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Trans- Tasman Solo Yacht Race 2023: Race entries roll in

Sailors will race single-handedly across the Tasman Sea from New Plymouth to Southport in April 2023.

New Plymouth’s local paper, The Daily News, hit the nail on the head in a 1967 editorial: “There is an exciting challenge in the proposed singlehanded yacht race between New Plymouth and Brisbane,” it said.

“Over 1,400 miles of the Tasman Sea, an area that can produce seas to test the skilled yachtsman, the race could be one of the most demanding ever held.”

Little did the writer realise that the race would become the oldest continually run singlehanded yacht race in the world, be contested by the first women to complete a singlehanded offshore race, and generate some of the country’s best sailing stories.

And the next four-yearly race is scheduled to sail from New Plymouth for Southport in April 2023 with a fleet of about 11 entrants.

One rule change imposed by the race organisers, the New Plymouth Yacht Club, is a ban on yachts 9m (30 ft) or shorter, on the grounds they are “too dangerous.”

This counters experience from the race. There have been 12 single-handed races from New Plymouth since it first began in 1970 – and 106 entries, of which over ten have been 9m or less.

Andrew Fagan in his 5.3m Swirly World in Perpetuity sailed the 1994 Trans-Tasman and Wild Child, a 6.5m mini Transat skippered by Phil Bowers, finished within an hour or so ahead of Tony Mowbray in his 13.5m Coles design Solo Globe Challenger. Aucklander Trish Lewis put in a creditable performance in her 7.62m Whiting Reactor during the 2014 event.

That is not to mention the hundreds of ocean passages and races safely completed elsewhere in the world by yachts of 9m or less.

When the race was first proposed, there was only one other singlehanded ocean race in the world – the Observer Singlehanded Atlantic Race (OSTAR). The around the world Golden Globe Race, currently being run, which doesn’t allow the use of electronic navigation or communication, has started to honour the early sailors and their skill sets.

But meanwhile there have been several cancellations of OSTAR events, which means the Solo Tasman is the longest continually run event. Previous races have finished at Mooloolaba in Queensland, but it is not a customs clearance port whereas Southport is.

Long-time race supporter Kay Cottee owns a boatbuilding establishment at Yamba just over 200km further south. She competed in the 1986 race in Cinnamon Scrub and went on to become the first woman to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted, around the world.

Next year’s event is sponsored by New Plymouth land agents Ray White and is called the Ray White Solo Tasman Yacht Challenge.

There are 11 confirmed entrants to date, race secretary Annette Arms said. Among them is former Nelson boatbuilder/designer, Malcolm Dickson, who finished 12 hours behind his son Hamish in the 2018 race. His first solo Tasman race was the 1978 event.

Auckland yachtsman Alan Yardley has also entered Melting Point, his 9m Ross, and will be sailing his third single-handed race across the Tasman.

They’ll be up against the record of 6d 7h 13m set by Reini Gelder sailing his Crowther trimaran, Shark Angel, in the 2014 race.

The race is run in five classes: Adventure Monohull, Adventure Multihull, IRC and the Sir Francis Chichester Trophy for the line honours winner. Chichester, was the first person to sail around the world single-handedly by the clipper route and an early supporter of the solo Tasman race.

“Any race is a good race,” he’s quoted as telling organisers of the Tasman event. BNZ

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

OSTAR: 60 and still going strong

• Katy Stickland
• May 10, 2022

Blondie Hasler's biographer Ewen Southby-Tailyour looks at the origin of the Corinthian race and its enduring legacy

Blondie Hasler at the start of the 1964 OSTAR, which was the first race to finish in Newport, Rhode Island, rather than New York. Credit: Ewen Southby-Tailyour

No one, probably not even ‘Blondie’, could have guessed that ‘Hasler’s wonderful idea’, conceived in 1956, would still be going strong in 2022 – over 60 years after the first Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) first took place.

During the intervening years the OSTAR has been through a number of iterations and titles and a few ups and downs, yet it continues to flourish.

OSTAR 2022 start and course

A special 60th anniversary edition of the OSTAR has been on the cards for a long time now, though as with many other sporting events across the world in recent years it has been postponed on several occasions due to Covid 19 first in 2020 then again in 2021.

