When the Rothschilds and Gitana team unveil a new boat, they do it properly – and last night the huge team base in Lorient, France, became the theatrical backdrop to the grand unveiling of Gitana 18, the highly anticipated new foiling Ultim.

In a dramatic ‘reveal’ a silk curtain dropped mid-press conference and the gathered guests – a couple of hundred media, technical partners, and the great and good of French ocean racing – realised they were underneath one of the most top secret boat building projects of recent years.

But perhaps even more dramatic was the boat itself – or certainly the appendages that will be fixed to it.

The radical new foils for the Ultim Gitana 18 – the flaps on the trailing edge can be trimmed independently, while the arms can also be lifted, and the rake adjusted.

The L-shaped foils of the current ocean-going trimarans have been replaced with what the team refer to as ‘Y’ foils – giant appendages with 5m span set on enormous swinging arms, that show a clear lineage from the America’s Cup.

The central ‘wing’ beneath the boat is a sculptural 3m of metal (they won’t disclose which one).

Radical rudder design

But the rudders are unlike anything seen before – an inverted ‘U’ or A-frame design. Unlike a conventional rudder, which itself turns, the double chords of the rudder are fixed, while flaps at the trailing edge control direction – all designed to overcome the deformation that the hugely loaded rudders would experience, and apparently with no drag penalty.

The rudders of the new Gitana 18 are a revolutionary A-frame or ‘U’ shape, with twin fixed stocks or chords, but adjustable flaps.

Meanwhile the rig is not only a canting wing mast, but is designed to bend to allow the crew to control the mainsail’s power – particularly in the shift between take-off and flight, and in squally conditions where the trimaran could become overpowered. It’s another element which is entirely new on this scale, and is the first Ultim mast made by Southern Spars in New Zealand.

“With this new boat, we hope to achieve as close to perfect flight as possible. Ideally, we’ll be able to fly very high without ever touching the waves. We hope to be able to fly in 3m waves and reach an average sailing speed bordering on 40 knots”, explains Charles Caudrelier, the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild Gitana 18.

The team told me that top speed potential is over 55 knots.

Gitana 18: designed to fly

The project was designed by known out-of-the-box thinker Guillaume Verdier with the 30-man in-house team at Gitana. Its primary goal is to foil for 100% of its sailing time, achieved by both decreasing the wind strength at which it can foil, while also sustaining higher average speeds at flight.

It builds on much of the knowledge, data and experience the team have gained from their previous Gitana 17 (now Actual Ultim 4), which was launched eight years ago and became the most optimised and successful of all the 100ft trimarans, winning the Transat Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum, and Arkea Ultim Challenge, while covering over 200,000 miles of ocean.

The new Gitana 18 in the team base in Lorient

Owner Ariane de Rothschild also spoke at the launch, which she attended with her daughters. They are represented on the boat’s spectacular livery, designed by French artistic duo Florian and Michaël Quistrebert, in collaboration with the Palais de Tokyo. Gitana 18 is the 28th boat in the Rothschild/Gitana stable, which next year celebrates 150 years in the sport.

“Within my family, we’ve always enjoyed a passion for competition, performance and also one of technological disruption. It’s about being disruptive, knowing how to take risks, gauging them and managing them. This is fully in line with our philosophy,” said Ariane de Rothschild.”

The Rothschild family and Gitana team hosted a spectacular unveiling of the newest Ultim, Gitana 18,  on Wednesday 3 December.

You can’t rush perfection, and the boat is definitely launching a little later than anticipated, but a project of this magnitude will take months to work up. Its first event will be the 2026 Route du Rhum, which skipper Caudrelier will be looking to defend his title in, before taking on solo around the world and crewed Jules Verne record bids.

We’ll take an in-depth look at this incredible creation in the February issue of Yachting World, out January 8th.

The post Have you ever seen rudders like that before? Radical top-secret Gitana 18 Ultim unveiled appeared first on Yachting World.

For many cruising couples the liveaboard life is a shared ambition worked and saved towards for years, before setting off together, alone. For others, the decision to sail two-up is an evolution, borne of an increase in skill and knowledge, and the desire to reclaim peace and privacy on board after sailing with crew. But expectation and reality do not always align, so how do you ensure the experience matches the vision you both held?

We canvassed dozens of cruisers on how to run a happy ship for two. Many knew couples whose relationship did not survive living aboard. All had strategies to avoid the same pitfalls, and generously shared their advice.

Who knows more?

Few of our cruising couples had similar levels of sailing experience as each other initially. “A very definite no,” says Miranda Baker on that question. “Elliot had his RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and a ton of experience crewing and teaching sailing. I’d spent six weeks ‘crewing’ a boat through the Whitsundays in my early 20s – but don’t remember the sails ever being raised. I think this disparity worked in our favour because it was clear who would be in charge.” The couple have so far sailed 15,000 miles from New Zealand to Indonesia.

More important was how each pairing developed those skills. “One bit of advice we always give is to make sure you level-up your sailing experience as much as possible,” says Charlotte DC. She and partner JP Baudains are circumnavigating, and also run a brokerage company, often advising new cruisers on bluewater yachts.

“Stressful situations at sea can be even worse when only one person feels like they can be ‘dealing with the boat’ at that time,” she adds. “It makes the other person feel guilty and unimportant.”

Miranda Baker and Elliot Russo have cruised 15,000 miles on their 1985 steel Mason 48 Fortaleza. Photo: Miranda Baker & Elliot Russo

Get better together

Fundamentally, it’s a safety consideration. “I’d never been on a sailing boat before we met. I quickly decided, however, that if Neil went overboard i wanted to [be able to] sail the boat back to land so i did lots of sailing courses and got my Yachtmaster Offshore before we left,” recalls Helen Smith, who spent four years circumnavigating with her husband, Neil, on their s&s 40, then later bought a Moody 54 which they sailed across the Atlantic.

Kate Ashe-Leonard took a rigorous approach to up-skilling before she and partner Jim Hooper set off on their Catana 47. “Jim had sailed his whole life whereas i had never sailed before.

“In the first few months we divided the sailing quite evenly but i was always under Jim’s watchful eye. After a day of sailing, at anchor we’d discuss the manoeuvres we’d done (for example, raising and dropping the mainsail).

i would type them up into a step-by-step written procedure to make sure i really understood what was going on and why each step is important.”

