The 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race proved near perfect as a celebration of the 50th running of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s flagship event. As a reminder of what a brutal race it can be, its giant fleet set off from the Solent into a southwesterly gale. Over the 695 miles to the Fastnet Rock and back, for a second time, to the finish in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the slower boats had to deal over four to five days with weather they might normally expect in twice that time, including strong winds associated with three cold fronts. The Fastnet Challenge Cup’s worthy winner on this occasion came from a class where much new hardware had been built especially for this special race.
As ever, the fleet was hugely diverse, from the 32x23m Ultim trimarans, the world’s fastest offshore yachts, to the 60ft flying IMOCAs of the Vendée Globe, Class40s and multihulls to the bulk of the fleet in the IRC classes - ranging from maxis, to purpose-built 50-footers, to substantial turn-outs of manufacturer classes, a record doublehanded entry down to yacht club, association, family, sailing school and charter boat entries. It was again record-sized: while seven had set sail in 1925, this year 430 started (the previous record was 388 in 2019).
