Grand Prix

Rolex Fastnet: Thirty year old design wins 2005 Rolex Fastnet.

One of the smallest yachts in the fleet, a Nicholson 33, has won the Rolex Fastnet Race on handicap. Jean-Yves Chateau and his six crew sailed Iromiguy across the line at 1224BST this afternoon after more than five days at sea. While there are other yachts still bowling in moderate westerly breezes towards Plymouth, none can better Iromiguy's time.

Iromiguy crosses the finsih line to win the 2005 Rolex Fastnet.   Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

For a race traditionally dominated by big boats, Iromiguy's victory is a dream come true, proof that just occasionally the Corinthian weekend enthusiast can prevail in an unremarkable boat. What is remarkable is that you have to go back 30 years, to 1975, for the last time that a yacht less than 40 feet long won this offshore classic. And the boat that won it then was Golden Delicious, a Nicholson 33, the very same design as Iromiguy.

This is Chateau's fourth Rolex Fastnet Race. In the previous race two years ago, he came second in his class. “I came back this year to try to win my class,” said Chateau. “But it is not possible that I could win the whole race. It is unbelievable, a childhood dream.” The St Malo skipper was embarrassed about the tired state of his yacht, built in 1976, and which Chateau has owned for over 20 years.

 “Every year I go to the French boat show and I say I must buy a new boat, but every year I find myself sailing this one.” He is unlikely ever to sell her now, as Chateau estimates her resale value at no more than £14,000. “The sails would be worth more than the boat,” he admitted. In any case, the sentimental value to Chateau after today's victory must make her priceless.

While first appearances give the impression of a ramshackle, rather undermaintained old cruiser, Iromiguy has had money spent on her in the right places. Chateau invested in new sails for this race, and displays ultimate faith in his crew. “New sails are important, and I have a very experienced crew. They have done some very high-level racing - the Tour de France a la Voile and match racing, for example.”

 St Anne's Battery in its normal post Fastnet state.   Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

Nevertheless, the seven crew of Iromiguy are all amateurs. Chateau is one of two doctors, along with two engineers, a teacher, an administrator and a student. “We are amateur sailors, with a good level of experience, and today with a lot of luck,” he admitted modestly. Iromiguy is one of many small yachts to benefit from the late arrival of moderate westerly breezes, after the front third of the fleet drifted all the way around the 608-mile course to Plymouth.

The IRC handicap leaderboard is dominated by the smallest boats in the fleet from Class IRC 3, and also by overseas entries. After Iromiguy comes Cavatina, an Eric Lisson's Granada 38 from Ireland, and in third is Exile, a French X-312 owned by Nicholas de la Fourniere.

For a while it looked as though the 98-foot ICAP Maximus would win the race on IRC handicap, but she still takes home the trophy for line honours and Class Super Zero, where she beat the TP52 Patches by over four hours on handicap. In Class Zero, Robert Boulter's Mills 37, Thunder 2, beat Steven Blom's Grand Soleil 45 Satori by an hour and a half. Roger Dunstan's Prima 38 Bounty Hunter won IRC 1, and the Harry Heijst's Sparkman & Stephens 41 Winsome won IRC 2.

In the IRM division, Nick and Annie Haigh prevailed in the battle of the Farr 40s, with Too Steamy beating the Australian-registered Cacharaza by just over an hour. Frenchman Joel Malardel's Normanni 34, Tancrede won the small multihull division. There were still some doublehanders yet to finish, but at the time of writing, Pascal Loison's J/105, Night and Day, was leading the division.

The Rolex Fastnet Race entails 608 miles of racing from Cowes to Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's race.

Source: Rolex Fastnet Media Office

Grand Prix

Rolex Fastnet: The wait ends for ICAP Maximus - it's a small boat benefit.

ICAP Maximus has fallen from the top of the overall results of the Rolex Fastnet Race as small boats finish on a good breeze.

 Skandia finished second over the line in Plymouth  Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

The New Zealand supermaxi is now lying on 13th position overall once IRC ratings are applied and the top position has been taken by one of the smaller boats in the race. To underline the extent of the small boat domination, the second supermaxi over the line, Grant Wharington's Skandia which finished 13 hours behind ICAP Maximus is lying in 50th position overall and is certain to drop further.

Provisional leader at 1340hrs NZT on 12 August was the 32 ft Teng Tools a Ker 32 design sailed by Eamon Crosbie of Ireland. In second place is a 38ft long British boat, Bounty Hunter skippered by Roger Dunstan, which has a lead over the 37ft long Thunder 2, skippered by Robert Boulter.

Placings are expected to change as there are a lot of competitors still at sea, however given that the length of those in the top places at at the smaller end of the scale, the overall placings may not change that significantly. The smallest boat in the 608 mile race is a 32ft Contessa which is listed as not yet finishing.