Discuss how you will divide roles – from sailing to maintenance, navigation, paperwork and domestic tasks. Photo: Tor Johnson

But with so many demands on your time when preparing for a voyage, it can be a struggle to get the hours in. “Will grew up cruising offshore with his family. i had little to no sailing experience,” recalls Sarah Curry. “In the years that we were saving to buy our first bluewater boat we sailed locally out of Vancouver for a cumulative three weeks. i focused more on taking navigation courses and reading as much as i could.

“Will’s seamanship and skill is amazing, but i initially struggled as the far less experienced sailor. It’s hard to take direction all the time! i often felt jealous of couples who learned together or had sailing skills at similar levels. In hindsight, i should have used our preparation years to hone my on-the-water skills,” she acknowledges.

It worked out though – the couple have lived aboard for over 10 years, raising twins on board while also running wind vane company Hydrovane.

Photo: Tor Johnson

Who does what?

There are broadly two schools of thought on how to split roles on board: divide equally, or play to your strengths. The critical thing is to ensure that one member of the team doesn’t end up doing all the sailing and technical jobs, with the other de-skilled.

Janneke Kuysters and Wietze van der Laan were closely matched in their experience levels. “Many couples need to have a clear ‘captain’ role on board. We don’t believe in that. The person closest to the wheel (or on watch) has the best oversight and takes the decisions,” says Janneke.

“Wietze is the better sailor, so he sails the boat while i do everything around it: food, radio, weather, navigation, paperwork, berth reservations, etc. We strongly believe in doing what you’re good at, instead of both wanting to be able to do all the jobs. Despite being together all day, you need to have something to talk about. And having achieved something you’re proud of is good for the ‘catch up’ at the end of the day.”

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“i had a vision that certain areas would be really equal in our roles – everything down to the marine electrics or engine maintenance and so on,” recalls Larissa Clark, who is cruising the Pacific with Duncan Copeland and their two sons.

“i tried to prepare towards that before we left, going on courses where i didn’t have the expertise. Two days into a marine electrics course, where it felt like every chapter ended with the word ‘Fire!’, i decided actually there were areas it was just better to divide and conquer. Electrics is definitely not my strength, but it is very much Duncan’s. But i always like to ask a lot of questions so i can understand the decisions that we’re making, and vice versa.”

Helen Harbour and her husband, David, sail their 46ft Amel ketch around six months of each year. Helen described a typical division of roles among our cruising couples: “i do the planning, navigation and piloting. David does the maintenance. i helm to anchor and pick up buoys. David helms to bring us into marinas. We both do all sailing roles, either together, or on our own. We both stand our own, equal length watches, carrying out all boat handling on our own, night or day.”

Kate Ashe-Leonard and Jim Hooper have sailed halfway around the world on their Catana 47 Polaris. Photo: Jim Hooper

“More demanding manoeuvres, we make sure that we do together,” observes Miguel and Claire Queiroz, who crossed to the Caribbean in their Fountaine Pajot 47.

“There were no clear cut roles for us. We had a sign above the companionway saying ‘The Captain’s Word is Law’. The only issue was that we both captained on and off, sometimes making it confusing which of us was the law and which of us was the law-breaker!” recall Sarah and Rasmus Haurum Christensen, who have lived aboard their Beneteau 423 for a year.

“We were convinced that a flat structure was the best way, and that turned out to be wholly right. But for longer passages we establish a dedicated captain. This means that if all hell broke loose, this person had the main responsibility and last word.”

Most double-handed couples sail a large proportion of miles solo, but work together on more challenging manoeuvres. Photo: Nikkey Dawn/SV Freeranger

Domestic duties

Many couples reported that domestic duties were more equally shared on board than on land. Seasickness is the often unspoken reason why one half of a couple takes on more domestic tasks.

“Wietze gets seasick. Making him cook or get a weather forecast would make him unnecessarily miserable. So he sails the boat outside, i do everything inside,” explains Janneke.

“While we tried to split boat jobs and domestic jobs as evenly as possible, the simple fact is that i don’t get seasick and can knock out a meal in most sea states, whereas i wouldn’t have a clue where to start fixing the watermaker or the generator. It made sense to play to our strengths and skill sets,” says Philippa Steventon, who cruised Europe and the Caribbean with her family on their Bowman 40.

“When we moved onto the boat i volunteered Elliot to deal with the composting loo, a task that involves a trowel. His tax for us living his dream!” adds Miranda.

Downwind in big seas – fun sailing, but potentially stressful two-up. Photo: Tor Johnson

What do you both want?

Having equal ‘buy in’ is important to mutual happiness. “What is most important is discussing your expectations: what does each person want to get out of cruising? That’s what we see most of the fights are about on other boats. In many cases, one is fulfilling a lifetime dream and the other is going along to keep the relationship going,” says Janneke. “That person is prone to homesickness, boredom and unhappiness.”

“We met so many couples where one – usually the wife – was there because it was her husband’s dream,” seconds Philippa Steventon.

Drilling down into expectations is important. “We are very lucky that we both equally sought this lifestyle, and have similar feelings about the sorts of places we like to go, and the balance between visiting well-known versus more challenging destinations,” explains James and Jayne Pearce, who live on their Garcia Exploration 45 Scout. “If one partner dreams about long bluewater passages, and the other dreams about socialising by a marina pool, then there are going to be some painful misunderstandings!”

Larissa Clark and Duncan Copeland are cruising the Pacific while running the Free Range Ocean citizen science directory. Photo: Free Range Ocean

But you don’t have to bring equal experience to have equal involvement. “When you start out there will be one of you that is more confident in sailing or handling the conditions than the other. We learned early on that you really need to drive to the level of comfort where you are both happy. That may be a bit frustrating for the more experienced partner, but as time and experience move forward, trust is built allowing confidence to grow,” say Carl and Joanna Greenwood, who have been cruising their Lagoon 42 Rockhopper since 2021.

“Passage planning and weather routing really is a joint process. We both make a decision together as to whether to go or stay. If one of us is uncomfortable about the conditions then we don’t go. This way there are no ‘i told you so’ moments,” they add.

