August 15, 2011

The two largest trimarans in the record-sized Rolex
Fastnet Race rounded the Fastnet Rock off southwest Ireland at around 0930 this
morning. As expected Loick Peyron’s Maxi Banque Populaire (FRA) was leading,
but surprisingly just eight miles ahead of the Seb Josse-skippered Gitana 11
(FRA), despite the latter being just 77 feet compared to Maxi Banque Populaire‘s
monstrous 140-foot long hulls.  Once around, the boats have approximately
250 miles (on the rhumb line) to sail to the finish in Plymouth.

Last night both boats, along with the two MOD70 trimarans
Veolia Environnement (FRA) and Race for Water (SUI), overstood the Scilly
Isles, in order to lay the Fastnet Rock in one tack and take advantage of a
small left hand wind shift while crossing the Celtic Sea between the southwest
end of England and the south coast of Ireland. The reason Gitana 11 is so
close is that after leaving the Scillies to starboard she tacked north for the
Rock earlier than her larger rival, sailing a substantially shorter course as a
result.

At the time the two on the water leaders rounded the
Fastnet Rock this morning, the wind had dropped to 10 knots from the
west-southwest and the sea state had abated.

Meanwhile in the heavyweight bout between the 100 foot
super-maxi monohulls, the crew on Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard (GBR) are doing a
fine job fending off the attack of George David’s faster Rambler100 (USA). The
two boats passed between the Scilly Isles and Land’s End at 0630 BST this
morning, but there were a large group of powerful boats shadowing them close
behind.

The three Volvo Open 70s passed between Land’s End and the
Scilly Isles at around 0830 BST this morning and Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya
(CHN) had pulled off a similar move to Gitana 11 in tacking north earlier than
her two rivals and this was enough to give her an 8-mile lead on her rivals,
the Ian Walker-skippered Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (UAE) and Franck Cammas’
Groupama 4 (FRA). However closest to the two super-maxis as they head out across
the Celtic Sea was the Farr 80 Beau Geste (HKG), skippered by American Jim
Swartz, just two miles ahead of Team Sanya at the latest update this morning.

Meanwhile, looking good on handicap in IRC Z was Niklas
Zennstrom’s J-V 72 Ràn (GBR), winner of the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race. Ràn was
taking a similar westerly track to Abu Dhabi and Groupama 4, just four miles
ahead of her. This morning the bulk of IR Z are rounding the Lizard, off the
south of Cornwall, while IRC 1 is still mid-way between the Lizard and Start
Point with the Swan 62 Uxorious IV (GBR), leading on the water. Behind Rán was the Mills 68 Alegre (GBR).

The IRC 2 fleet is close behind IRC 1 with the trio of
RORC Commodore Andrew McIrvine’s First 40 La Réponse, the J/122 Joopster and
the A-40 Vitaris Reponse leading the charge on the water.

Like IRC 2, the majority of the IRC 3 fleet were tacking a
long tack out into the Channel, with Geronimo 2 was leading on the water. The
leaders in IRC4 were also mid-way between Start Point and the Lizard with the
S&S 41 Winsome ahead on the water.

Overnight there have been a few more retirements. Aboard
the Sigma 38 Zanzara in IRC 4, a crewman was lifted off with a broken leg at
0745 this morning. Meanwhile Richard Palmer’s J/109 Jangada Too is
retiring into Plymouth with electrical problems.

The weather situation remains complex with a compact
depression to the west of Ireland, a substantially larger depression over
Iceland, and an area of high pressure over the Bay of Biscay. For those
venturing across the Celtic Sea, the movement of these fronts early Tuesday
morning is key as they will cause a wind shift from the southwest to the
northwest.

The
Rolex Fastnet Race finish is in Plymouth Harbour. The main trophy for overall
victory in the Rolex Fastnet is the Fastnet Challenge Cup. In addition, there
are more than 30 other trophies that will be awarded at the prize giving on
Friday, 19 August at the historic Royal Citadel. The Citadel, home to the 29
Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, overlooks Plymouth Sound and Sutton Harbour,
where the majority of the fleet will berth.

Further
information and live race tracking may be found at www.fastnet.rorc.org