Sutton Harbour promised to cram in as many boats as we needed, but the reality was it could not. Many boats had to berth in Plymouth Yacht Haven on the Mount Batten peninsula which meant a ferry or long taxi ride to the race office to submit declarations, return trackers and join the post-race festivities.
It transpired that Plymouth Yacht Haven actually had the berthing space that could accommodate the bulk of the fleet. The biggest downside was the distance from Plymouth city centre but the Yacht Haven was enthusiastic to find solutions and at least the crews would be together. Facilities required to service the competitors would have to be built, involving a lot of work flattening a boat storage area and laying 18 tons of aggregate upon which the various marquees for race management, media and sponsors were built each year of the race.
In some respects the Yacht Haven would prove a great venue with up to 200 boats in the marina at any one time. But, with food and accommodation still limited, we laid on a 24-hour ferry to encour- age the public to visit the marina and for sailors to access the city. The 2013 race saw the entry limit of 300 boats reached in 24 hours and with 40 RORC members on the waiting list the committee agreed to increase the limit of IRC boats to 340. Despite this increase there was still more demand for places and the waiting list often topped 100 boats.
It is important to emphasise that in recent years it has been berthing capacity alone that has restricted the size of the IRC fleet. The committee has always felt it would be the slower boats, who had suffered the longest time on the racecourse, that would end up deprived of a berth if we increased the race entry too far. We know how important it is for these boats to feel part of the party when they do finish.
In a post-race survey we asked the question: ‘Reason for entering the race’. The largest proportion of competitors said it was a ‘per- sonal challenge’, with many others citing ‘to tick off a must-do race’. Over the years the history and traditions of the Rolex Fastnet have fuelled the interest of thousands of keen sailors to view the world’s largest offshore race as the Everest of challenges. It is these people, desperate to gain a place in the race, whom the RORC
needs to nurture and be seen to be nurturing for the good of the sport and its longterm future.
In 2015 the 340-boat limit was reached in 24 hours, and in 2017 and 2019 the scramble for places was over in less than five minutes. The clear message was that the appetite for the race was not being met by the artificial limit imposed by berthing constraints. The discussion about the berthing situation and a decline in the City of Plymouth’s readiness to support the race has been on the committee’s agenda since 2013, although the club has looked at alternative finish ports as far back as the 1980s. When the committee made clear its wish to explore the possibility of a finish elsewhere Plymouth was given an uncontested chance to deliver on the club’s concerns for the 2017 event.
Initially the city’s proposition was positive and the club supported it, even going so far as to get Walcon marina builders to design a temporary marina attached to Commercial Wharf that could also be used to attract other events. But it later transpired that Plymouth was uninterested in the marina idea, and in fact could not deliver on any of its promises. So the race returned to the Yacht Haven once again for 2017 and 2019.
It is against this background that the Rolex Fastnet Race will go to Cherbourg for the 2021 and 2023 editions. The short time that we have been working with Cherbourg has been an uplifting and refreshing experience. The city and the local regional authorities are excited by the chance to welcome thousands of sailors and are committed to making the event a success. Off- shore racing in France is avidly supported by the public as we have seen with the hundreds of thousands who, Covid-excepting, regularly visit the start of the Vendée Globe and Route du Rhum. When Fastnet entries open there will be a new limit of 400 for IRC entries. We are guaranteed berthing for up to 330 IRC boats at any one time, plus space for Imocas, Class40s, Figaros and multihulls. For the sailors who are doing the race as a personal challenge or a must-do race on their bucket list, the welcome they will receive and the post-race celebrations will match the scale and sense of their achievement. Eddie Warden-Owen, CEO
Royal Ocean Racing Club A world leader in offshore racing and race management, organiser of the
The Royal Ocean Racing Club Is recruiting for the role of Chief Executive Officer for 2021
The club’s present, successful and well known CEO stands down next year and the recruitment process for the successor is underway. This is a high profile role with significant leadership and management responsibility.
Please contact the club for more information
ceosecure@rorc.org SEAHORSE 79
Recruiting Chief Executive Officer
Rolex Fastnet Race and the Caribbean 600, joint owner of the IRC rating rule and thriving members club.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