“It’s inevitable you are going to have bad passages and anchorages that don’t work out. But it’s important that it is both of our decisions, never just one person’s, so there’s no blame when things don’t go to plan. When we commit to something we have got to be in it together,” agree Simon McKenna and Soph Snijders, who are sailing their Duncanson 34 Nakama around Australia (and documenting it on their ‘Slim & Soph’ youtube channel).

Sarah and Will Curry cruise with their twin boys, and remotely run the Hydrovane windvane company. Photo: Will & Sarah Curry

But big changes can put pressure on the cruising dream at any stage. “Sailing life is a huge undertaking. Working remotely adds a new element of time management. Parenting on board was a natural progression for us but the combination of all three ‘jobs’ landed us in the Red Zone,” recalls Sarah Curry. “We found ourselves in la Paz, Mexico, with toddler twin boys learning to walk on the boat, in the middle of Covid, with emails to answer, while trying to re-visit our favourite anchorages.

“Our challenge was admitting to each other that we weren’t having any fun. We had to slow down for a few years, which is not in our nature.”

Jessy and Chet Chauhan are cruising the world on their Nautitech 46 Open catamaran Navasana. Photo: Sailing Navasana

Problem solving

Every couple has their flashpoints, largely depending on their boat set-up. One recurring issue our couples reported was handing downwind sails double-handed.

“For us downwind sailing in following seas presents the biggest challenge,” say Eamonn Naughton and Brigid McMahon, who have cruised their Rustler 42 for over seven seasons. “We carry a parasailor for downwind sailing and use a poled-out headsail when winds are in excess of 20 knots. Lowering the parasailor and gybing the pole in heavy seas can be very challenging double-handed. So when the weather gets up we now tend to sail on a broad reach (less than $160^\circ$ twa), gybe when required, and take the hit on course and vmg.”

“Wing on wing is the sail plan we most enjoy and have perfected,” say the Currys. “Our first boat came with a huge spinnaker pole strapped on the side of the deck. It was incredibly cumbersome, and even dangerous, for us to manoeuvre as a couple. We immediately had it mounted on a track on the mast for ease of deployment.

“We practice, practice, practice pole deployment and gybing. A well-balanced boat is essential for self steering, so we take this seriously and always use a pole on our monohulls when reaching or sailing dead downwind.”

Irish couple Eamonn Naughton and Brigid McMahon sailing their Rustler 42 Mor Toad. Photo: Eamonn Naughton & Brigid McMahon

‘Marriage savers’

Some double-handed issues can be solved by changing your gear. “Recently in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, we found it challenging in very tight anchorages where you have to use multiple shore lines,” recall Jessy and Chet Chauhan, cruising their Nautitech 46 Catamaran. “Chet had secured one line but while he was getting the second one attached, a squall came through that pushed the boat towards the reef. Jessy couldn’t use the engines, because the first shore line was under the boat and close to the propellers. We now have floating lines to tie to shore, which should allow Jessy to use the engines at any time.”

But by far the most common point of contention was mooring up. “Bella was Scheel keeled and particularly painful to manoeuvre in close quarters. This meant parking was 100% our biggest source of stress. We really didn’t want to be one of those couples screaming at each other going into marinas so we learned to get really calm and quiet coming in to dock,” says Philippa Steventon. Early preparation, doubling up lines and fenders on both sides, and refusing assistance from well-meaning bystanders helped smooth the process.

Many couples recommended radio headsets, often referred to as ‘marriage savers’. “For moments of potential contention we use headsets. In marinas, sometimes anchoring if it looks tricky, or when Elliot goes up the mast. The headsets have definitely reduced the need for raised voices – now we can whisper our insults at each other,” says Miranda Baker.

Simon McKenna and Sophie Snijders are rounding Australia on their Duncanson 34 Nakama. Photo: Sailing Nakama

Sarah Haurum Christensen feels there are three options for stress-free berthing: “Figure out some good hand signs and hope you understand each other; yell across 43ft, a rumbling engine and 30 knots of breeze; or buy headsets and dock like pros but look like boomers!

“We established clear hand signs, and yelled, which did not always end well. The most important tip here is to establish a method for dealing with arguments after a manoeuvre, and to debrief if arguments arose.”

Is it worth it?

There’s no doubt that living on board will test a relationship like – almost – nothing else.

“We consider this the ultimate Ikea test!” says Sarah and Rasmus. “The Ikea test normally entails building flatpack furniture as a couple, and success means you can do anything together. Try doing plumbing in the bilge together at 0300 in 4m waves because you had a fresh water hose explode!”

Somira Sao and partner James Burwick took a more extreme approach before going sailing with their young children on an Open 40 – continuing as their family grew to six children on a 50ft trimaran. “We were unique in that we never had a land life together in the traditional sense. We did not come from a world where we had to downsize from a four-bedroom house,” Somira explains. “All of our time living together involved an expedition lifestyle – bike packing for 12 months, living in vans etc.

“Before you commit to going sailing, we highly recommend doing some off-grid expeditions together. It’s a good litmus test for what will happen when you’re in a small space on a boat together in the middle of the ocean.”

For many couples the shared time together is a huge draw to double-handed liveaboard cruising. Photo: Tor Johnson

Prepare for some teething problems, even if you are experienced cruisers. “On both our long voyages, we have learned that the first three months are the most challenging,” says Janneke Kuysters. “You have to get used to living together on the boat, to being underway all the time and letting go of everything you were used to.

“For many people, their job is part of their identity. So if the job is no longer there, they have to find their new identity as a cruiser. We always advise to give it time and allow yourself to get used to your new way of life before making big changes.”

But the rewards are huge. “We spent 18 months living aboard while completing the World ARC,” says John DiMatteo and his wife Angela. “In addition to sharing a life changing experience (for the better), the biggest benefit was greatly improving how we communicate with each other. It brought us much closer together at an age where many couples start to drift apart.”

“i am glad i didn’t know how scary it can be,” reflects Miranda Baker, whose partner Elliot faced a life-threatening medical emergency in a remote anchorage. “i’m not sure if i’d have put my hand up, and that would have been a shame. This life probably makes or breaks relationships, so i am proud of our resilience as a couple.”