However ICAP Maximus can take some consolation from being declared the winner on IRC of the IRC Superzero class for the largest boats in the race. There are 15 boats in this division.

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Grand Prix

Rolex Fastnet: Hurry up and wait still being played by ICAP Maximus.

ICAP Maximus’s grasp of the IRC handicap lead in the Rolex Fastnet Race is becoming increasingly tenuous, as new westerly winds offer hope of corrected time victory to a number of the smaller boats.

Shaun Frolich’s IMX-45, Exabyte III, could steal best corrected time from the Kiwi Maxi if she can finish before sunset this evening. She was reported as being 33 miles from the finish in Plymouth at 1630 hours this evening, travelling at around 10 knots in a 13-knot north-westerly breeze. Provided she can maintain that average, Exabyte III could just squeeze past ICAP Maximus.

 Small boats round Fastnet Rock - but now have a good breeze. (Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

An even better bet is Teng Tools, Eamon Crosbie’s Ker 32, which was averaging 7 knots boatspeed with 60 miles to reach the finish. Alan Crosbie, the owner’s son, said that on current progress he was expecting to make Plymouth by the early hours of the morning, around 0100 to 0200 hours. Provided this IRC-optimised yacht can cross the finish by 0615 hours, she could better ICAP Maximus’ time by a hefty margin. ‘You never know what can happen,’ said Alan Crosbie, who was part of the winning crew when the Ker 32 won the Round Ireland Race last year. ‘The breeze could easily shut down at night, but we’ll be working hard to the finish.’

Weather expert Mike Broughton’s analysis of the weather suggests the westerly breezes should hold steady for the next 48 hours. The wind could vary in strength from 10 to 15 knots over the next day, then start building during late Friday night.

Broughton’s forecast will be sweet music to the slowest boats in the fleet, still running downwind from the Fastnet Rock. Alex Whitworth and Peter Crozier were enjoying the best sailing conditions of the race this afternoon, their Brolga 33 Berrimilla making a very respectable 7 knots’ boatspeed in a 16-18 knot north-westerly. ‘We’re going like the clappers, this is by far the best breeze we’ve seen. We’ve been having a ball,’ he said.

Whitworth and Crozier are not professional racers, but two friends on a global adventure. Having sailed their boat up from Sydney, they plan to sail back via the Cape  of Good Hope to compete in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race this Christmas. Winning the Rolex Fastnet Race had never even entered their minds, and on hearing that they were in the running, Whitworth still refused to believe his ears. On current progress Berrimilla would cover the remaining 180 miles to Plymouth by 1730 Friday evening, and yet such is her handicap rating that she could still beat ICAP Maximus’s time if she arrived by 0220 hours Saturday morning. ‘I rate our chances of doing that no better than 2 per cent,’ said Whitworth. ‘The boat you should be watching is Aye! We saw her earlier and she is sailing very well.’

It is some time since Derek Copeman’s Elan 31 has reported her position, so she is still likely to be far out in the Celtic Sea. But Whitworth believes Aye! Could well be in contention for IRC handicap victory. If a small boat does indeed win the race, it would be a rare victory. Since its inception in 1925, the Rolex Fastnet Race has been dominated by big boat success. Perhaps the wind gods are looking to redress the balance.

 Aera was another top performer capable of pushing ICAP Maximus(Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

The game of ‘Hurry and Wait’ being played in Plymouth has gone for several rounds now without ICAP Maximus being trumped as the finishers diminish in size.

Biggest threat was thought to come from the new TP52 Patches. But the wind was not kind to Eamon Conneely’s crew on the final run into Plymouth, and Patches finished at 0922 hours this morning, just over three hours outside the time they needed to beat the Maxi.

One of the pre-race favourites for IRC honours was Patches, but a windless Celtic Sea did them no favours. However, Conneely was still pleased with his team’s performance despite missing overall victory. The Irish businessman has only been in the sport for four years, and this was his first Rolex Fastnet Race. ‘We sailed a very good race. We made good gains on the Sunday night early on, Ian [Walker, the skipper] was really focussed and we made loads of sail changes. That first night was probably the highlight. As for winning the race, well, we knew ICAP Maximus were going well when we saw them coming south from the Fastnet Rock. But you can only sail with the wind you’re in.’

Ian Walker was surprised to have been racing boat for boat with the bigger, more powerful Open 60s. They had proved a useful gauge for their performance and progress through the fickle breezes on the way back to the Scilly Isles. ‘We went further south than most of our rivals, and it was the right way to go. Every time an Open 60 went further south, it made a gain, so we did the same. I dread to think where other boats like Aera are now, the ones that went further north. We could still be out there now.’

