(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Coming up in less than a fortnight is
one of those "bucket list" offshore challenges that is on many sailor's
wish list to conquer, vanquish the enemy and go home- the infamous Rolex
Fastnet Race-- a simple 608 nm jaunt from Cowes westabout to a
lighthouse on a rock and back to Plymouth. Not to surprisingly,
thousands have dreamt the dream, only to survive yet another 608nm
journey again, then return for more punishment at the hands of the great
Lord Neptune. For many, it's part of that movie, "Never ending story,
part XXXX, chapter XVXLV". How many chapters later does one have to
tell the story of nearly winning it all, but having to anchor yet again
just yards off the Plymouth finish line within stone's throw (literally)
of the race committee? Like that famous British mountain climber once
said about scaling Mt Everest in the Hindu Kush-- they keep coming back
for more "because it's there". Remarkably, a record numbers of boats
signed up this year (mostly in 48 hours!), so plenty of sailors will be
telling their version of the story sometime soon!While the Rolex Fastnet Race's top prize is the Fastnet Challenge Cup and a Rolex watch/ chronometer for the first of the 302 boats winning under the IRC Rating rule, everyone has their fair shot at it all from the start on Sunday, August 11th off the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line in front of Cowes. There will be forty-two J/Teams sailing- 14% of the total fleet-- easily the largest sailing brand represented within this famous British and European event. Next closest brand is Beneteau with 12% followed by Sigma at 7% and a host of other major brands at less than 5% each-- like Swan, Jeanneau, X-Yachts, JPK, Grand Soleil, Archambault, Ker, Dehler, Bavaria and so forth.
The queen of the J/Fleet will be the J/133s with four boats participating, including APOLLO 7 (Nigel Passmore from England), JINGS (Dave Ballantyne from England), JIVAR0 (Yves Grosjean from France), and SPIRIT OF JACANA (Alan, Bruce & James Douglas from Ireland).
Giving
the J/133s a serious run-for-the-Rolex will be a fleet of six J/122s-
two English teams represented by J-BELLINO (Rob Craigie also sailing
Doublehanded Class) and JOLLY JELLYFISH (David Richards); two French
teams that include LORELEI (Alain Chatherineau) and NUTMEG IV (Francois
Lognone); an Irish team on AQUELINA (James Tyrrell) and the Netherlands
team on JUNIQUE (Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker). Each one of these
teams has won their fair share of silverware and all are capable of
winning the Fastnet overall.Given any kind of a fetch or reaching race, the fleet of five J/111s will be quite formidable in the overall IRC handicap standings. Look for these teams amongst the leaders, including two English teams- BRITISH SOLDIER (Army Sailing Association) and OJE (Andre Hill); the French team on ALPHALINK/ XTREME YACHTING (Benjamin Diouris); the Belgian team on DJINN (Just 4 Sailing Team), and the famous and highly successful Netherlands team on XCENTRIC RIPPER (John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef- also sailing Doublehanded Class).
Showing up as a massive armada are the twenty-one J/109s- by far the single largest one-design class ever to participate in the Fastnet Race! Included are known around-the-buoys and offshore winning teams like Netherlands ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs); England's INSPARA (Tor McLaren), JANGADA TOO (Richard Palmer), JAZZY JELLYFISH (Kevin Armstrong), JIBE (Robin Taunt), J-T'AIME (Chris Palmer), and RED ARROW (Royal Air Force Sailing Association); and Ireland's JEDI (Andrew Sarratt).
With recent IRC championship crowns under their belts, the classic J/35s will be tough no matter what weather is thrown at them, look for CHOSI 6 (Mike Wunderlich from Germany) and RAGAZZA (Gabriel & De Bie & Malchair from Belgium) to be "in the chocolates" if things go their way.
With three boats, the J/105s are all British teams, including RORC offshore champion Nick Martin on DIABLO-J sailing Doublehanded Class, Jim Heald on FLAWLESS-J and Tom Hayhoe's MOSTLY HARMLESS. If there were ever a trio of gangsters that could upset the overall apple-cart for fleet honors, it's these guys!
Finally, as the lone J/120 sailing, the French RHAPSODIE V (Jean Jacques Godet) has proven in multiple RORC Channel races that a well-sailed J/120 can waterline to death many faster rating IRC boats given the right conditions, especially broad-reaching/ VMG'ing downwind in breezes up to 20 kts when other boats still cannot plane away. It should be a fascinating Fastnet Race to watch given the enormous cross-section of J/Teams participating in this 2013 edition! Live YellowBrick.com tracking will be available, so cheer on your favorite team to the finish! Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo. For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information
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