The brand new IMOCA Macif, skippered by Charlie Dalin, was first monohull home to take line honours in the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race and set a new monohull course record of 2 days 07 hours 16 minutes and 26 seconds.Macif,FRA 79In the battle of the big boats it was the brand new IMOCA Macif, skippered by Charlie Dalin\u00a0with Pascal Bid\u00e9gorry which was first monohull home to take line honours in the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race and set a new course record in the process.
\nDalin crossed the finish line after 2 day 07 hours 16 minutes and 26 seconds. This shaves over an hour off the time set by the giant ClubSwan 125 Skorpios in 2021 when the race first sailed the new course to finish in Cherbourg.
\nIt\u2019s also a back to back win for Dalin who also took IMOCA class victory in the 2021 edition \u2013 though on that occasion it was\u00a0Skorpios that took\u00a0line honours.
\nIt was Yoann Richomme\u2019s IMOCA Paprec Arkea that led the fleet in the early stages, before being overhauled by Dalin in the final approach to the finish. In the end Dalin squeaked to victory by just 4 minutes to claim the win from Richomme. British skipper Sam Goodchild rounded out the podium, with an impressive performance on his second race in For the Planet.\u00a0
\nIMOCAs in Rolex Fastnet Race
\nThis year\u2019s Fastnet was long heralded as a mouth-watering proposition for IMOCA 60 fans to follow, with a clutch of brand new designs, as well as skippers who\u2019ve newly joined in the fleet lining up in their biggest race to date. And it didn\u2019t disappoint.
\nTwenty-nine IMOCAs lined up for the start in Cowes, making one of the most spectacular starts of the whole race as a series of strong gusts came through shortly after they crossed the line. Many of the foil-assisted designs took flight with streaming white water rooster tails as they blasted away along the Isle of Wight shoreline.
\nIMOCA skippers were exercising caution at the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2023 in breezy conditions. Photo: Paul Wyeth\/RORC
\nCharal was one of the first away, with the enviable pairing of J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Beyou and Franck Cammas. However, Charal was called OCS at the start of the Fastnet Race, incurring an automatic 2 hour penalty. Pip Hare, sailing with Nick Bubb on the newly refitted Medallia was also called over the line early. Sadly Hare, sailing her newly modified Medallia with co-skipper Nick Bubb, suffered furler and sail damage early on which put them out of contention.
\nThe latest generation designs quickly stamped their authority on the race, with Dalin\u2019s Macif \u2013 launched less than a month previously \u2013 first out of the Solent. Along with Charal other early leaders included Thomas Ruyant, also with a brand new boat, the Antoine Koch\/Finot-Conq-designed For People. Sadly Ruyant later joined the long list of Fastnet retirees on Saturday night after incurring damage in the strong winds and severe sea state.\u00a0
\n\u201cWe\u00a0had two objectives at the start,\u201d explained Dalin on the dock after finishing. \u201cOur first was to survive the exit of the Solent, and survive the first 10 to 12 hours of strong wind so that we could concentrate on racing afterwards \u2013 and then that\u2019s what we managed.\u201d
\nClosely matching Ruyant was his team mate Sam Goodchild sailing For the Planet, who is building up to his first Vend\u00e9e Globe campaign, and Yoann Richomme, also on his first IMOCA programme with his new Paprec Arkea with co-skipper Yann Elies.\u00a0
\nFast run from Fastnet Rock
\nThere was a slight split in the fleet after exiting the Solent \u2013 Dalin leading a group that opened to head into Studland Bay, Richomme leading a group that headed south before tacking west. On the cross, it was Richomme that took the lead, though the two packs quickly merged.
\n\u201cIt was 30, 35 knots up wind, so not very comfortable, but I was thinking more about the smaller boats and all the people hiking on the rail compared to us, who have got a big roof on their cockpit to keep us warm and dry. Yeah, the first 12-18 hours were the most difficult bits, but they went fairly well for us,\u201d said Goodchild of the first day\u2019s racing.
