It was a wet and wild start to the 2023 Fastnet Race with early retirements pouring in and the worst is yet to come with 40 knot winds set to hit the fleets overnight The 50th Rolex Fastnet Race got underway today, Saturday 22 July, with the largest offshore racing fleet ever setting off from Cowes in rain and 20-25 knot headwinds .
\nWith strong headwinds and a significant seaway forecast overnight on the first night of the race, the near-3,000 sailors taking part knew they would be in for a hard fought opening of the race.
\nHowever, there were a significant number of retirements just hours into the race, with 50 boats no longer racing. Going into the first night at sea the trackers shows yachts seeking safe refuge in Yarmouth, Lymington, Poole, and small harbours along the south coast.<\/p>\n
Given the predicted windy conditions for the start of the race, the race management team had wisely chosen to change the start order to ensure the biggest and fastest boats were the first to set off \u2013 as was the case in 2021 when similar conditions delivered another challenging start.
\nWith the wind coming from the south-west most of the boats in most fleets elected to start on port, giving them a long first tack out to the middle of the Solent before they took a hitch back to the Island side.
\nBanque Populaire leads SVR Lazartigue out of the Solent
\nThis was particularly true for many of biggest and least manoeuvrable boats. Although expected to be the fastest boats around the course by quite some distance, short tacking out of the Solent is not the ideal start for the 100ft Ultim foiling trimarans.
\nBoth Armel Le Cl\u00e9ac\u2019h\u2019s Banque Populaire XI and Francois Gabart\u2019s SVR-Lazartigue were very tentative getting off the line, with their clear priority being to try to avoid traffic around the start before they would be able to stretch their legs once beyond Hurst Point.
\nThe sheer distance the Ultims can cover was driven home shortly after \u2013 just two hours after the race start, with most of the fleet still working hard to exit the Solent, Armel le Cleac\u2019h\u2019s Ultim Banque Populaire was tacking off Brittany, having flown across the Solent to set themselves up for a long reach west.
\nThe other Ultim competing in this year\u2019s Fastnet, Francois Gabart\u2019s SVR-Lazartique, remained on the northern English shore and held the advantage according to the race tracker \u2013 but with likely more tacks to put in towards Lands\u2019 End the two are likely to be close as they make the turn for Fastnet Rock.
\nEven upwind many of the newer IMOCA 60 were foiling upwinnd after the start
\nIMOCA fleet off to a flying start
\nDue to the huge fleets and tidal effects in the Solent, the Rolex Fastnet Race rules give early starters no option to return behind the line and if you are caught over at the start you immediately incur a a 2-hour time penalty. Given this it was key to get a conservative start for most.
\nUnfortunately, with the tide now running under the boats, pushing them to the start, during the IMOCA start both Pip Hare on Medallia and Jeremie Beyou on Charal were OCS.
\nAs an indication of just how breezy conditions were, despite the early stages being upwind out of the Solent and most of the IMOCAs being well-reefed, several of the newer IMOCAs were impressively foiling as the fleet flew out of the Solent.
\nFrustratingly for Pip Hare, who is racing her newly modified\u00a0Medallia for the first time with co-skipper Nick Bubb, as well as picking up a time penalty for being OCS she incurred some early gear damage.
\n\u201cIt was a mixed start \u2013 we know we were over, by about a second \u2013 so really gutted about that but actually really, really pleased with the start. All the way up to Hurst [Narrows] we were flying. I was so happy, we were keeping pace with new boats, everything was looking rosy.
\n\u201cAnd then just when we got through Hurst the stopper knot on the J2 fuller pulled out, and the J2 just came out. It was flapping like crazy, it hit the J3 and made a hole in the J3\u2026 and then we had to go downwind. We had to re-rig the furling line and swop our J3 little jib for our storm jib. So now we\u2019re back upwind, we\u2019re back on track. We can only use our storm jib, so we\u2019re a bit handicapped but that\u2019s sailing for you.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll carry on, we\u2019ll get through tonight, and whatever gets thrown at us \u2013 we\u2019ll take it.\u201d
\nIn the IMOCA class there is also a hotly anticipated chance to see some of the latest generation designs go head to head, and they haven\u2019t disappointed: Bayou\u2019s new\u00a0Charal leads going into the first night from\u00a0Thomas Ruyant on his brand new For People, after a cracking start, with Yoann Richomme on his brand new Paprec Ark\u00e9a in 3rd, again after a strong start. The newest IMOCA on the block, Charlie Dalin\u2019s box-fresh\u00a0Macif is in 4th.
\nJajo got the best start of the IRC Super Zero fleet
\nIRC Zero \/ Super Zero
\nThe multihulls, IMOCAs and Class 40 had largely started with significant reefs in and smaller headsails in anticipation of the 30-40 knot winds they will see later in the day and once they exit the Solent. However, among the highly competitive Class Zero and Super Zero fleets there was a more variation.
\nThe boat aiming to take line honours \u2013 and hoping to set a new course record \u2013 Lucky, the ex-Rambler 88 crossed the startline heavily reefed, however others in the fleet including\u00a0INO Noir and Warrior Won set off under full sail.
\nSadly some key boats in the IRC Super Zero and Zero fleet were among the early retirement, with the Maxi 72\u00a0Notorious\u00a0retiring before the start, and seasoned offshore campaigners\u00a0Ran and\u00a0Tonnere de Breskens among those that returned to port shortly after the start. The Cookson 50\u00a0Privateer was another well proven offshore boat which retired in the very early stages.
\nWithin the first six hours of racing, around 50 boats had retired \u2013 many before the start having examined the forecast, and others with sail and rigging damage.
\nFor those that raced on, conditions continued to deteriorate as forecast, though gusts may be even stronger than predictions.
\nThe J\/120 \u2018Scream 2\u2019 reported seeing 46 knots on the wind gauge at times, adding: \u201cThe storm sail is up and the crew is wet, very wet!\u201d
\nConditions are anticipated to be wet, with strong winds and a 1.5-2.5m sea state for many competitors overnight, but should moderate fairly rapidly tomorrow.
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It was a wet and wild start to the 2023 Fastnet Race with early retirements pouring in and the worst is yet to come with 40 knot winds set to hit the fleets overnight The 50th Rolex Fastnet Race got … <\/p>\n