Rear Commodore Oceanic and Race Director, Adrian Gray, explained when the even needed to be postponed again late in the day in 2021 that: “Covid-19 rules for entering both the UK and USA have led to a last-minute reduction of entries due to them being unable to comply with these measures. This in turn has made the running of OSTAR and TWOSTAR physically and financially unviable for 2021. Therefore, we have no alternative but to postpone the running of the 60th anniversary race again, now to a new date of May 15th, 2022.”

The OSTAR starts from Plymouth and ends at Newport. Credit: Paul Gibbins

But not all those set to enter were deterred and following the postponement, a small group of determined solo and double-handed skippers set off on their own challenge, the NOSTAR transatlantic.

At the time of writing 15 sailors were signed up for this year’s OSTAR. You can keep track of entries via the Royal Western Yacht Club’s website .

The 2022 edition of the OSTAR will start at 12:00 BST from Plymouth, UK

The course is from a start line in Plymouth Sound to the finish line in Narragansett Sound, Newport Rhode Island. True to the history of the event there are very few limitations in terms of the OSTAR course, with the only instructions to racers stating that they must ‘leave Plymouth Breakwater to port, Eddystone Lighthouse and outlaying rocks and Nantucket Island to starboard.’

The history of the OSTAR

In 1951 Blondie Hasler developed an ‘intensifying’ desire to design a ‘radical cruising boat’ that would, in his own words, ‘be my servant and not my master’.

Eventually the junk-rigged Jester – ‘because she is such a bloody joke’ – with her self-steering gear and central, enclosed steering position to which all lines led and from which the skipper need not move, was built to ride out a storm, if not in comfort then at least in safety.

A serious consideration was that she would need to keep a girlfriend keen in the early, impressionable stages of a romance, by not having to fight sodden canvas at 40° angle of heel in seven-eights of a gale.

In September 1957 the second of Hasler’s ‘inventions’ that was to change the face of short-handed ocean sailing was also taking shape.

The trim tab fitted to the trailing edge of rudders was not new but he had to start somewhere in his quest to transfer power from the water-flow to the tiller, and so the Hasler pendulum-servo vane gear was born.

To understand the gestation of the event that transformed many of the world’s offshore racing calendars, it is necessary to return to 25 November 1956, when an article in The Observer , describing how two retired Royal Navy officers had recently crossed the Atlantic single-handed, caught Hasler’s eye.

The seamanship of the 2017 OSTAR skippers was certainly tested when an Atlantic storm saw the loss of two yachts from the singlehanded fleet, although the skippers – Mervyn Wheatley and Michelle Zambelli – were successfully rescued. Credit: Paul Gibbons

Hasler knew that there had been a single-handed transatlantic race in 1891, albeit from west to east, but these latest crossings sparked an idea.

So, on 11 January 1957, anxious to prove and advertise his two ‘inventions’ in a contest, Hasler wrote to his friend, David Astor of The Observer: ‘I have been brooding for some time on… organising a transatlantic race for single-handed sailing boats… Is there any hope that The Observer would like to sponsor it?’

Astor’s reply was not encouraging; ‘I rather think that my Managing Director will be against it,’ he wrote back.

Undaunted Hasler turned to New York’s Slocum Society: ‘By all means send us the proposed organisation of the race… the prospect is most exciting,’ was the reply.

Thus began an exchange of conflicting ideas. For instance, the use of radio transmitters would be allowed, the race would stage via the Azores and engines were, in Hasler’s words, almost mandatory.

Referring to radios, he commented: ‘I would be happy to drown with dignity for I dread the idea of ships having to conduct rescue operations.’

Changing tide

Meanwhile a new team was gathering in The Observer led by its sports editor, Christopher Brasher, who held the same opinion as Hasler concerning nautical nannies.

With Brasher’s persuasion the managing director now agreed to ‘help’ but, anxious not to have its name associated with the race for fear of ridicule, he decided to call it the Atlantic single-handed yacht race.

Later, following the early successes, he agreed to ‘sponsor’ it while changing its name to the Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race, or OSTAR. The paper’s involvement would last until 1986.

David Lewis and Val Howells, having heard of Hasler’s ‘amazing idea’, expressed firm intentions so, without yet a backer, the three determined to start themselves and take their own finishing times.

Who, they argued, needed a sponsor or yacht club? The myth of them each putting a half crown into a ‘purse’ is just that – a myth generated, post facto, by Francis Chichester.

