SAILING:WITH MORE than three weeks remaining before the starting gun is fired at the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, the official entry for the 605-mile Fastnet Race has been closed as the limit of 300 boats has been reached.
On the 30th anniversary of the 1979 tragedy in which 15 sailors lost their lives, interest in offshore racing has been re-built and the sprint from the Isle of Wight to the famous lighthouse off West Cork and back to Plymouth has retained its allure.
The entry is provisional, pending the official deadline next week, but already the fleet reads like a who’s who of sailing.
The line-up is a record, with 16 countries represented and includes four-time Olympic medallist Robert Scheidt, with the Italian America’s Cup team Luna Rossa and Alex Thompson’s Open 60-footer Hugo Boss.
Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard is tipped as a candidate for a line honours win that would sit well with his Round Ireland Race record from 2008.
That course is somewhat longer at 704-miles, but the 100-footer still shaved over 10 hours off Colm Barrington’s 1998 record to two days, 17 hours, 48 minutes and 47 seconds.
Weather is the ultimate decider in the race, and windier conditions favour the bigger boats, as do tidal gates. But the race is decided on IRC handicap, and Eric Lisson’s 38-foot Cavatina from the Royal Cork YC narrowly missed overall victory in 2007.
However, the strength of the turn-out can be traced to the improved design and construction standards, as well as to modern safety precautions that followed the 1979 race and again after the Sydney to Hobart Race of 1998 when six sailors died.
Weather forecasting is significantly better, and the 2007 event saw more than a third of the fleet more than willing to retire early rather than risk crossing the Celtic Sea in gale-force conditions.
However, just seven Irish boats are counted among the 300 entries. Mick Cotter’s pocket-maxi Whisper will be among the bigger boats, while Tim Costello’s Tiamat from the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club and Paul Egan’s Legally Brunette are among the best of the national IRC-handicap fleet taking part.
Full race tracking will be provided on-line and, following the success of the Vendee and Volvo Ocean Race versions that each had in excess of 200,000 competitors, a virtual game will also allow armchair sailors to participate.
Meanwhile, the Dun Laoghaire SB3 sportsboat class has opted not to use GPS navigation for its local series.
A debate for and against was an even split, and though cost concerns were to the fore, a drop in price for the hand-held units could yet see the issue re-visited for next season.
