In the "you won't believe what J/Sailors are doing when not sailing their J's" department, J/70 sailor Peter Cunningham and J/22 Youth sailing program supporter from the Caymans Islands Sailing Club has been exploring a few adventurous, if not extreme, elements on his "bucket list". Recently, his POWERPLAY Team tackled the Fastnet Race course record in his MOD 70 trimaran (a wee-bit different VMG than his J/70!). Here is their report.
Led by Peter Cunningham and skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, the MOD 70 POWERPLAY completed the original Fastnet Course of 595 nautical miles in a new record of 25 hrs 4 mins 18 secs.
“It was kind of ambitious, but the conditions were right, and the team was ready to go,” commented Peter. “The POWERPLAY crew was fantastic. Miles (Seddon) did a brilliant job navigating, we had two wonderful drivers in Ned Collier Wakefield, who set up the boat and runs the program, and the fastest sailor on Earth- Paul Larsen- who drove in some incredibly bad conditions.”
Shortly after midday on Monday 05 April, in a bitterly cold strong northerly wind, POWERPLAY started their Fastnet record attempt crossing the Squadron Line off Cowes, Isle of Wight.
POWERPLAY made short work of racing to Lands' End and powered across the Celtic Sea at speeds in excess of 30 knots. POWERPLAY rounded the famous Fastnet Lighthouse and raced through the night. On Tuesday 06 April, at 13:42 and 19 seconds BST, POWERPLAY reached the Plymouth Breakwater, where the team celebrated their amazing run of 25 hours, 4 minutes and 18 seconds.
“We didn’t leave much out there, we were pushing really hard and everything aligned,” commented Skipper Wakefield. “I am not going to lie, it was pretty full-on, especially in April with an arctic northerly with snow around. With the apparent wind we saw 50 knots over the deck, and we hit a top speed of just under 40 knots. The lads did a brilliant job, changing sails about every half an hour. It was rough, physical and very cold. As a crew, we have done cumulatively over 50 Fastnet Races, we love the course, and to do it faster than it has been done before is really cool.”
PowerPlay Crew for Fastnet Course Record: Peter Cunningham, Ned Collier Wakefield, Tom Dawson, John Hamilton, Paul Larsen, Jack Trigger, Miles Seddon, Martin Watts. More about Team POWERPLAY