Blondie Hasler designed Jester to be a ‘radical cruising boat’, with self-steering gear and a central, enclosed steering position. Credit: Ewen Southby-Tailyour

Eventually Chichester, too, declared an interest and, fortuitously, took on much of the correspondence from his London office. Finally, Jean Lacombe made up the fifth of the original starters.

Further good news came with the Royal Western Yacht Club’s agreement to handle the start under the leadership of their Rear-Commodore, Jack Odling-Smee, who, too, shared a similar outlook on life and the nannies of the cotton wool society that try to dominate it.

Having graciously stood down, the Slocum Society offered to oversee arrangements at New York.

The first four started from Plymouth on 11 June 1960 with Lacombe following three days later. All five yachts, four of whom were 25ft or under, reached New York in good order: a 100% record that still stands.

Just as interesting is that among the 15 starters in the 1964 OSTAR all five ‘originals’ again finished – this time at Newport, Rhode Island. Hasler was to predict that a higher percentage of under 30-footers would always finish, compared to a similar percentage of larger vessels.

Although multihulls had been accepted by Hasler for the first race none took part but during the second OSTAR multi-hulls successfully completed the course: two catamarans and one trimaran.

With success now proven, the OSTAR began to attract big money, big names and, inevitably, big egos. Indeed, so popular was it that by 1968 Hasler worried that the race’s success contained the seeds of its own death with excessive competitiveness being one of the reasons.

Yachts of 128ft in 1972 and 236ft in 1976 (with a 125 entry list) did not help the image. Fearing a demise, he planned a scaled-down Series Two race that, if necessary, would begin in 1980.

By the ’70s it was also feared that the French, upset at the fluctuating length and number of restrictions, would take over the OSTAR. They didn’t but instead introduced their own Route de Rhum in 1978.

Mervyn Wheatley preparing his Formosa 42, Tamarind ahead of the start of the 2017 OSTAR. He was forced to abandon the yacht after it was rolled in a 70-knot storm. He was rescued by the Queen Mary 2 luxury liner. Credit: Paul Gibbons

There is no doubt that following Eric Tabarly’s popular win in 1964 (no one was more pleased than Hasler) France had found a new ‘national sport’ and, hence, new heroes. With this French interest came a proliferation of single handed trans-oceanic contests that continue to this day.

The OSTAR also gave Chichester the impetus to circumnavigate the globe in 1966 and that, too, led to yet more ‘global’ races.

Little ships shunned

The Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC), equally concerned that the OSTAR was unmanageable, swamped by professional organisations, wisely hived off this element to Offshore Challenges in 2005, which is now The Transat.

It then reverted to running a Corinthian event with an upper size limit at 60ft and a lower limit of 27ft. This was primarily because of evolving international stability requirements, which made compliance for smaller vessels difficult.

Thus perfectly seaworthy yachts became excluded from a race that has at its very heart the 25ft Jester herself.

Perhaps, though, owners of these vessels are not so troubled at being forced out, when they know that £2,000, which increases with boat size, is required just to enter: over double what Jester cost!

This nautical-nannying (emphatically not of the Royal Western Yacht Club’s making) is a nonsense and surprises skippers of, for example, Twisters, Contessa 26s and even the diminutive Corribbee 21s who were, quite suddenly, disenfranchised.

Experienced yachtsman know that safety at sea is a complicated matrix of human and physical facts rather than just size.

The only arbiter of safety at sea is the sea itself, wrote Hasler, and ‘not a health and safety-orientated committee of nannies with slide-rules and copious regulations’.

Although the familiar – iconic – acronym, OSTAR, remains the same the full, RWYC title has been subtly altered by replacing Observer with Original.

Nevertheless, the ‘new’ OSTAR enjoys well-deserved and continued success and for that Hasler would, surely, be relieved.

But – a significant ‘but’ – he would not have approved of the word ‘original’ to describe ‘his’ trans-Atlantic race that bars four out of the five ‘originals’ from taking part.

Happily, the half crown club also flourishes– despite having been founded on a Chichester-generated myth!

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Lisa Blair at the start of the 2013 Solo Tasman Race.

New route for Solo Tasman Yacht Challenge 2022

The 50th anniversary of the Solo Tasman Yacht Challenge in 2022 will feature a new finishing destination which will make it easier for sailors and organisers to clear customs.

