To mark the arrival of the 50th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race in July 2023, the association Arrivée Fastnet Cherbourg, which organises the finish, brings you Le Roman du Fastnet. A monthly podcast in six episodes which, in the company of guests with a history with the race, looks back at the highlights of this almost one hundred year old event.
Let's discover the fifth episode together.
On 22 July, Samantha Davies will be taking the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin on her foiling Imoca Initiatives Cœur, "her tenth or eleventh", she's not sure! When you love it, you don't count for the Briton, who is literally 'addicted' to a race that has marked her entire career as a sailor. The adventure began as a child, with the mention of the terrible Fastnet 1979. "I don't have any precise memories, but I know that it was talked about a lot in the family and with friends, also because we knew people who had been affected by the tragedy. "The young Samantha could have continued to cruise quietly in the Solent on her parents' boat, but her attraction for racing and technique led her to knock on the hulls of her pontoon neighbours who were racing. Welcomed as number 1 on the Mitchell family's Sun Legend 41, Sam discovered the joys of abseiling down the lines on a boat that wasn't much more watertight than her first foulies. But no matter! "You don't realise the value of this kind of boarding. I still thank those people today. It was there that my passion was born and that I realised that I wanted to make ocean racing my life. "This was followed by other experiences in the Celtic Sea on racing-cruising boats, then the first Imoca years, the experience of the Volvo Ocean Race on Team SCA, for which the Fastnet was the trial run offshore, and four more participations on Initiatives Cœur. "Each Fastnet is different, and each time it's also a great opportunity to get back to see the family and friends", says the sailor who "is nostalgic for the finishes in Plymouth" but describes the welcome in Cherbourg in 2021 as "incredible". According to the most French of the British skippers, this change of destination is a blessing in disguise, forging a "cordial understanding" between the two sides of the Channel.
The Fastnet Novel podcast is your VIP entry into the history of the race. It's full of anecdotes, personal accounts and exchanges with the people who have contributed to making this race a legend. Come and soak up the atmosphere of the Rolex Fastnet Race at the microphone of Pierre-Marie Bourguinat, enough to keep you waiting until 22 July 2023 for the start of the 50th edition.
