FASTNET RELOADED

THE ROLEX FASTNET RACE HAS LONG DEMANDED REAL RESPECT, BUT A CHANGE, OF COURSE, MADE THE 2021 EDITION A WHOLE NEW CHALLENGE, HELEN FRETTER REPORTS

- HELEN FRETTER

It takes 600 miles to make a true offshore, or so tradition dictates. The Royal Ocean Racing Club was formed in 1925 following the first-ever Fastnet race, with the objective: ‘to provide annually one ocean race not less than 600 miles in length’. All of the ‘blue riband’ races – the classic Rolex Sydney Hobart and Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Newport-Bermuda, the newer RORC Caribbean 600, and until this year, the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race – were contested over a course of around 600-630 miles.

When the classic offshores were conceived, those races took around a week to complete: Jolie Brise won the inaugural Fastnet Race in 1925 in 6d 14h. As yachts have got larger, and faster, the bulk of the fleet now finishes in three to four days. But 600 miles is still a distance that is sufficiently daunting for amateur crews, demands a proper watch system, and a day off to recover. Only the pro-level crew of the real ocean greyhounds – the Ultims, IMOCAs and supermaxis – consider it a short sprint.

When it was announced two years ago that the 2021 and 2023 editions of the Rolex Fastnet Race were to finish in Cherbourg, France, instead of Plymouth, in southwestern England, there was, understandably, controversy. Much of the focus was on the destination: the split from tradition, the opportunities for the fleet to gather in one place, the financial deals behind it. But for crews, the real impact of the move to Cherbourg is how it has altered the Fastnet racecourse itself: that classic 600-miler is now just shy of 700 miles.