Taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race, which is one of 600-mile regattas, including Newport Bermuda Race, Rolex Middle Sea Race, RORC Caribbean 600 and Rolex Sydney Hobart, is a significant achievement for any yachtsman
There is no point in comparing these offshore regattas in terms of how extreme they are, because each of them is challenging in its own way and surrounded by legends. The Fastnet route remains the longest to date, and there has never been the same number of yachts in the start and finish protocols, as some crews always drop out due to various difficulties. However, it does not discourage those wishing to test themselves in such an extreme competition, and, on the contrary, attracts more and more participants.
Although the speed records of the previous years have not been broken, the 2025 edition will definitely go down in history: never before had there been such a number and variety of boats, from modest 30-foot Sun Fast 30s to maxis over 30 metres long; from luxurious cruiser-racers Nautor Swans (there were 16 of them) to sporty Imoca 60 and VO70, and a whole fleet of multihulls, including four of the world’s fastest flying Ultim trimarans.
A little bit of history and statistics
The concept of the race starting from Cowes, Isle of Wight, around the Fastnet Rock off the coast of Ireland, and a finish line in Plymouth is owed to British yachtsman Weston Martyr. The idea was immediately picked up: sailing was very popular in Great Britain at the time, and even King George V was a yachtsman and stood at the helm of the Britannia at regattas.
Seven yachts took part in the first regatta of 1925, four of them completed the race. The winner was the Jolie Brise, a 56-foot French gaff-rigged pilot cutter built in 1913. Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) was established the same year, and it has been the organiser of the race ever since.
Since 1931 the race was held every two years, and in 2021 the finish line was moved to Cherbourg, France, because the port in Plymouth, which is not small, could not accommodate all the participants, let alone the spectators. Nowadays, when participants register online, it takes just minutes. Entry to the Rolex Fastnet Race this year opened at 10 in the morning and 217 boats registered in the very first minute (there were 178 of them in 2023), and by 11 am 435 registrations had been received! The organisers have announced repeatedly that they will introduce a quota of 300 or 400 boats, because the start of the fleet divided into divisions stretches for hours. But so far, they have not been able to stay within a round number. A few more interesting figures from the 2025 edition: the yachts carried the flags of 34 countries, the crew members represented 57 countries, and the age of the participants ranged from 14 to 81.
Route
The race starts with a cannon fire from the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Leaving the Solent through the Needles Channel, the race follows the southern coastline of England westward down the English Channel, rounds Land's End. Then, after crossing the Celtic Sea, it rounds the tiny island of Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland. Returning on a largely reciprocal course, the race rounds the Isles of Scilly before finishing at Cherbourg, one of the largest ports in France.
With a finish line in Plymouth the course was 605 nautical miles, and now it has increased up to 695.
The regatta was normally held in the middle of August, but since 2019 it was moved to early August, and this year to July 26. The organisers say it is due to weather conditions, which tend to get worse by the end of summer.
Navigation here is definitely far from easy. Powerful tidal currents, changeable weather, winds up to 40 knots and storms coming from the North Atlantic, an active shipping zone both at the start and finish – such conditions require expertise, tactical sense, endurance and sometimes even survival skills.
The most dramatic was the race of 1979, when due to the severe windstorm, over 75 yachts were flipped upside down, five yachts sank, and only 105 out of 303 boats could complete the race. Civil and military vessels and helicopters took part in the rescue operation, but 15 people died. As a result of this tragedy, there was a major overhaul of safety regulations, and there appeared a requirement for all Fastnet Race participants to complete a sea survival course.
This year, 17 yachts dropped out, everybody is safe.
2025 participants and results
As it has already been mentioned above, this regatta is famous for a variety of its fleet. Such a wide range of vessel types in the starting protocol is rarely seen anywhere these days – from ultra-modern carbon Foilers to classic wooden cruisers. This time the boats had to be divided into as many as 13 divisions.
The Rolex Fastnet Race regulations are a unique opportunity for a yacht to achieve a "triple victory" by winning the line honours, overall IRC classification and setting a new race record.
For many of the participants – from professional teams to family double-handed crews – it is not the first competition. For instance, for the 15.85-metre Oystercatcher XXXV skippered by Richard Matthews, founder of Oyster Yachts, it is the 25th Fastnet. Being well aware of each other’s capabilities, the old rivals enhance their boats for each start, turning the next regatta into a kind of duel within their group.
Perhaps the most intense struggle usually unfolds among 100-foot maxis.
The main contenders this year were the Black Jack 100 (originally Alfa Romeo II, completely rebuilt in Italy), SHK Scallywag (formerly known as Ragamuffin 100, winner of Loro Piana Giraglia race and recent Rolex Middle Sea Race 18 minutes ahead of the Black Jack 100) and Leopard 3, which underwent significant modifications right before the Fastnet, including a new rigging, sails, and weight reduction by 10 tons.
The Black Jack 100 was first, completing the race in 2 days 12:31:21, the SHK Scallywag came 58 minutes later, and the Leopard 3 was just five minutes behind her.
Among the most striking victories, one should note the result of 29-year-old French Elodie Bonnafous on her Petits Princes-Queguiner in the IMOCA division: 2 days 14:07:05.
Among the Ocean Fifty, the best was French Matthieu Perraut on his Inter Invest: 2 days 08:38:13.
Another victory that can’t go unmentioned is the veteran custom 12-metre Sunstone designed by American Sparkman & Stephens in 1964 and having over 100000 miles behind her keel. Her varnished mahogany sides contrasted sharply with the modern carbon hulls. The owner and skipper of the retro yacht, Will Taylor-Jones from Britain, managed to come first in the IRC 4B division with an actual time of 5 days 03:02:21 and a handicap adjusted time of 4 days 18:03:26.
Multihulls were certainly the fastest. While smaller vessels need almost a week to cover the distance, it takes flying Ultim 32/23 trimaran (a class recognized in 2018, the figures stand for the yacht’s permissible dimensions) no more than two days. The SVR Lazartigue skippered by French rising star of offshore yachting, Tom Laperche, failed to break its own 2023 record of 1 day 08:38:27, but the result is impressive anyway.
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