Rolex Fastnet Race, una notte di passione

Foto courtesy Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi-Stefano Gattini.

Rolex Fastnet Race – Cowes – Condizioni difficili, per non dire impossibili, hanno tolto il sonno ai tattici impegnati nella prima notte della Rolex Fastnet Race, grande classica dell’altura internazionale.

Mentre alle 6.00 UTC di oggi il Maxi di Mike Slade, ICAP Leopard, era ormai prossimo a Lizard Point, quindi verso la metà del bordo di andata, il grosso della flotta era alle prese con i venti deboli che hanno reso l’aria irrespirabile dalle parti di Lyme Bay, dove a farla da paadrona è la nebbia. Anche per ICAP Leopard le cose non vanno meglio, visto che la media delle ultime ore è stata di 4 nodi, rigorosamente contro corrente. Va comunque sottolineato che la performance è poi migliorata, ma la barca di Slade resta sempre in notevole ritardo rispetto al suo stesso record.

Davvero ottime le prove di Dee Caffari e Sam Davies. Le due skipper protagoniste dell’ultima Vendée Globe tengono il passo di ICAP Leopard a bordo dei loro IMOCA 60, Aviva e Artemis Ocean Racing, sul quale la Davies naviga in coppia con Sidney Gavignet.

Intanto la classifica provvisoria in tempo compensato, stilata alle 11.00 di questa mattina, vede al comando Ran, lo scafo di Niklas Zennstrom, seguito da ICAP Leoprad, Beau Geste e Luna Rossa. Tra i Class 40, invece, indica la via Beluga Racer, con Telecom Italia piuttosto attardato, ma comunque con le carte in regola per poter rimontare.

Per seguire la regata sul tracker clicca qui.

DORSET COAST’S OVERNIGHT PARKING LOT
[Rolex Fastnet Race Press Release] Overnight conditions in the Rolex Fastnet Race have ranged from tricky to impossible. While this morning at the 06.00 update, Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard was approaching Lizard Point, the bulk of the 300 strong fleet is now past Portland Bill, the headland to seaward of the 2012 Olympic sailing venue, and were halfway across Lyme Bay bound for the next significant headland, Start Point.

For Slade’s mighty 100ft long supermaxi, the night has been one of mixed fortunes, her speed ranging from relative standstill – 4 knots against the tide midway across Lyme Bay at 23.00 – to considerable pace, 26.5 knots at 05.00. She is way behind her record pace from 2007 when in the early hours of the first morning she was already around Land’s End, halfway across the Celtic Sea to the Fastnet Rock.

The IMOCA 60s have been doing a good job to stay in contact with ICAP Leopard and this morning the two female skippers hold the top spots – Dee Caffari on Aviva, and Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet on Artemis Ocean Racing – with Aviva 18 miles astern of the supermaxi. From on board Artemis Ocean Racing, Sam Davies reported conditions as being grey and murky. “Artemis is crashing along upwind on port tack, I have just come off watch and Sidney and Gareth are on deck, trimming and driving. We can see four other boats off our leeward quarter, but the visibility is not too good.”

For the bulk of the fleet astern, last night they faced a classic Rolex Fastnet Race situation with a mighty eastbound current between Portland Bill and St Albans Head combined with insufficient breeze to make headway against it. The majority spent the evening at best at standstill while another group led by Cracklin’ Rosie, Roark and Jackdaw attempted to break south, only to be washed southeast with the help of the tide.

By the early hours of this morning, the tide had turned favourable but there were distinct winners and losers from the overnight waterborne game of snakes and ladders. In IRC Zero A for example, La Floresta del Mar and Sjambok had managed to sneak past Portland Bill and were away while Fraxious and Flicka IV, who had turned south early, had dropped back to 25 miles astern, no closer to the finish than they had been six hours earlier.

To follow the race on tracker click here.

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