She concludes: “The immersive experience of exploring our planet by sailboat is a wild ride but the reward is equal in measure. We experience a freedom to choose what’s next for ourselves that’s rare for most humans. We are humbled by enormous, star bursting skies and by important things breaking in remote places.

“We have each other’s backs. And, when Elliot and i are very old, we will have a thousand crazy stories to reminisce over and laugh about.”

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The post How to split roles (and avoid divorce) when sailing as a couple appeared first on Yachting World.

“If someone gave you a lottery ticket with a 33 % chance of winning $2m, you’d snap their hand off!” said Dylan Fletcher, helmsman of the Emirates Great Britain Team during last weekend’s SailGP Grand Finale in Abu Dhabi.

And certainly for a lot of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix Season Grand Final – an event title which took almost as long to say as it took the F50s to get to the top mark – luck seemed to be playing a significant part in results, with zephyr-light winds and exceptionally short course plunging the season’s most consistent performers down the leaderboard.

At first watch even the final looked to come down to a ‘Hail Mary’ decision when the British team, who were third – or last – off the line split from the leading duo of Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos and New Zealand Black Foils to hook into a convenient shift and come out on top.

But, as Fletcher explains, that’s not quite how it happened.

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

SailGP leaders play it safe

Abu Dhabi was a new venue for the SailGP final, previously in San Francisco, and first impressions frankly weren’t great. Racing on the first day took place in very light winds – often just 5-7 knots – with the teams deploying the newest 27.5 wing rig, extra large light wind T-foils and just three crew onboard to make racing feasible in the very marginal conditions.

Fortunately the waters off Port Zayed were undisturbed – there was a notable lack of spectator boats. The race village was also smaller than some previous venues, with no giant grandstand packed with the roaring crowds of Auckland or Portsmouth. This was not a showcase of the stadium-filling, crowd-pleasing racing that SailGP can deliver – though it was a marker of the financial appeal of the league, with the event sponsored by the Sports Council of Abu Dhabi.

In the light, sub-foiling conditions and super-short courses, winning the start became everything, with Denmark, Switzerland and Germany having the best of the first day. At the end of four races three of the the top four teams – Emirates SailGP, Australia and Spain – were the sitting firmly in the bottom four on the leaderboard. The Kiwis only slightly redeemed themselves in 8th.

What, I asked Dylan, was going on?

“I think, honestly, you could have called it before the event,” Fletcher says.

Article continues below…

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“There was a lot of teams who had couldn’t go up or down in the season championship; the points were basically closed off. Then you also had a bunch of teams changing people. And they were going to take risk. They were going to push it really hard.

“And I think we were all just so focused on doing what we needed to do to get into the Grand Final. As soon as it was that light, in reality, we want to win the actual Abu Dhabi event itself – but actually we don’t really care! We just want to make sure that we win the season points. So we inevitably ended up watching the other boats.

“We stopped taking as much risks as you don’t want to crash. We saw that the Kiwis got a rudder written off because the Swiss just sailed into them. And the Italians nearly took our rudder off with their foil. So there’s no wind, and there’s all these other boats pushing it, effectively.

“But it was funny, wasn’t it? It was like, oh, we’ve had a worst day of the entire year, but so have the other top four. So it doesn’t matter.”

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

The British had effectively pre-booked their slot in the Grand Final, though there was still a chance for the Spanish to fight their way back in. “I think the Spanish will feel obviously annoyed they didn’t make it, but the opportunity was there. All the other teams are doing terribly. They just needed to have a normal day and they would have been in very good shape!” points out Fletcher.

Super SailGP Sunday

On Sunday there was slightly more breeze nudging the F50s back up onto their foils and four crew back on board. Fletcher and the British squad came out firing, winning the first race. Was there a big team talk to reset the night before?

“I think we were very pragmatic about it, as we always are. We know that in reality, not foiling H2 [mode, two hulls in the water] there’s always more jeopardy, there’s more luck. You just got to do things a bit differently.

“[For Sunday] we came up with a different starting strategy. And from looking at the data on the other boats, came up with some things to make the boat go faster if we weren’t foiling. Although it was obviously foiling conditions, but we did actually adopt that start approach for the first two starts. I think there’s no doubt that our team is more comfortable when we’re foiling. And I think it showed on that Sunday.”

The teams had sailed with both the larger wings and foils previously, but not together. “It was new for the event. So we’d got one day. We’d used the foils before – they were from Geneva, and we used them in Cadiz. So [the change] was mainly the weight and the extra power of the 27.5m wing. You feel the extra weight, and it changes some of the moding. Once foiling, it’s a little more similar. But you do end up sailing a little higher, slower upwinds, and a little lower and slower downwind, basically.”

Sailing the F50s three-up also requires some ninja-levels of multi-tasking. “There are certain manoeuvres which you can’t do or it gets exceptionally challenging. And four people is a lot easier than three. Having someone to be able to grind, and then having effectively the pilot back to being a pilot really makes a difference.”

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

The $2m lottery

On the live broadcast on Day 2 Fletcher made a comment to his crew about the ‘lottery’ conditions. The SailGP commentary team took umbrage, but there was clearly a roll the dice element to the course.

“I guess there’s always an element of luck, and yes, it’s probably a little bit larger [in those conditions]. But interestingly or not, we had the best finish positions. You could have scored it any way the entire year, and we would have won. So there is a lot of jeopardy in that final race – and I think I said on the start of the final, ‘Welcome to the $2 million lottery’.

“But the idea behind that was that, yes, we won the points season. And yes, we’re sailing very well. But just because of that, that doesn’t mean that we are in any better position than the other two boats.

“If someone handed you a lottery ticket with a 33% chance of winning, you’d snap their hand off. So it’s just trying to see it as a massive opportunity and be open to enjoy it, basically. Enjoy it.”

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

Getting angry

But the fluky conditions didn’t play to everybody’s strengths. How hard was it for Dylan and co to keep their head in the game with this level of unpredictability?

“I think that was a real testament to the team on Saturday. We had obviously a challenging day. And we were still the same team. We were still smiling. We didn’t fall out. We weren’t getting angry… other people from some of the other teams were getting quite angry! And we didn’t get angry.