The 2022 edition of the race, which will be the 14th race in its history, will finish at the Southport Yacht Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast rather than Mooloolaba. It will once again start from the New Plymouth Yacht Club.

The Solo Tasman Yacht Challenge is contested every four years and is the second-oldest continuously-run single-handed ocean race in the world. It's also the only race of its kind in the southern hemisphere and the 2022 race will cover 1240 nautical miles.

Three classes will be catered for:

• Adventure class – Monohull 
• Adventure class – Multihull and IRC
• Line honours is awarded the Sir Francis Chichester Trophy

Hamish Dickson, pictured, won the last installment in 2018, finishing in nine days and nine hours, with his father Malcolm 12 hours behind in second.

See  here for more information on the Solo Tasman Yacht Challenge 2020 .

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• Monday, March 18 2024

OSTAR History

In 1959, at the request of Lt.Col. H.G. (Blondie) Hasler, the Royal Western Yacht Club decided to organize a single-handed transatlantic race – and so a tradition was born.

Blondie Hasler had for some time been trying to promote the idea of a single-handed race across the Atlantic against the prevailing winds and currents. His press release of November 1959 proclaimed:

“Described by one experienced yachtsman as ‘the most sporting event of the century’ a transatlantic race for single-handed sailing boats will start from the south coast of England on Saturday 11 th  June 1960 and will finish off Sheepshead Bay, in the approaches to New York, at least a month later”.

He had interested Francis Chichester – hence the story of the half crown (twelve and a half pence/twenty five cent) wager – and several others, but was unable to find an organizer or sponsor willing to move from the familiar full-crewed or ‘cruise in company’ racing to such a dangerous sounding innovation. But Blondie persevered and, with Francis Chichester, approached the RWYC whose Commodore at the time was Sir Winston Churchill and got a positive response.

With a yacht club of repute to take on the organization of the race, Blondie then obtained the sponsorship of The Observer newspaper and so the RWYC Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, or OSTAR, came about.

Of the eight entries for that first race, four crossed the start line on 11 June 1960 and a fifth, Jean Lacombe, started three days later. Forty days later Francis Chichester, in Gipsy Moth III, crossed the finish line to great media and public acclaim. All five competitors finished successfully with Jean Lacombe finally crossing the line in his 21ft Cap Horn some 76 days after the start.

The  OSTAR  was established and has been sailed every four years since.

The Royal Western Yacht Club of England is partnered with the Newport Yacht Club to bring you this exciting race again in 2013. The race which begins outside the break water in Plymouth Sound, Devon, UK  finishes off of Castle Hill Light here in Newport.

This race is supported by the Rhode Island Sailing Events Commission.

The MailASail 2021 OSTAR has been postponed due to Covid-19 Requirements to 15 May, 2022 .

MailASail 2021 OSTAR TWOSTAR Press Release 2 nd April 2020

The Royal Western Yacht Club of England announce the rescheduling of their MailASail OSTAR TWOSTAR that was postponed in 2020 due to the Covic 19 virus, to a new date of May 15 th 2021. We are extremely grateful to our title sponsor MailASail who will continue to support us for this rescheduled event.

The 2021 race will continue to run between Plymouth England and Newport Rhode Island as before.

A new 2021 Notice of Race, Entry form and World Sailing 2020 – 2021 Offshore Safety Regulations for Cat 1 yachts can all be downloaded from the event websites at www.rwyc.org/ostar/ and www.rwyc.org/twostar/

The Notice of Race outlines all requirements that must be fulfilled in order to compete, and includes contact details for general information, entry and communication with RWYC event management. Additionally, in the NoR are the event Facebook page and the Facebook Group addresses where competitors and potential competitors can interact with one another.

Neil Dunkley Race Director MailASail 2021 OSTAR TWOSTAR RWYC

Final 31st March 2020

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Original Single-Handed and Two-Handed Transatlantic Race

Celebrating 60 years of short handed oceanic racing

The Royal Western Yacht Club of England hosts the major transatlantic races; the Original Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) and the Two-handed Transatlantic Race (TWOSTAR)

Are you up to the challenge of racing, single-headed or double-handed, 3000miles across the North Atlantic?