\n30-knot conditions for the IMOCA fleet in the Celtic Sea, here onboard Initiatives Couer.
\nAt the Fastnet Rock Richomme\u2019s Paprec Arkea led Dalin\u2019s Macif, rounding at 2114 last night with Dalin just 20 minutes behind.
\nThe run from the Rock saw the foiling designs posting boat speeds of 25-30 knots, Paprec Arkea hunting down, and then overhauling, the 88-footer Lucky (ex-Rambler 88), which had been an early prediction for the line honours win.\u00a0
\n\u201cWe weren\u2019t expected to be that windy,\u201d added Goodchild. \u201cWe\u2019re expecting 20 to 25 knots. We had 35 in the end, so we had a bit of a hairy night, but it was obviously quick, as we went round the Rock at sunset and went round the Scillies at sunrise.
\n\u201cSo it was a quick cross in the Irish Sea and we didn\u2019t get much sleep because the boat was a bit of a bucking bronco. But, it went fast and it was a good, fun ride.\u201d
\nMacif stayed close in touch and after Bishop\u2019s Rock moved up to challenge Paprec for the lead, the two matching each other gybe for gybe on the run back to the Scillies.
\nIMOCA Macif foiling around the Fastnet Rock. Photo: Rolex\/Carlo Borlenghi
\nFastnet first monohulls
\nThe Casquets TSS is fast becoming one of the key deciding points in the race, and, with boat speeds down to just 5 knots at times, it was here that Macif took a more southerly line, moving into the lead for the final 30 miles of the race, the two boats separated by less than 2 minutes.
\n\u201cWe had a crazy leg from the Fastnet to the Scillies, we reached 30 or 40 knots several times \u2013 crazy speeds and that was great. The boat was just flying,\u201d said Dalin. \u201cAnd a crazy battle in the end with Yoanne [Richomme] \u00a0and Yann.
\n\u201cWe caught them, they took off again, we caught again, managed to overtake and just at the end we had a 2 miles lead and we got some seaweed in the keel! So we tried everything to shake it off but couldn\u2019t. We lost like 1.4 miles due to this seaweed. So we\u2019re pretty relieved when we got rid of that and managed to extend again to the finish.\u201d
\nBehind the leaders, the lightening conditions had also caused a big compression in the fleet, and behind Goodchild in 3rd, Maxime Sorel\u2019s V&B Montana Mayenne, Sam Davies on Initiatives Cover, and Clarisse Cremer with her newly relaunched L\u2019Occitane en Provence closely packed.
\nPaprec Ark\u00e9a, skippered by Yoann Richomme, is one of several new IMOCA 60s that was contesting the Rolex Fastnet Race 2023, finishing 2nd.
\n\u201cThe IMOCA fleet is great. We had a very tough battle with a lot of other teams, there\u2019s a really high level of sailors. And that\u2019s what make the class interesting. You got these very skilled skippers with a very talented team developing the boats, engineers, architects, and you get this amazingly competitive racing.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of team that with the same skippers, same sponsors, same team, but with another new boat. It\u2019s getting a bit close to Formula One. I think that\u2019s amazing.
\nThe 88-footer Lucky rounds the Fastnet Rock in the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race, finishing as first IRC yacht. Photo: Kurt Arrigo\/Rolex
\nFirst IRC yachts finish
\nTen minutes after the first IMOCAs finished, Lucky crossed the line at, making them the first IRC boat home.\u00a0However, they no longer hold the advantage on IRC overall, with the VO65s Wind Whisper and Team Jajo, who finished within the hour currently topping the IRC overall lead, though there are many boats still racing who could yet be in contention.
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The brand new IMOCA Macif, skippered by Charlie Dalin, was first monohull home to take line honours in the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race and set a new monohull course record of 2 days 07 hours 16 minutes and 26 seconds.Macif,FRA … <\/p>\n