“I think that’s why I think we won, because of that is how our team operates. And we consistently are able to continue to solve the problem. We’ve had bad times this year, in America, where we didn’t do a very good job of that. And the results followed, basically, because we weren’t doing a very good job as a team.

“And I think that’s what I’m really proud of how the team operated.”

Final showdown

In the final itself it all seemed to come down to one key manoeuvre. GBR lagged off the start, then split at the leeward mark. But that decision was far from a fluke, Fletcher explains.

“We’d been working on it for seven weeks on how to win the Grand Final.

“For the start, we obviously didn’t want to be late, but we did want that approach. We just were trying to be on time. And we were happy to throw some risk at potentially being late. But we’d done a lot of analysis on, ‘Okay, well, if we don’t lead at Mark 1, what’s our next opportunity?.’

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

“We’d already discussed that we wanted to take the right turn at the bottom, if nothing had changed significantly from the racing beforehand. So we set ourselves up deliberately early on that gybe out to get a really good fast layline into the bottom. The Kiwis went round, but they were really slow. And we’d practised that ‘JK’ [manoeuvre] in some of the races, actually. So we’d set that up.

“Effectively we were using some of the fleet racing to try and practise a few things that we might do. So I felt pretty – not happy, but I felt very much when we went around the leeward and tacked, it was, okay, all the boats are level at this point. It’s completely even.

“I was actually surprised we weren’t further ahead. When we tacked back onto starboard, and the Kiwis were on port, I thought we would potentially be ahead. I was kind of annoyed that we weren’t, to be honest! But we also had decided that, again, if nothing had changed, we wanted the right turn at the top. So how we tried to orchestrate that up the beat [was] to be out of phase, set up for the right turn at the top with the other boats probably having to take the left, and they would have a difficult decision to make.

“That’s the key for me. They had a difficult decision if they wanted to take the right turn off us. And to be honest, as soon as we bore away, I was like, ‘it’s ours to lose’, because we took the bias mark and we were already faster.”

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

Fletcher’s make or break moment

To go from new ‘driver’ to SailGP champion is a remarkable feat. What were the team performance goals when he took over the wheel a year ago?

“It was to be in the Grand Final. So it was to win, but the actual goal was always get in the grand final.

“I’ve still been nicely… maybe surprised isn’t the right way of putting it, but I always felt like in my career, when I’ve been doing well, you’re not expecting it. You know you’re capable of it, but you don’t think it’s just going to happen. You always feel slightly on edge. I very much felt like that this whole year. And the team has just done a good job of learning all the new kit and giving me the opportunity to make mistakes, having come back in.

“I felt as though after America, then when we came to Portsmouth, I thought that was make a break for me, that event. If we didn’t go and get on the podium there – or maybe not even on the podium, but if we didn’t have a very good event, get the team back together, then that would be it. We would just be in the middle. So delivering there [was key]. And then I think also delivering in Sassnitz after the disappointment of getting the boat cut in half and everything, and the team really pulled together.

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

The biggest prize in sailing

SailGP’s famous $2 Million final prize is a great headline. But how important is it for Fletcher to be racing for serious cash?

“I think it is important, but I also think that we all care more about beating the others than the money. Yeah, the money is great, don’t be wrong. It’s obviously lovely. But the reality is, you just want to beat the others.

“I think Jensen Button said one time, all he wanted to be was an F1 world champion, and he’d trade everything. He didn’t care about his salary, he just wanted to win, be a world champion.

“I think that it’s a good amount of money in terms of it does raise the stakes, it does change people’s decision making. It adds quite a lot of extra spice effectively to it.

“But I also would probably say I’d like to see a bit more money for the season points because that is the traditionalist in me, that still thinks that valuing the points over the entire season is – maybe not more worthy because this is SailGP and SailGP has always been about winning that grand final. But the [overall] points to me is also quite important.”

Fletcher’s winners’ Rolex watch, however, is treasured. “I’ve been trying to win one of these for 37 years!” he jokes as he tried it on.

Photo: c/o Emirates GBR

Transfer season

The flip side of all the money apparently sloshing around is SailGP are trying to ramp up interest in their ‘transfer season’. Have the Brits guys put a target on their backs for being poached?

“People have been chasing!” He laughs. “But Ben’s done a good job and we’re in a really good shape going forward. And I think that as people are getting longer contracts and getting locked in a bit more, to be honest.

SailGP now has a brief ‘off-season’ before the 2026 circuit kicks off in Perth in January.

“It’s six weeks to the next event. It’s less time between the Grand Final and the first event of the season than it was between Cadiz and Abu Dhabi,” points out Fletcher.

Though the break is welcome, “We’d rather be sailing!” He says, adding, “I guess for myself, because I’m still new into it.

“Experience means that when you take a break, you come back and you’re still at that same level. So I work quite hard, do what I can between the events to try and ensure that I’m as sharp as I can be. Even before the Grand Final, I was Moth sailing, 49er racing, and just doing anything.”

It’s a fair bet Fletcher will be coming back sharp and hungry in January.

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Two sailors have been discovered dead on their yacht, while sailing between Madagascar and Mozambique, off Africa’s south east coast in the Indian Ocean.

The yacht Acteon is a 50-footer registered in France, and was sailing in the Mozambique Channel, around 200 miles north east of Beira, Mozambique.

The two sailors have been named as Deirdre Sibly, 67, of Port Lincoln, Australia, and Frenchman Pascal Mahe. Both are understood to be highly experienced cruisers.

The pair were sailing to Durban, South Africa from Reunion Island, when a distress call was sent from their yacht on Thursday, 27 November, which was received by a cargo ship in the area that alerted French authorities.

Deirdre Sibley, an Australian cruiser reported to have been found dead aboard the yacht she was sailing in the Indian Ocean, in a photo released by her sister Sue Good.

Speaking to The Guardian in Australia, Deirdre Sibly’s sister Sue Good said that the cargo ship approached Acteon but was unable to board the yacht. Two additional vessels then joined the rescue effort, and crew were able to get aboard.

“I had a call from [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] at about 10am Friday morning, that’s when they told me someone was able to board the yacht and a man and woman had been found deceased,” Cook confirmed to Guardian Australia.