 The TP 52 Patches rounds Fastnet Rock - she is now second overall  Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

The race in the Open 60s appeared to be going down to the wire, with Virbac-Paprec just overhauling Cheminées- Poujoulat in the dying miles to Plymouth. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick beat Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm on the water by just 17 minutes. Dick was delighted to have crossed the line first, not only beating Stamm but Mike Sanderson and Pindar, which had led for the first three-quarters of the race. As with Patches, the secret to Dick’s success was heading further south, while Pindar and the leading pack of 60s had held more to the rhumb line between the Fastnet Rock and the Scilly Isles.

However, Dick’s victory would not last for long, because the skipper had to report a grounding incident way back at the start of the race. As Virbac-Paprec was exiting the Solent by Hurst Castle, her deep canting keel struck the bottom and the French boat was stuck. The only way for her to break free was with the help of a rigid-inflatable motorboat nudging her bow away from the stony shore. Having received outside assistance, which is illegal under the racing rules of sailing, Dick had no option but to declare the incident to the race committee. In accordance with the race rules, the Virbac-Paprec accepted a 10% place penalty, which demoted the French team to second, promoting Cheminées-Poujoulat to first in the Open 60s.

After leading the Open 60s for much of the race, Pindar finished over seven hours behind Virbac-Paprec. Emma Richards, sailing with New Zealander, Mike Sanderson, said they felt they had done the right thing with the weather information available to them. ‘Based on what we knew we would do the same thing again,’ she said. ‘The plan didn’t work for us. We sailed into a hole and the others sailed around us.’ Roland Jourdain’s Sill et Veolia finished a clear third, with Mike Golding’s Ecover beating Pindar to fourth place by just six minutes.

While 15 boats have now reached Plymouth, the vast majority of the original 283-boat fleet remain at sea battling through the light airs. This morning, all but the last eight had rounded the Fastnet Rock, with another eight having retired from the race, including Simon Le Bon and his crew on the old Maxi, Arnold Clark Drum.

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Rolex Fastnet: Hurry up and wait for ICAP Maximus.

Not only did ICAP Maximus win line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race this morning, but the wind gods are conspiring to give her handicap victory too. A good breeze propelled the 98-foot New Zealand Maxi at good speeds back to Plymouth early this morning while her rivals have struggled in far less favourable conditions. This morning, Skandia Wild Thing's estimated time of arrival was 1800. By 1600 this afternoon, however, the Australian 98-footer had only drawn level with the Lizard, giving her at least another 70 miles sailing. She has now revised her ETA to 2330 hours. Even that was based on the sea breeze holding until then, which is far from likely. So Grant Wharington and crew might not finish until dawn tomorrow morning.

Things have been even lighter in the Celtic Sea, with the front pack of Open 60s and assorted Grand Prix race yachts making painful progress towards the Scilly Isles. Big gaps have opened up in the Open 60 fleet, with the front two holding a 20-mile lead on the rest. At 1600, Bernard Stamm aboard Cheminées Poujoulat held a lead of just a mile over Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac-Paprec, with Roland Jourdain sitting in a clear third place, well ahead of the chasing pack of Anglo-Saxons.
 

From: Andy Rice, Rolex Fastnet Media Office

Grand Prix

Rolex Fastnet: ICAP Maximus takes line honours.

After 2 days, 20 hours, 02 minutes and 07 seconds of sailing ICAP Maximus crossed the line to take line honours in the 2005 Rolex Fastnet. Unfortunately conditions were less than ideal so any chance of a record in this years event were hindered by the at times total lack of wind seeing an elapsed time end up almost 15 hours slower than the record set in 1999.

Bill Buckley(L) and Charles StC Brown (R) discuss progress duirng ICAP Maximus' buildup in Auckland

There will now be an interesting wait as the rest of the fleet make their way towards the finish and everyone gets a better picture as to exactly wherein the list ICAP Maximus will rank overall on corrected time which has been calculated at 5 days, 41 minutes and 40 seconds.

Obviously the entire EBS Yachting crew are ecstatic with the victory and a full report will be posted once the team hit dry land.

In an earlier story, ICAP Maximus reported that they had been enjoying a more favorable weather pattern throughout the night seeing boat speeds of up to 16 knots as they closed in on the finish line.

With the sun just coming up on Wednesday morning and with a current boat speed of over 15 knots the team were expecting to complete the remaining 34 miles by approximately 0745hrs.

With no positional reports for Skandia Wild Thing available since rounding the Fastnet Rock on Tuesday morning it is not known as to how far ahead ICAP Maximus is ahead of her Australian rival.

Source: www.supermaxi.co.nz

Later Report from Graham Sprigg aboard ICAP Maximus

Celebrations began early this morning as ICAP Maximus crossed the finish line in Plymouth Sound, to round off a perfect Fastnet race for co-owners Bill Buckley, Charles St Clair Brown and their crew. In spite of stiff competition and some very challenging light airs sailing, ICAP Maximus extended its lead over Skandia Wild Thing, the Volvo 70 Telefonica Movistar and other contenders for line honours, to cross the line just after 08.20 local time on Wednesday morning.

 Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

Speaking shortly after the Super Maxi had docked, Charles St Clair Brown thanked Rolex, the sponsors of the 2005 event and praised his crew for their fantastic efforts. Although ICAP Maximus finished ahead of the fleet by a phenomenal time margin, the 600 course taken over the past three days had been far from easy. After rounding Fastnet Rock at 03.33 local time on Tuesday morning, the high pressure system sitting over the Irish Sea frustrated efforts to make good time away from Fastnet and back towards the Scilly Isles.

Winds as low as 2.5 knots made precision helming and precise calls for sail changes absolutely crucial, as the ICAP Maximus crew headed south to exit the high. By late afternoon the winds were building again, as predicted by navigator Mike Quilter, and key helmsmen Richard Bouzaid, Tom Dodson, Greg Elliott - the yacht's designer -, Jeff Scott and George Hendy worked hard to find wind and heat up the pace.

As Tuesday evening drew on the wind built and ICAP Maximus recorded its fastest speeds of the race during the night's reach towards Plymouth. With 16 knots showing at times, significantly above the wind speed of 13 knots, the Kiwi yacht headed for line honours and a place in the history books.

During all the race, apart from the period a few hours after the start, the only competitors seen were on the distant horizon. 'Once we'd rounded the Fastnet Rock,' commented Charles St Clair Brown, 'we were quietly confident that, with a crew of this calibre, we would finish strongly.' His confidence proved correct and, with the support and assistance of ICAP, this super maxi has notched up yet another race win, achieved in difficult and demanding conditions.


 

From Andy Rice at the Rolex Fastnet Media Office:

CAP Maximus has won line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race, after crossing the Plymouth finish line at 0822 hours this morning. The 98-foot New Zealand Maxi led the race from start to finish, never seriously threatened by her Australian rival Skandia Wild Thing.

Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

Co-owners Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley celebrated with champagne and bacon butties and praised the crew and the boat, whose performance has exceeded expectations. “I think our performance was a surprise to most people, and to ourselves to some extent. We tried some sail combinations, some by design some by accident, which have produced some amazing speeds.”

Designer Greg Elliott said the 130-foot rotating rig would have helped them in the frustratingly light conditions that have dominated this race. “When it’s glassy on the water, and there is no wind visible on the water, we’re recording 4 knots wind at the top of the mast,” he said. “That’s wind that the smaller yachts may never get.”

ICAP Maximus enjoyed a good run back along the south-west coast of England, at times getting up to 15 knots boatspeed and completing the final 90 miles in just 8 hours. Skandia Wild Thing has also found a 12-knot north-easterly breeze, and at 1000 this morning reported a boat speed of 14.5 knots sailing upwind, just as they were passing the Scilly Isles. This means they would have approximately 100 miles of sailing to Plymouth. Even if the wind holds for her, she still won’t arrive until early this evening.

 It's a long slow one for the Volvo Open 70 Movistar  (Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex

Meanwhile, out in the Celtic Sea, the smaller yachts have made painstakingly slow progress from the Fastnet Rock. Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Volvo Open 70 Movistar, spoke at 1000 this morning: “We’ve just picked up some good breeze for the first time in a while, 7 knots blowing from the north-west, so we’re running with spinnaker. I think some of the Open 60s that went further south are doing better than us. There is a lot of separation in our group now.” Bekking said he could see the TP52 Patches behind him, and that they were 62 miles from the Scilly Isles.

The crew of ICAP Maximus will be encouraged by this news, as Charles St Clair Brown is keeping his fingers crossed for the double – to win both line honours and on IRC handicap. “That’s we’re really hoping for now, to be able to beat Patches. She’s got an amazing rating, and we’ve got to give her a lot of time.” A lot of time amounts to around 22 hours, which means Patches will have to finish before 0602 hours tomorrow morning if she is to beat ICAP Maximus’s handicap time. To cover 160 miles in such fickle conditions is a tall order for Ian Walker and his crew.

Then again, perhaps another boat will come and steal their thunder. Currently leading the standings on handicap, based on the time of rounding the Fastnet Rock, is Nico Poons’ Swan 45 Charisma. The Dutch yacht was leading Patches by just 13 minutes on corrected time, so a close battle could ensue. There are a number of other teams still very much in the hunt, notably Nick Lykiardopulo’s 55-foot Aera and the 2001 Rolex Fastnet winner, Piet Vroon with his brand new Lutra 56, Formidable 3. The current IRC handicap rankings reflect the international appeal of this classic race, with six different nations represented in the top 10.

At 1100, 72 yachts had rounded the Fastnet Rock.

The Rolex Fastnet Race entails 608 miles of racing from Cowes to Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.

 

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Grand Prix

Rolex Fastnet: Captain Charlie reviews the action so far.

