Queen Anne’s Battery is buzzing with serious post racing activity today with the majority of the Rolex Fastnet fleet crammed in to the marina. After a difficult light wind race, fresher winds brought a flurry of finishers into Plymouth today. The big tactical decision now facing crews is should they head for the bar or the showers first.

The victors of most classes have been determined and the overall Rolex Fastnet winner is almost certainly Charles Dunstone’s 76 foot Reichel/Pugh sled Nokia. Unsurprisingly, the two line honours contenders, Alfa Romeo and Zephyrus, stole much of the limelight, but the real glory will be Dunstone’s. Nokia crossed the line in Plymouth just over two hours after Zephyrus under a shower of fireworks – Plymouth is also hosting the UK National Fireworks Championship this week. Nokia’s performance gives her a six hour lead on corrected time and makes her a serious contender for overall IRC honours. Alfa and Zephyrus will have to settle for second and third. Mike Slade’s Leopard, fourth across the line and overall, has won the IRM class.

The J-145 Jazz, owned and skippered by Chris Bull, has won Class Zero overall with line honours going to the Lutra 52 Tonnerre of Breskens of Dutchman Piet Vroon. Vroon won the 2001 Race. This was his 20th Fastnet. Another Dutch boat, the Grand Soleil 44 Holmatro, lead the Class 1 fleet at the Fastnet Rock by four and a half hours and stretched this significantly by the time she finished leaving the rest of the fleet to battle upwind conditions towards the finish.

Although not eligible for honours, Sebastien Josse led the five boat Open 60 fleet on VMI. Mike Golding on Ecover and Nick Maloney on Skandia Set Sail finished fourth and fifth respectively. In the Multihull Class, Tony Bullimore brought his 100-foot Team Pimsic into Plymouth just four hours ahead of Ross Hobson’s much smaller trimaran, Mollymawk.

The prizegiving will be held at the Royal Citadel in Plymouth at 17:00 this evening.