Rolex
Fastnet - Slow but steady progress all round:record
chances slip
On the third day of the Rolex Fastnet Race the
244 boats remaining in the race are scattered
right across the Celtic Sea from Lands End around
the Fastnet Rock all the way to within thirty
miles of the finish line in Plymouth. At 14:00
on Tueday 20 boats had rounded the mythical Fastnet
Rock that sits off the South West coast of Ireland,
the remainder of the fleet still with that sense
of anticipation about the most important turn
mark in offshore sailing.
Open
60 Class
Sebastian Josse has continued to make huge gains
on the rest of the Open 60 fleet and at noon on
Tuesday had a 64 mile lead over second placed
Mike Golding on Ecover. This lead, already well
established yesterday, is proof of how difficult
it has been for boats that have dropped off the
pace a bit to get back into contention. The patchy
wind has made it extremely easy to lose touch
and watch boats nearby sail away into the distance,
but VMI¹s lead represents 10% of the course
distance and must be seen as an unassailable lead
for the four boats following behind.
To
follow the Open 60 Class via the IMOCA¹s
tracking system: www.imoca.org/fastnet/
Class
Super Zero
Having trailed Neville Crichton¹s Alfa Romeo
around the Fastnet Rock by more than an hour last
night, Robert Mc Neil¹s Zephyrus V had pulled
back to within 400 metres by the time the pair
had reached the Lizard, just 42 miles from the
finish in Plymouth. This rocky headland, which
tends to accelerate the tide locally at this the
last corner on the Rolex Fastnet Race course,
can cause a virtual barrier for the leader if
the tide is foul and the winds light. This may
have given Zephyrus V the opportunity it needed
to get back in touch with the leader.
Last
reports of these two contenders for line honours
in the 2003 Rolex Fastnet Race had them sailing
in extremely light winds close to the coast off
Falmouth. They were expected to finish sometime
before sunset on Tuesday, well outside the race
record time.
Class
Zero
Consolidating on their breakaway tactics around
Portland Bill at the beginning of the race, Chris
Bull¹s J-145 Jazz followed Piet Vroon¹s
Tonnerre around the Fastnet Rock just 60 minutes
later this morning, the smaller boat correcting
out to lead by more than two hours at this point.
At 14:00 only four boats had actually rounded
the Fastnet Rock, the light and changeable conditions
making progress slow for those not completely
in tune with the weather developments.
Classes
One, Two and Three
At midday on Tuesday none of the boats in either
of these three classes had arrived at the Fastnet
Rock and are all still enjoying the light conditions
on the leg between Lands End and the Fastnet Rock.
Multihull
Class
Tony Bullimore¹s Team Pimsic rounded the
Fastnet Rock at 11:25 this morning almost 18 hours
after the monohull fleet leader Alfa Romeo. Due
to a broken daggerboard the crew of the Robin
Herbert¹s Gleam retired after passing the
Lizard yesterday, a terrible disappointment for
this crew that were sure to win their class.
The
weather forecast outlines a developing high pressure
zone that will grow to completely occupy the Western
Approaches, something that will keep the speed
of the entire fleet low, meaning that the bulk
of the fleet is not likely to finish before Thursday.
...
official site Rolex
Fastnet Race