ICAP Maximus co-Skipper Charles StC Brown reviews the last 24 hours 'action' in the Rolex Fastnet:

Our position at 2100 hours GMT:50 06 77 N  7 17 93 W

Rounded Fastnet rock at 3.33 am in the morning after a very slow and frustrating last 24 miles sailing down the Irish coast in virtually drifting conditions. What wind there was had gone into the south and varied between zero and 4 knots. We decided to work the shore and made the most of a tidal eddy until the tide changed to assist us for the last 7 miles into the old rock.

ICAP Maximus under Code Zero  (Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex

I caused a little consternation with the crew at one stage around 2am insisting we tack the shortest course to the mark and Mike Quilter worried somewhat that we had tacked too soon and would drift past it and not be able to get back! Anyway I was convinced to play it safe and we tacked in again to avoid that situation. Drifted past the rock and greeted by a lonely official in a tender who no doubt was there to ensure we rounded the correct way and that all crew on deck were wearing their lifejackets.

A 7 mile run out to the offset mark then a turn to port bound for those Scilly Isles! Light reaching in 3 to 8 knots; many changes between the code zero and code 2. Good to keep the boys busy wooling up the Gennakers!

Every vessel that was in sight was scanned to see if the opposition had sneaked up on us. Finally news came thru that Scandia Wild Thing had rounded about 6 hours behind us! That put us about 10 hours ahead of them on corrected.

Then the inevitable happened... of course the wind disappeared completely and even those elusive cats paws were gone! Slowly slowly, though the wind finally began to fill as we worked our way south of that stationary high and at last we were back to 10 to 12 knots in 6 to 8 knots true. We seem at last to be learning the boat as now we are not happy if we are not 4 knots faster than true wind speed in this range. The wing mast trim and the sheeting angles are critical to our performance. Tom Dodson and Rick Bouzaid aren't so bad as well of course!

Also it sure makes a big difference not to be dragging along the broken remains of our centreboard actuator from the bottom of the hull as we were in the last half of the Transatlantic race.

News now through that we are 3rd on corrected behind Patches by 2 hours or 2.8% and Aera by just half an hour. Nice surprise for us as its a rare thing for big boats to be playing with these IRC optimised yachts. Still a long way to go before the fat lady sings though.

As I sign off for the evening and tuck back up in my cosy stateroom listening with one ear to ensure the crew are working their hardest we are now 30 miles from the Scilly Isles doing 14.5 in 11 knots true, code zero back on, TWA 102 and true direction 016. Lets hope the breeze stays in for us.... we just might give those Irish a fright, just need some Kiwi luck! About time the boys reckon.

ETA tomorrow morning sometime. Better hurry up or we won't get over the shoal into that marina .....several refreshing ales a good incentive!

Over for now from team ICAP Maximus Kiwi.

Captain Charlie
 

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Grand Prix

Rolex Fastnet: Code Zeroes all round.

Skandia rounds the Fastnet Rock   Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

ICAP Maximus passed the Fastnet Rock at 0333 hours this morning, and continues to hold a significant lead in the Rolex Fastnet Race. The other big Maxi in the race, Skandia Wild Thing, rounded the Rock at 0918 hours, while a group of Open 60s and the Volvo Open 70 Movistar are still making agonisingly slow progress in a glassy Celtic Sea.

Boat captain of ICAP Maximus, George Hendy, said at 1000 hours this morning: 'We're now 23 miles from the Fastnet Rock, on our way back to Plymouth. We're making 6 knots boatspeed in 4.5 knots of wind, which is the most wind we've seen in a long time.' Hendy said the boat was flying a Code 0 headsail and that they were on a close reach back towards the Scilly Isles.

He would not be drawn on predicting an estimated time of arrival (ETA). 'The wind is meant to come up in the afternoon, the forecast is quite favourable. But it's just a minefield out here. There are huge holes in the wind. You could easily sail into one of those holes and stop for three or four hours.' Hendy said one of the crew was going up the rig every so often to get a bird's eye view of the surrounding sea, and look for the best patches of wind - and those dreaded holes.

Skandia Wild Thing was drifting in glassy conditions, just three miles past the Rock at 1000 hours this morning. Helmsman and trimmer Graham Taylor said: 'The wind gods aren't playing their hand for us, or anyone else for that matter. We've seen a lot of zeros on the instruments over the past few hours. Currently we're making 0.2 knots boatspeed. We've probably done about 35 or 40 miles in the past 12 hours. But we think there are still plenty of passing opportunities. There are quite a few gates left in the race yet.'

