Adrian Keller’s 84ft Irens catamaran Allegra finished at 22:35:25 BST on Monday 24th July to defend her title in the MOCRA multihull class. Under MOCRA corrected time she finished 2 hours 15 minutes 12 seconds ahead of American Ken Howery's Gunboat 68 Tosca.
The fastest yachtsman on the planet Paul Larsen, racing skipper on board, described their Rolex Fastnet Race:
“The start was fantastic - it was a Who’s Who. With so many boats on that start line, it was really special. We wanted to represent the company we were in and show what Allegra was capable of, so we put the hammer down from the start. We wanted to push hard in those conditions, to make a lead that would force the competition to possibly make a mistake, as we know Allegra is a strong boat.
“Before Hurst Castle we were possibly carrying too much sail, so we furled away exiting the Solent as the squalls hit. We didn’t unfurl it until Falmouth. We weren’t sure if it was in good shape, but it was, and we put the hammer down again.
“Coming down to the Isles of Scilly we were doing 32 knots and pulling away from Tosca. In those conditions, Allegra is the faster boat and we were trying to get the biggest lead that we could. After the Fastnet it built - we were really fast down to Cherbourg, the speed was relentless, smoking along, sitting at 22-24 knots.”
Owner Adrian Keller commented:
“I was praying for this lady (Allegra) - it was very rough and tough. We did have a long period where we lost the wind and we saw Tosca coming closer and closer, that was almost harder. Congratulations to them, they had a great race too. In the end, the wind came up and we had a lovely ride into Cherbourg, and it is wonderful to be here. The Allegra crew has been together for seven years and that makes the difference.”
Adrian Keller’s 84ft Irens catamaran Allegra has defended her title in the MOCRA multihull class © Rick Tomlinson/www.rick-tomlinson.com
