The Rolex Fastnet fleet will set sail from the Solent on 6th August in the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial Rolex Fastnet Race. 2017 marks the 91st anniversary of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
The Rolex Fastnet Race is one of the world's oldest offshore races, but the 605 mile course represents much the same challenge today as it did to competitors 90+ years ago.
Typically an upwind westbound slog along the south coast of England, then full exposure to the open Atlantic Ocean on the crossings to the Fastnet Rock (lying four miles off southwest Ireland) and back, before leaving Bishop Rock and the Scilly Isles to port, on route to the finish off Plymouth.
Currently 390 boats are entered: 338 competing for the main IRC handicap prize; the remainder racing for their own trophies in the Class40, IMOCA 60, Volvo Ocean 65 and Multihull grand prix classes.
This line-up makes the Rolex Fastnet Race the world's largest offshore race in terms of competitor numbers. Its entries are the most diverse, ranging from maxi-multihulls to the world's fastest monohulls, including those that compete in the fully crewed and singlehanded round the world races, to the racer cruisers and cruiser racers that form the majority of the IRC classes.
The whole fleet, as they have in previous years, will have YB3 trackers aboard for the entirety of the race. They will collect and transmit data such as GPS position, speed and direction to YB HQ servers where all of this information will be compiled onto our live race player, providing those who are left ashore with a way to follow the fleet's progress to the finish line at Plymouth.
Find out more: https://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/en/