Skipper of VO70 Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, reported in at 0900 hours this morning. 'We've just done 120 miles in 24 hours. We've broken our all-time slowest record,' said the Dutch professional, who also set the 24-hour monohull sailing record aboard Movistar earlier this year, with a distance of 535 miles. At 608 miles, the Rolex Fastnet Race course is not much further, and yet the powerful VO70 was still 30 miles from the rock when Bekking reported in. 'We've just got some breeze back now, and we're making 8 to 10 knots' boatspeed in 6 knots of wind. We can see quite a few Open 60s around us - Ecover two miles to leeward, Pindar a mile further to leeward, and Sill three or four miles behind. We're all in a big line heading towards the Rock. As for the big boats - they're gone. They're out of sight.'

Ecover has made up good ground in the 14-boat Open 60 fleet. Skipper Mike Golding said: 'The wind went soft for a while during the night so we changed to a Code 0, but we are now back under genoa and main. The boat is fully loaded up and we are doing about 9-10 knots through the water. We are currently lying to the left-hand side of the fleet and can see Virbac to weather of us. The guys have kept the boat moving really well and we have had a cracking few hours,' commented Golding over a fry-up breakfast this morning.

Some of the smaller yachts in the 285-boat fleet have yet to round Lands End. It could be the weekend before they get back to Plymouth. The slowest rated boat in the fleet, Ian Coglin's Contessa 32 Moonshadow II, passed the Lizard at 0617 hours this morning, and was one of a number yet to pass Lands End. It appears that skipper Coglin is having to deal with an increasingly mutinous crew: 'Crew [is] consulting small print of brochure,' he reported. 'Apparently [it's] not what I promised.'
 

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Grand Prix

ICAP Maximus heads for the Scilly Isles with Skania over five and a half hours astern

06.15 Tuesday morning. After a frustrating night which saw ICAP Maximus and her crew tantalisingly close to the Fastnet Rock as the sun set, they waited for several hours in extremely light and variable winds before the breeze finally started building during the early hours of this morning, enabling them to round the rock and its famous lighthouse at 03.30 local time.

Supermaxi in the Sunset.      Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex

ICAP Maximus is now racing back to Plymouth via the Scilly Isles and the finish of the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race.

Meanwhile Skania has rounded the Fastnet Rock over 5hrs 45 mins astern of ICAP Maximus. The supermaxi skippered by Grant Wharington rounded the landmark at 0918hrs, (ICAP Maximus passed at 0333hrs, and the time differential will be very difficult for the Australian to pull back

During Monday, the ICAP Maximus crew, skippered by co-owner Charles St Clair Brown, made the most of their strong start and capitalised on some perfect weather predictions provided by navigator Mike Quilter.

On board are a number of other legendary kiwi sailors, including Richard Bouzaid, Tom Dodson and Jeff 'Scottie' Scott, who himself holds the current course record for the race, which he set in 1999.

During the early stages of Monday it still looked possible that ICAP Maximus could itself take the record, but reducing wind strength in the Irish Sea, caused by a high pressure system, now looks to have put this beyond reach. However, good crew work and rapid sail changes to maximise opportunities from the altering wind strength and direction had put ICAP Maximus well in front at the half way stage.

Astern they watched the battle develop between Grant Wharrington's Skandia Wild Thing and the new Volvo 70 Telefonica Movistar, which itself holds the 24 hour distance record for a monohull. Watch leader and crew boss George Hendy commented: 'At one stage, just before the start in Cowes, it didn't even look as though Skandia Wild Thing would be racing. Then at the last minute they appeared from Southampton Water, crossing the line well back in our class'

Initially the closest competition came from the Volvo 70 as the fleet made its way down the western Solent towards The Needles and open water, but ICAP Maximus, with the yacht's designer Greg Elliott among the crew, soon saw both their main rivals disappear over the horizon behind them. By mid afternoon Monday there was no sign of either boat and ICAP Maximus was alone in the Irish Sea, heading for the Fastnet Rock.

The 11 hours prior to rounding became agonisingly slow, with the wind strength dropping throughout Monday afternoon and through the night. Assessing the weather situation this morning, Mike Quilter explained to crew member Graham Sprigg, reporting from on board: 'The predicted high pressure expected in the area has materialised and in fact has its centre positioned over the Fastnet. Having now passed the mark, we are now sailing south in an effort to find some improving wind strength that will take us back to the finish in Plymouth, which lies 180 miles away.'

ICAP Maximus has performed faultlessly throughout the race, which has been a real test of light airs sailing. 'The design and build of this boat is fabulous' said Charles St Clair Brown. 'The canting keel gives such stability, we can really optimise sail trim to suit conditions.' Crew spirits on board are good, with everyone quickly settling into a three watch system as they concentrate on driving the yacht to its maximum speed in variable winds.

From Janey Treleaven, ICAP Maximus

Grand Prix

ICAP Maximus is first around Fastnet Rock

The New Zealand  supermaxi, ICAP Maximus (Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley) was the first yacht to round Fastnet Rock off the coast off Ireland.