The first trans-Atlantic race, conceived in 1960 by ‘cockleshell hero’ Blondie Hasler and organised by the RWYC, sailed from Plymouth to New York and was won by the intrepid yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester. It was an instant success and despite strong opposition from the sailing establishment saw the birth of singlehanded racing throughout the world. Since then the RWYC has run the OSTAR (the Original Singlehanded TransAtlantic Race) every four years from Plymouth to Newport. It was later joined by a sister event, the Twohanded TransAtlantic Race (which quickly became known as the TWOSTAR), when the demand grew for a twohanded race.

The Creation of the OSTAR

In 1956 Blondie Hasler became interested in the challenges of offshore singlehanded sailing – “one man, one boat, the ocean…”. Over the next few years he conceived of a transatlantic race against the prevailing winds and currents whose purpose was to develop the necessary seamanship, equipment and techniques.

He had interested several competitors, but was unable to find an organiser or sponsor willing to move from the familiar full-crewed or ‘cruise in company’ racing to such a dangerous sounding innovation. His press release of November 1959 proclaimed “Described by one experienced yachtsman as ‘the most sporting event of the century’ a transatlantic race for single-handed sailing boats will start from the south coast of England on Saturday 11 June 1960 and will finish off Sheepshead Bay, in the approaches to New York, at least a month later”.

Blondie and Francis Chichester agreed that should no sponsor be found they would go ahead with the race anyway and each competitor would wager half-a-crown; winner take all. But Blondie persevered and, with Francis, approached the RWYC and got a positive response from the Rear Commodore Jack Odling-Smee.

With a yacht club of repute to take on the organisation of the race, Blondie obtained the sponsorship of The Observer newspaper and so the RWYC Singlehanded Trans-Atlantic Race for the Observer Trophy, or OSTAR, came about.

With sponsor and organiser in place, the half crown wager was no longer required but its proposal was recognised later when the Half Crown Club was created to honour the intrepid sailors who have competed in an OSTAR.

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH STUDENT IN SINGLE-HANDED YACHT RACE

• March 7, 2000

James Fiske, a Geography student from the University of Plymouth is hoping to take part in the Mini Transat 2001 single-handed trans-atlantic yacht race.

James, who is looking for sponsorship from local and national businesses is one of a handful of potential British entrants in the race and is likely to be one of the youngest there.

“As a Yachtmaster Ocean I am at ease with the deep ocean and feel confident that I possess the skills and training which allow me to complete the race with great success,” says James.

The race, which was the brainchild of local Bob Salmon back in 1977, started as a solo transatlantic drag race and was taken over by the French due to their passion for solo sailing. The race starts on the West Coast of France and finishes on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe – 4,000 miles away.

James represents great hope for Britain, and even at his young age, has logged an impressive 17,000 nautical miles.

For more information about Mini Transit 2001 or to find out more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact James Fiske on 07747 633608 or email: [email protected]

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Plymouth Fastnet 500 Race

11th august 2024.

• Race Tracking

The Plymouth Fastnet 500 Race 2024

The Royal Western Yacht Club of England in Plymouth is excited to announce the RWYC ‘Plymouth Fastnet 500 Race’.

RACE DOCUMENTS:

Notice of Race 2024

Entry Form 2024

Amendment 1

PF500SIAmendment

Sailing Instructions

Hearing Request Form

Race Report –  Plymouth Fastnet 500 second edition.

1200hrs, Sunday 13 th August saw the start of the Plymouth Fastnet Race. A South- south westerly 14-16 knot wind greeted them as they made their way out of the western entrance of Plymouth Sound towards the Eddystone Lighthouse. The sea state and winds were to increase overnight as the fleet made their way to the west.

Monday 14th August – The day after the night before

There have been a number of key updates after what was a very challenging period at Lands’ End. First We heard that #superbigou had issues with their canting keel. As they came off a wave there was a loud bang, which brought their race to an end. Co-owner Will Claxton from Padstow Boatyard said he was “really gutted, as we were about to bear away on to a fast reach too!” Thankfully everyone is safe and the Open 60 will be back with us next year for one of the big races!

Having been in the hunt throughout yesterday and into the night, the crew on David Goulden’s ‘Bandit’ found the going very hard. Unfortunately they have been unable to recover sufficiently and so ‘Bandit’ have made the sensible call to turn around and fight another day. All ok on board, if not a little sick We wish them a smoother, safe sail home!

For the rest of the fleet, the first night proved to be just as challenging. As of 2030hrs a big call was being made as to how the teams would deal with the 3 x TSS, ‘do we go north or do we push west’. Within 2 hours it was clear that, with just 5 miles between them, only 1 would head north over the Eastern most TSS. Splitting from their rivals, ‘Sunfire’ were not taking any prisoners and through their first dice! (There will be more!!!!)