Speaking to Australian news broadcaster ABC Adelaide, Good was also quoted as saying: “We’re just devastated; she’d been away sailing with Pascal since early June … she was so happy.”

The yacht Acteon, as identified on the Marine Traffic AIS tracking site. Image Fran Solly/Marine Traffic

Piracy speculation

There has been no official indication of a likely cause of death, though some online reports have speculated that piracy may be involved.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it was “providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian missing in the Mozambique channel”.

A spokesman added: “Our thoughts are with the family at this distressing time.

“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”

Historically there have been numerous incidents of Somali pirates targeting yacht sailors, most high profile of which were the Chandlers, who were kidnapped from their yacht near the Seychelles in 2009 and held captive for over a year before being released in 2011. That same year four American sailors were killed after being hijacked off the coast of Oman.

The Gulf of Aden has been known to be a high risk area for over two decades, although some yachts do still transit the area – 50-60 yachts are estimated to have crossed the Suez Canal in 2023 and 2024.

The reported location of the yacht Acteon when it issued a distress call on 27 November.

The waters further south were previously thought to be lower risk, though a radical Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique, funded in part by drug smuggling from Afghanistan to East Africa, led to authorities warning of an increased piracy risk in the area from 2020/21 onwards.

The Mozambique Channel is a key shipping route, and also a major oil and gas production area.

Madagascar and the eastern side of the channel were previously considered safer, though Madagascar has also experienced political upheaval and unrest, with a coup in November 2025.

The yacht Acteon is understood to still be adrift. We’ll report more when we have further information.

The post Mystery after two cruisers discovered dead aboard yacht in Indian Ocean appeared first on Yachting World.

The Famous Project CIC, the all-women challenge for the Jules Verne Trophy, the non-stop around the world record, departed on Saturday 29 November.

The team, which is skippered by French former Vendée Globe skipper Alexia Barrier and was set up together with British record-breaking yachtswoman Dee Caffari, is aiming to become the first all-female crew to complete a Jules Verne attempt.

But above all they are chasing one of the all-time great sailing records, the non-stop, no-holds-barred around the world record time, which currently stands at 40 days and 23 hours, set by Idec Sport in 2017.

As Dee Caffari posted on her Facebook page: “Sh*t is about to get real!”

Barrier and Caffari are racing with Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmuer, Deb Blair, Molly Lapointe, Xiquita Etchegoyen, and Stacey Jackson aboard Idec Sport, the same maxi-trimaran which set the current Jules Verne record in 2017, skippered by Francis Joyon.

The Famous Project CIC, 100% women crew, crossing the start line for Trophée Jules Verne on November 29, in Brest, France. Photo by Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC

Starting a Jules Verne challenge

The Jules Verne Trophy has an official start/finish line between the Créac’h lighthouse on the island of Ouessant, France, and Lizard Point lighthouse on the southernmost tip of England.

Crews must sail around the world, passing Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn to port, before crossing the same line in the opposite direction to finish – a ‘great circle’ distance of 21,760 nautical miles (40,300km).

But the Jules Verne has no set start time, so teams may leave whenever their weather routers believe a suitable window of opportunity for a fast Atlantic descent is opening up.The Famous Project first moved to what’s known as ‘Code Green’, or ready to depart. Having left Brest, they crossed the line at 01.40 UTC (14 h 40 FR) on Saturday, November 29.

The Jules Verne Trophy course

Toughest 24 hours at start

The Famous Project crew set off in tough conditions with a blustery north-westerly, and will immediately face 4-5m waves in the Bay of Biscay.

“I feel very lucky and grateful for all the work that has been done over the last few months and years, all together. It’s really a collective celebration to be at the starting line,” said Barrier.

“Obviously, I’m a little nervous because what we’re doing is huge. But what reassures me a lot is having these incredible girls by my side. I’m not alone and I know my team is up to the task.

“We’ll be sailing downwind until we reach the equator. These are conditions we know well. Further on, the doldrums are still shifting.

“As Brian Thompson, who has helped us a lot throughout this training course on trimarans with the girls, would say, ‘You’re going to experience the toughest 24 hours of your Jules Verne Trophy.’ So we need to stay focused and conservative so we don’t hurt ourselves or break anything on the first day.”

Boat and crew of The Famous Project CIC, 100% women crew, before start for Trophée Jules Verne on November 29, in Brest, France. Photo by Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC

“I’m surprisingly calm, but I think I’m calm to help everyone else, because you can feel a certain nervousness,” said Dee Caffari on the morning of the start.

“The main goal has always been to get to the starting line, and I think today we took a big step forward. It’s an important milestone, and I think it deserves a little celebration.

“It’s been a long road, with ups and downs, but Alexia never lost confidence or faith in herself, and I supported her throughout. So I’m very happy to be here. Today it’s about reminding the girls that we’re just going to sail, which is what they do perfectly, but simply that they won’t be sleeping in a bed for a few days. That’s exactly what we practiced in training, so we’re just going to set off, enjoy ourselves, and do what we know how to do.

“We wanted a perfect start, but perfection doesn’t exist in sailing, because we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature. That said, it’s a very good start.”

Skipper Alexia Barrier (FRA) before start of The Famous Project CIC attempt on the Trophée Jules Verne. Photo by Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC

Jules Verne weather window

Ashore the team is supported by meteorologist Christian Dumard. The circulation of two high pressure systems over the North Atlantic has created an opportunity for a starting window, though the team will have an immediate race against time as the movement of an anticyclone threatens to close the route off Cape Finisterre.

“The front will pass over the starting area on Saturday morning,” explains Dumard. “The idea is to leave just behind it, in the early afternoon, in a north-westerly wind of less than 30 knots, which will gradually weaken.

“This window is very short and does not necessarily offer an absolute chance of achieving a ‘blistering’ time at the equator. But it does offer favorable wind and sea conditions for downwind sailing and a relatively comfortable start for the crew.”

“We will leave Brest on Saturday before noon and cross the line about two hours later. There will be rough seas, with swells of over 4 meters, which are perfectly manageable aboard Idec Sport,” adds Barrier.

“The danger is that the high-pressure system centered off the coast of Portugal will grow and block us as we pass Cape Finisterre. We would then have to turn back and resume our standby in Brest.”