She is listed as having rounded at 0330hrs GMT which was 1430hrs (NZT). The next leg is to the Scilly Isles and then back to the finish in Plymouth. There is no report as to her progress against the record. Winds in the area are thought to be light. No other boats are list as having rounded over an hour later.

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ICAP Maximus leads the Rolex Fastnet Race - Latest Report - 20 miles from Fastnet Rock

At 16.30hrs GMT  ICAP Maximus was reported as being approximately 20 miles from the Fastnet rock. The wind varying in strength throughout afternoon and averaging just seven knots. ICAP Maximus reported good boat speed, and that the weather was largely as predicted by navigator, Mike Quilter.

Later at 18.30hrs (GMT) the off the boat report said that their tactics were paying off and they were tracking into Fastnet with shift in weather. No other boats were in sight as ICAP Maximus prepared to gybe for final 20 mile approach to the rock.

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Grand Prix

ICAP Maximus leads the Rolex Fastnet Race - Latest Reports

Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex)

Latest Report

ICAP Maximus is maintaining her lead in the Rolex Fastnet Race and was initially expected to reach the Fastnet Rock before sunset this evening (GMT) or dawn NZT).

At 1400 hours earlier this afternoon (GMT), a helicopter pilot logged the 100-foot New Zealand Maxi as making 10 knots boatspeed in just six knots of breeze. With just 65 miles to the Rock off the south-western tip of Ireland, the boat's progress appears to be exceeding the predictions of the navigator Mike Quilter.

Without the benefit of a helicopter's viewpoint of the Celtic Sea, the round-the-world-race veteran could only draw his conclusions from the weather data he was receiving, which suggested the high pressure system could kill the breeze dead, and that ICAP Maximus would not reach the Rock for a long time yet.

However the lightweight canting-keeled Maxi appears to be one of the few boats enjoying any sort of useable breeze right now. This afternoon she was seven miles ahead of Skandia Wild Thing, with the Volvo Open 70 Movistar another half-mile behind the Aussie Maxi. Some miles further back was the Volvo Ocean 60 ABN Amro and two Open 60s locked in a close duel that has been going on since the Solent. The most recent update put Pindar as having regained the lead from Sill. While the bigger boats continue to make measurable progress, the majority of the fleet is still scattered along the south-west coast of England, trying to eke out what speed they can from the little breeze they can catch in their sails.

Latest position reports from the Open 60 tracking system show that at 1900hrs GMT the fleet was about halfway across the Irish Sea. The position of the supermaxis is dependent on whether they have had a reasonable breeze overnight (six knots plus) or whether they have been plagued with light airs like the remainder of the fleet. As of 0945hrs (NZT)There has not yet been a rounding of the Fastnet Rock logged against the race leader, ICAP Maximus.

Earlier Report

Pleasant north-easterly winds have launched the Rolex Fastnet Race fleet down the south-west coast of England this morning. Progress has been faster than expected after the wind rotated gradually round to the north and then to the east. ICAP Maximus holds a good lead over her Maxi rival Skandia Wild Thing, with the Volvo Open 70 Movistar not far behind. ICAP Maximus passed Lands End at 0615 hours, just as the sun was coming up for what looks set to be another glorious day on the water.. Skandia Wild Thing passed Lands End at 0630 hours, reporting a boat speed of 14 knots in 11 knots' wind.

With assistance from Rolex Fastnet Media Office

Grand Prix

ICAP Maximus leds the Rolex Fastnet Race - onboard reports 1 & 2.

ICAP Maximus had a perfectly timed start and ran down the western Solent undertaking several sail changes on the way because of the varying wind conditions but by 2.00pm we were clear of the Needles and at the front of the fleet.

ICAP Maximus at the Rolex Fastnet start (Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

After leaving the Solent we picked up better winds and by 5.00pm had passed Portland Bill sailing with the Number One jib.

The only boat we can see in contention is the Volvo 70, Telefonica Moviestar, which would pick up wind closer in to shore and is an estimated five miles behind at the moment with another mile back to Skandia Wild Thing.

At times in the Solent the wind dropped to around four knots but once in open water the wind has picked up again. Speed 11.8 knots, clear skies, flat seas, everyone on the rail and just about to start the watch system at 6 o'clock
 

Report Update - into the Irish Sea

After a near perfect start, to the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race, which began Sunday at 12.20 in Cowes, Isle of Wight, ICAP Maximus sailed through the fleet of earlier class starts and by 14.00 was in front of all other competitors.

Variable wind strengths called for a number of sail changes in the Solent, before finding better winds as the boat headed out towards Portland Bill.

By this stage, only the Volvo 70 Telefonica and Skandia Wild Thing were still in sight astern, approximately three miles behind. Crew spirits were high as the watch systems commenced at 18.00 on Sunday.

Further sail changes were necessitated by fluctuating wind strengths, although navigator Mike Quilter's the decision to stay offshore began to pay dividends as the wind backed through the evening.