By 0700hrs, the teams hit a pretty huge transition zone, which was to see the 2 leaders, ‘Manu’ and ‘Sunfire’, scrapping for the best angles they could find for over 2 hours. By 1115hrs ‘Manu’ Crossed ‘Sunfire’ within 5 miles to regain their lead. Based on their rating, this would be a marginal net gain to ‘Sunfire’. With just 3 on board, the question now is how much has this first tough night taken out of ‘Manu’ and will they be able to keep their speed up with ‘Sunfire’ breathing down their necks.

Daniel Flannagan’s Manu vs Steve Andrew’s Sunfire – locked horns all the way from the start

Tuesday 15 th –  Rounding the Rock

It has been a really interesting night with ‘Manu’ staying between ‘Sunfire’ and the Fastnet rock, not letting them out of their sights. At 2245hrs a right shift saw a marginal gain to ‘Sunfire’ which put them on a higher lay line to ‘Manu’. A left shift then got ‘Manu’ back in a prime spot at 0200hrs when she tacked to cross ‘Sunfire’. As they approached the mark, ‘Manu’ made twice as many tacks as ‘Sunfire’, effecting their elapsed time sufficiently to give ‘Sunfire’ the lead for the first time in 24 hours. As they round the Fastnet rock at 1000hrs and whilst ‘Manu’ lead on the water, bragging rights go to Steve Andrews team on ‘Sunfire’ as they lead ‘Manu’ by a projected corrected time of 59mins 23seconds.

All is to play for, the breeze is light and shifty, and whilst only 3-up, ‘Manu’ has a distinct weight advantage but will it be enough to keep the full squad onboard ‘Sunfire’ behind them and extend to regain their projected IRC lead.

Photo – Manu leads around the Rock with Sunfire 2nd and ‘Nova’ back in 3rd but most importantly they are still in the game!

Sunfire Gybes inside of Manu to take advantage of the shift.

Wednesday 16th – All change at the front!

Following the mark rounding a tight cover from Manu has reversed into a tight cover from Sunfire as the teams bore away for the homeward leg across the Celtic Sea. Conditions were to get lighter and lighter as the day progressed, worse, it was to become variable as the wind would begin its 24-hour transition from Northwest to Southeast. Once clear of the Fastnet TSS, Manu made the first call to gybe along the lowest edge of the no-go zone to stay in breeze as long as possible, Sunfire duly followed. Being further up the course, Sunfire were able to take advantage of the first right hand shift and gybed onto starboard. Manu followed some 5 miles to the east-northeast, which essentially put the 2 RWYC boats level. Advantage Sunfire! Being far enough to the East, Manu was able to stay in breeze longer and by 1630 had managed to hold a 2-knot advantage for the 4 hours since gybing, putting them back in the lead and by midnight had re-established their 5-mile gap to Sunfire. Looking further back up the course Mona were making steady progress towards the rock, albeit directly upwind. By 1910hrs they were able to take their time for rounding the rock, in daylight, at 7knots. Interestingly, their social media does show that they have 2 stow-aways, who will have been a great relief to the crew through night 1 of this ‘500 race! The breeze overnight has been challenging, with barely 5 knots recorded and the transition now being fully active will not see much more until much later today where it will go on the nose for the remainder of the race. Sunfire has remained in the predatory position of being in sight of Manu and direct astern. Their overnight speed has constantly been higher and throughout the night Manu will have seen the masthead light on Sunfire getting taller and taller. Sunrise, and Manu only had to look over their port quarter to see that, following a hugely challenging overnight spell of concentration and strategy, Sunfire were now abeam and ahead not only on corrected but also on the water. As of now, it would appear that Manu have recovered from what must have been an exhausting past 12 hours with almost 2/3 less crew co-manage the conditions and have picked up the pace to rechallenge for first the lead on the water and to then extend. Throughout the night and way out to the Northwest, Nova has been making excellent progress against her rivals constantly achieving twice the boat speed as they manage to find something in the dying westerly breeze. Now it is a battle to see who can get to the next phase of this race first. By 1900hrs we expect the North-easterly gradient to gradually veer to East and by Thursday morning settle at Southeast. So with this in mind there is a new throw of the dice, do you head north of the rhumb line to make the most of the live conditions or head south to pick up the stronger new breeze early…

Manu retakes the lead on the water, but Sunfire still hold the Overall lead. It could not be tighter.