A big crowd turned out to see the crew of The Famous Project off from Brest. Photo Jean-Marie Liot/The Famous Project CIC

All-female team

The Famous Project was launched in 2022, with the team initially training in a MOD70 before taking delivery of Idec Sport. They have been working with round the world yachtsman Brian Thomspon, with fellow British ocean sailor Jonny Malbon the Team Director.

In a recent blog post, Dee Caffari reported that the team’s final training sessions in late October ahead of the record were both invaluable, and challenging.

“These training sessions are where theory meets reality – intense, demanding, and absolutely invaluable.

“We were fortunate to train with Brian Thompson, whose expertise and calm authority at sea are second to none. Brian’s coaching has helped us fine-tune our performance and strengthen our team dynamics – those crucial marginal gains that will make all the difference when we take on the planet’s toughest challenge.

“This month, Mother Nature decided to push us harder. The conditions were significantly bigger and stronger than what we experienced during the summer -exactly what we needed. It’s one thing to sail fast in perfect conditions; it’s quite another to maintain that performance when the waves are towering and the wind is howling.

“These challenging sessions gave us a much more realistic preview of what life will really be like as we chase the record around the world.”

Skipper Alexia Barrier and his crew training onboard the Maxi-Trimaran The Famous Project CIC, off Groix island. Photo: Jean-Marie LIOT / The Famous Project CIC

Jules Verne attempts

There have been numerous attempts on the Jules Trophy record since Joyon set the current record in 2017. That time of 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes requires an average speed of 22.84 knots.

The foiling Ultim trimarans – capable of maintaining consistent speeds in the high 30s – have set off several times. In 2024 Thomas Coville’s Sodebo and Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartigue started within hours of each other, but both had to pause their attempt after damage or gear failure. Sodebo restarted last winter, but later had to retire after losing their central rudder.

In 2020, Charles Caudrelier’s team on Gitana 17 and Sodebo also set off in the same weather window in late November, but both had retired by mid-December after colliding with underwater objects.

Sodebo is among the Ultims that has made numerous attempts at the Jules Verne Trophy. Photo: Pierre Bouras/DPPI

The last all-female attempt on the Jules Verne, Tracy Edwards’ Royal & Sun Alliance in 1998, ended when the 92ft catamaran dismasted in the South Pacific 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile.

Idec Sport, the trimaran the Famous Project CIC crew are sailing, is a non-foiling design that was originally launched in 2006 as Groupama 3, and won the Jules Verne Trophy in 2010, skippered by Franck Cammas. While its peak speed is less than that of an Ultim, it is a robust and well-proven boat which has successfully completed multiple non-stop around the world passages – the first challenge of any Jules Verne attempt.

How to follow The Famous Project Jules Verne bid

You can follow The Famous Project’s attempt at thefamousproject.io

The team also has an app, active social media, and plan to share live daily updates on their YouTube channel.

The post All-female round the world record attempt sets sail in tough conditions appeared first on Yachting World.

Big news from the British America’s Cup team Athena Racing, which announced today that legendary sailor and team boss Ian Walker MBE has been appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Walker joins Sir Ben Ainslie’s Athena Racing as CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of its America’s Cup Challenge, reuniting two of Britain’s most successful competitive sailors.

It also sends a strong signal that the Brits – who have not revealed any major backers since splitting from INEOS in January 2025 – are gearing up for a full-power challenge for the 38th America’s Cup.

Since entries closed for the 38th America’s Cup, to be held in 2027 in Naples, there have been no announcements of confirmed entries, only the news that American Magic will not take part.

Athena Racing, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron, remains the Challenger of Record.

Ainslie at the helm of INEOS Britannia in AC37 (no word yet on what the Team Principal’s full role will be, nor on backers for the British Challenge).

Athena Racing’s new CEO

Ainslie welcomed his new CEO today, saying: “Ian is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of success with high-performance campaigns across the very top of our sport, there are very few people as qualified, both on and off the water.

“He also understands the complexity of running teams that need to be at the forefront of innovation and performance while meeting both budget and timeline demands. For AC38, that timeline is tight, and we needed a CEO who could hit the ground running and Ian can do that, he understands how to drive teams forward and the importance of continuity in achieving the ultimate goal.”

Ian Walker also spoke about his enthusiasm for returning to the America’s Cup arena: “The Cup has evolved enormously since I was last involved in terms of the boats, the technology, and even the balance between sailors and designers.

“But at its core, it remains unchanged, it’s about managing your resources, getting the best out of your people, and making every second count, in a race against time, and the clock is ticking.”

The 2000 Team GBR sailing team, including Ian Walker (left), Ben Ainslie (3rd from left) at the Olympic Games in Sydney Harbour. Photo: AFP/Torsten BLACKWOOD via Getty Images

British talent reunited

Walker and Ainslie were both part of the hugely successful British Olympic sailing team, and competed at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (Ainslie famously took silver at Atlanta, then Gold at Sydney, while Walker won silver at both – in the 470 with the late John Merricks in 1996, then the Star with Mark Covell four years later).

Since then, while Team Principal Ainslie went on to score four more Olympic golds and compete in multiple America’s Cups, Walker’s career has spanned ocean and inshore racing, America’s Cup campaigns, and high-performance team management roles.

He skippered Britain’s Wight Lightning for Peter Harrison’s GBR Challenge in the 31st America’s Cup in 2003, which Ainslie was also a member of. In 2007 Walker joined the Italian 39+ Cup team with fellow British Olympian Iain Percy.

The British Americas Cup boat GBR Challenge racing in the Solent during the Round the Island Race. Photo: Clive Mason/ALLSPORT

Ian Walker: a winning leader

Ian Walker also achieved major success in offshore racing, skippering three Volvo Ocean Race entries, which culminated in becoming the first British skipper to win in 2015 with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, having come back from a dismasting in the previous edition.

His coaching and performance roles have included coaching Shirley Robertson to her second gold in 2004, and serving as Performance Director for the British Sailing Team. He oversaw the British team’s last truly dominant Games, with GBR sailors topping the medal table at Tokyo 2020, winning five medals, including three golds after a challenging, covid-disrupted build up.