Light airs reaching through Sunday night, along the south western coast of England, saw ICAP Maximus arriving at the Lizard at 03.32 local time, over 30 minutes ahead of the Volvo 70 and Skandia Wild Thing.

'Some excellent tactics and navigating, coupled with consistent world class helming have put us in front and everything is going smoothly at present.' commented skipper Charles St Clair Brown, whose crew are currently still on track the course record for the Fastnet.

With 154 miles to the Fastnet rock at 06.45 local time, the objective for Monday is to put as much distance between themselves and the rest of the fleet as possible. (At 6.15am GMT ICAP Maximus was reported to be off Lands End and heading into the Irish Sea.)

From: Graham Sprigg (onboard)

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Grand Prix

ICAP Maximus first to Needles in Rolex Fastnet Race

Kiwi super maxi, ICAP Maximus (Charles StC Brown and Bill Buckley) has taken first blood in the Rolex Fastnet Race, beating her rival, Grant Wharington’s Skandia Wild Thing past The Needles, the first waypoint in the Race.

 (Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex)

Many top-rated boats fell foul of a tricky game of snakes and ladders with the fickle breeze in the Solent, at the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race today. With the tide just on the turn as the seven divisions of the 285-boat fleet departed the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, it was a tough call knowing whether to aim for the mainland or the island shore of the Solent.

ICAP Maximus's great rival for line honours, the newly refurbished Skandia Wild Thing, was two minutes late for the start at the windward end of the long start line, over by the mainland shore at Calshot. Her participation in the race had been cast into severe doubt just hours before, when a routine check of the rig revealed serious damage to the top of the mast. The crew made a makeshift repair to the mast using carbon and epoxy, and a crewman was still perched aloft just minutes before the start, using a hot-air gun to dry the hardening epoxy as much as possible.

 (Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

Despite Skandia's late start, owner Grant Wharington soon found good pressure on the mainland shore and was eating into ICAP Maximus's lead. At least ICAP Maximus, owned by Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley, had made ground towards the mainland side of the Solent. Others that held the island shore, such as Patches and the Maxi yacht Leopard of London, found themselves increasingly stranded in fickle winds. Every so often, a zephyr of breeze would offer them some hope of redemption, but ultimately the breeze was more reliable to windward.

The Volvo Open 70 Movistar held a high line along the shore by Lymington and hit 14 knots boatspeed as the wind puffed up to 10 knots on the beam. She started to make big inroads into ICAP Maximus's lead as the yachts approached Hurst Castle at the western end of the Solent. Skandia Wild Thing was also making back ground on the leaders until her gennaker broke. She was forced to sail bareheaded until the crew could put up a replacement.

  (Photo:Daniel Forster / Rolex)

Mike Broughton, a long-time competitor in the Fastnet as a navigator, is this time sitting ashore and watching the weather closely. He is standing by yesterday's prediction of a very slow race. “The first few boats might just make it past Portland this evening before the tide turns against them,” he said. But it will be a close-run thing, even for yachts as fast as the 100-foot canting-keel Maxis or the VO70. “The wind is blowing 6 knots from the south-west at Portland, and they have positive current only until 7pm.” If the leaders can break through this tidal gate before it shuts, they will gain a substantial advantage over the rest of the fleet.

Source: Rolex Fastnet website.

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Grand Prix

ICAP Maximus first in 50 Miler

In their first head to head battle, the Kiwi supermaxi ICAP Maximus has emerged a clear winner over the Australian supermaxi Skandia Wild Thing.

ICAP Maximus leads Skandia Wild Thing home (Photo: supermaxi.co.nz)

The occasion was a 50 mile race consisting of a long leg into Poole Bay and return to Cowes, Isle of Wight, and was the first and final meeting before the Fastnet Race
After jumping the start and being recalled, ICAP Maximus returned to restart and then fought back to close the gap on Skandia – and passing her just before the turning mark off Poole.

Twenty knot winds drove the 100ft supermaxis home and by the Needles at the western end of the Isle of Wight, ICAP Maximus had opened up a lead of almost a mile.

By the time they reached the finish line and completed no less than 24 gybes, ICAP Maximus had a lead of 8 minutes and completed the 51nm course in an elapsed time of just over 4hrs 20 minutes. Clearly owners Charles Brown and Bill Buckley were delighted that they were able to get one up over the competition ahead of the upcoming Fastnet Race.

The event was part of a celebrity race, which also featured the Open 60 class on the same course. In spite of enjoying an early advantage the Open 60 Hugo Boss with Ben Ainslie aboard fell back, and it was left to Skandia Wild Thing skippered by Melbourne sailor Grant Wharraington and ICAP Maximus to make the running.
F
Next event for the two supermaxis is the Fastent Race starting on 7th August.

The 608 mile event will see the two supermaxis chasing the record of 2 days, 5 hours, 8 minutes set in 1999.

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