Thursday 17 th August – Almost there!!!

Today saw the closest finish yet in the ‘500 race, with just under 1 hour 8 minutes separating both boats on the water. Both enjoyed a fresh Easterly breeze as they traversed the sound and entered the Cattewater to finally finish an epic second edition of the Plymouth Fastnet 500 . Videos of both finishes are now available on the https://www.facebook.com/rwycracing Facebook page. During which time Nova was battling to find some consistent breeze due south of Penzance. With light and shifty winds overnight, Nova was making slow progress East towards the finish, often under 2 knots SOG. But if we know anything about this crew, they are resilient! This morning however paints a very different picture as they enjoy a building southerly breeze and are averaging 4 knots in the right direction! Currently around 18-20knots, the breeze is only going to build and free their angle to make their final stretch into the finish line off the RWYC clubhouse the most enjoyable it could be.

It has been without question a herculean effort for this crew, with very little around them to gauge their performance, they have managed to sail a strong course and have kept fighting when others have fallen by the wayside.

We expect Nova to cross the finish line at any time from 1800hrs this evening and we hope for a tremendous welcoming cheer from their many followers, who must win the top accolade for being the most supportive social media following of the entire race!

A reminder, the prize giving is planned for 1900hrs this evening. We will confirm later today once we are assured of Nova’s finish time.

Photo; Light winds off the Isles of Scilly – Nova searching for breeze

Friday evening saw the GT35, Nova crossing the finish line in an elapsed time of 5 days, 4 hours and 25 minutes. After what was a testing sail up the southwest coast all the way from Lands’ End with variable wind conditions, the 4-crew onboard Nova were in very good spirits as they reached across the sound and into the Cattewater to claim 3rd place overall in the ‘500 race.

With that we bring 2023 to a close and look forward to next year, when we will be running the 3rd edition of the ‘500 in once again in August.

Photos; Credit – Jerry Lock – Fotocraft.net

Nova entering Plymouth Sound 1st – Steve Andrews ——- Sunfire 2nd – Daniel Flannagan —- Manu 3rd – Sean Koehler ——– Nova

13th August 2023 will see the 2nd edition of this new offshore race from the Royal Western Yacht Club. The ‘Plymouth Fastnet 500 Race’ will start in Plymouth Sound, exit via the Western Entrance of Plymouth Sound, round the Fastnet Rock to port, pass the Isles of Scilly to port and then finish between the Breakwater Lighthouse and the navigation buoy, ‘Queens Ground’ in Plymouth Sound.

The challenges of this race are much the same as the Original Lonely Rock Race. Set at around 500 miles long, this is a race with 4 challenging segments. Starting from Plymouth, the race will not have to deal with the tidal gates at Hurst Castle, Portland and Start Point giving its competitors a chance to experience a shorter race around the Fastnet rock without potential for huge tidal gains and losses and without the logistical challenges of start and finish being in 2 different cities.

Entries will be open to MOCRA, IMOCA, Class40, Mini Transat, IRC, single-handed, 2-handed and of course fully crewed. Entry numbers are likely to be limited, so please send your intent to enter to [email protected] .

Next Event Begins In…

Plymouth fastnet 500 race event partner offers.

Invitation for 2 to the Commodores Reception to meet the skippers at RWYC Plymouth

Banner / flag in race village (supplied by the company)

Listed on the event website – Facebook page & Event Brochure

Social media coverage on event Facebook page

Advertising in Event Race Brochure

Full page £500

Half page £250

Quarter page £125

Invitation for 2 to go afloat to watch the start in Plymouth Sound from a spectator vessel

Invitation for 2 to attend the Half Crown Club party at the National Marine Aquarium – Reef

Invitation for 2 to attend the Awards ceremony – October 2020

Race Director Adrian Gray: [email protected]

Plymouth Fastnet 500 – second edition

1200hrs, Sunday 13th August saw the start of the Plymouth Fastnet Race. A South- south westerly 14-16 knot wind greeted them as they made their way out of the western entrance of Plymouth Sound toward...

Race Details

13th August 2023

Race Director Sailing Secretary

Social Media

Entry & payment, event partners.