatory two hour penalty instead of having to turn back into the next group of starters to recross the line. This caught out a few boats, including a significant number in the third start for the Class 40s, when the tide was properly beginning to ebb off around the Royal Yacht Squadron line.
As usual the two 32m long Ultim trimarans, Banque Populaire XI and SVR Lazartigue and Erik Maris' MOD70 Zoulou, plus the lead flying IMOCAs created the most dramatic spectacle as, with sheets slightly cracked, they literally flew upwind in the brisk conditions.
For further information, please go to the Rolex Fastnet Race website: www.rolexfastnetrace.com
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