| COWES, UK-(10-8-2005) Not only did ICAP Maximus win line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race this morning, but the wind gods are conspiring to give her handicap victory too. A good breeze propelled the 98-foot New Zealand Maxi at good speeds back to Plymouth early this morning while her rivals have struggled in far less favourable conditions. This morning, Skandia Wild Thing's estimated time of arrival was 1800. By 1600 this afternoon, however, the Australian 98-footer had only drawn level with the Lizard, giving her at least another 70 miles sailing. She has now revised her ETA to 2330 hours. Even that was based on the sea breeze holding until then, which is far from likely. So Grant Wharington and crew might not finish until dawn tomorrow morning.
Things have been even lighter in the Celtic Sea, with the front pack of Open 60s and assorted Grand Prix race yachts making painful progress towards the Scilly Isles. Big gaps have opened up in the Open 60 fleet, with the front two holding a 20-mile lead on the rest. At 1600, Bernard Stamm aboard Cheminées Poujoulat held a lead of just a mile over Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac-Paprec, with Roland Jourdain sitting in a clear third place, well ahead of the chasing pack of Anglo-Saxons.
Using her heavy-air sails to comply with IRC rules, and heavily laden in ocean-racing mode, the Volvo Open 70 Movistar is struggling to keep up with the Open 60s. Crewman Peter Doriean reported at 1630 today, saying they were still 20 miles from the Scillies. “Wind is blowing at 6-8 knots from the north-west, but that's the most breeze we've seen in the last hour,” he said. “It's very fickle, we've had loads of sail changes.” Close to Movistar are the Maxis, Leopard of London and the German Judel/Vrolijk 86, UCA.
The 2001 handicap winner, Piet Vroon, reported in at 1630 from his new 56-footer Formidable 3. She was lying 45 miles from Bishop's Rock in close proximity to Ker 55 Aera, Farr 52 Bear of Britain and the Open 60 Roxy, with this pack drifting along in a 3-6 knot north-westerly.
Further back up the track by the Fastnet Rock, however, the wind was blowing very nicely. Steve White reported from the Open 50 Olympian Challenge: “We're sailing in 15 to 16 knots from the west - beautiful conditions, a beautiful day. Morale is good, although lunch is overdue because we've been a bit busy. This morning was very painful because there were patches of no wind whatsoever. At times the boatspeed was absolutely zero. Finally, as we got close to the Rock, the breeze built to 17 or 18 knots. We were hard on the wind, and a quick turn around the Rock now puts us sailing downwind in similar conditions.”
Julian Bates and the crew of Prima 38, Born Slippy 2, have been sailing virtually blind after being unable to charge their batteries. “Just before the start in the Solent, we broke the fan belt which took out something else in the engine, and so we are unable to charge anything else. We are totally reliant on a handheld GPS, we've got no other instruments. We really hope this wind holds, otherwise we risk running out of food, water and patience.” Diminishing supplies of food and water could become a real issue for some yachts in such a slow race.
Currently, 157 yachts have rounded the Fastnet Rock, six yachts have retired from the fleet of 283.
The Rolex Fastnet Race entails 608 miles of racing from Cowes to Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
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