Since Tokyo, Ian Walker has been at North Sails, leading the UK sailmaking team for the past three years.

Ian Walker, skipper of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team, celebrates during the winners ceremony in Gothenburg at the end of the Volvo Ocean Race. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Unusually, Walker brings experience at a high level in both commercial and performance spheres, combined with personal sailing achievement and experience.

“It’s an exciting moment to return to the America’s Cup with a British challenge that has the continuity of the last three campaigns, alongside the recent creation of the America’s Cup Partnership (ACP),” Walker explained.

“That was a big part of my decision to take this on, because I believe in what the ACP is trying to achieve – creating a sustainable, viable commercial business model for the competition. I’ve also worked with several members of the team previously, which gives me real confidence in what we’re building together.”

“The America’s Cup transcends the sport of sailing and has so much untapped potential, Walker concluded. “I am excited about what lies ahead, just imagine how cool it would be for the team to win it for Britain.”

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On June 29 a lifeboat crew was attending a multicoloured little yacht that had run hard aground off Folkestone, on the south-east corner of England, in the early hours of the morning.

The yacht was a 27ft Albin Vega, sitting high and dry on the rocks, and its skipper a petite young sailor called Jazz Turner, who was in the closing stages of a solo circumnavigation of Britain – and also happens to use a wheelchair to get about on land.

At first glance, Turner and the Albin’s situation looked hopeless: the yacht would surely require towing off, the single-handed skipper would surely require assistance.

But the rescue crews were asked not to intervene. Jazz and her team had a plan, and she was going to get herself and her yacht out of this predicament on her own.

Despite her limited mobility Turner was able to kedge off and refloat after dragging first a bow and then a stern anchor out across the rocks.

It was a remarkable act of seamanship by any standards, but Turner spent hours crawling across the slippery shoreline, hauling anchors and chain that weighed nearly as much as her own 40kg frame, then pulling in on the stern anchor lines by hand to get the yacht’s rudders back into deeper water.

It worked, the Albin refloated – relatively unscathed – and Turner went on to complete one of the most incredible sailing achievements of recent years.

Turner’s yacht Fear aground just before her voyage end. Photo: Project Fear

Face everything and rise

Jazz Turner’s solo sailing circumnavigation was named Project Fear, and her beloved Albin is named Fear, for ‘face everything and rise’.

It’s an apt sentiment, as Turner has faced more adversity than most. She was initially drawn to sailing quite by chance – a school friend had been given a voucher for a day’s sailing experience as a birthday present, but the typical English summer weather was uninviting, cold and wet.

When her friend didn’t want to go, Turner jumped at the chance, and realised instantly that she loved it. She began dinghy sailing aged 13 at her local club, Newhaven & Seaford SC.

“I couldn’t afford my own boat, so I walked down to the club every Sunday morning, on Wednesday evenings after school. I’d go around the dinghy park and ask people if I could go sailing with them.

“Eventually they brought down a Topper for me from our club inland site, which I raced and learned to sail that way,” she recalls. From the Topper she progressed to the Laser (now ILCA) at Weir Wood SC, and helmed a double-handed Fireball dinghy.

Article continues below…

However, the sailing clubs weren’t just a source of fun. Turner had an unstable home life, often moving around, and finally left home as a teenager.

Fellow Fireball racer and friend Chris Turner realised Jazz’s situation and took her in – later formally adopting her. Sailing had not only given Jazz a passion and an outlet, but it also brought her a new family.

Jazz Turner approaches Brighton to complete her around Britain adventure. Photo: Ingrid Abery

Remarkable story

But that was far from the end of Turner’s remarkable story.

Due to her chaotic childhood, Turner had never had some unusual medical symptoms investigated. Chris Turner’s wife, Carolyn, is a GP and realised that some of the conditions Jazz lived with – frequently dislocating joints and unexplained allergies – needed proper diagnosis.

That diagnosis was Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome; a genetic, progressive condition, which affects connective tissue throughout the body, and over the years the condition has increased in severity.

On land Turner uses a wheelchair, as it’s painful to bear weight and she is liable to falling. Gastro-intestinal failure means her digestive system struggles to process food and drink.

Jazz has raced in a wide range of dinghy fleets including the RS200. Photo: c/o Jazz Turner

Her foster dad, Chris, explained to our sister title PBO: “She also has a Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) condition which means her heart rate goes through the roof; assistance dog Phoebe tells her to sit down before she passes out.

“When sailing she has a clever watch, which gives her a shorter warning of five minutes.”

In December Jazz was told her condition had become terminal, and she had months to live. She was just 26.

“They offered her a bed at the hospice but she’s a 26-year-old who wants to live life to the full. She might die quicker doing so but she’d rather do that than be in a hospice with tubes – that’s a jail sentence,” Chris explained.

Living every day

Living life to the fullest for Turner was always going to involve sailing.

Determined to continue despite her worsening physical symptoms, she had previously begun sailing Paralympic and adaptive classes, such as the 2.4mR and RS Venture. “I found out that I wouldn’t classify: even if sailing was re-included in the Paralympics I wouldn’t be able to go because my disability isn’t eligible.

Racing in a Dart 15. Photo: c/o Jazz Turner

“I wanted to chase something similar to the Paralympics and still feel like I had a focus, so I switched over to big boats,” Jazz Turner recalls.

“But I was struggling to get opportunities crewing because people were scared of my wheelchair or scared of my disability. I was getting really frustrated. So I decided I’d get my own boat with the intention of potentially racing it or taking on some bigger challenge.

“I didn’t necessarily know what that challenge was: I just knew I needed my own boat.”

Sonar keelboat sailing in the Solent. Photo: c/o Jazz Turner

Chasing a dream

Turner had a total budget of £10,000 and bought the 1970s Albin for £6,000, leaving scant funds for the total overhaul required.

“She was pretty unmodified from when she was first built. She didn’t really have any modern electronics; it was all original winches, original rigging, original wiring.

“I had to totally rebuild her from the ground up,” Turner recalls.

Initially the shoestring refit was carried out by friends and family, but as Jazz’s plans crystalised into an around Britain challenge, more and more companies in the marine industry began to support her and she was able to make upgrades, including new sails and electronics.

Minor adaptations were made for her mobility: all lines are led to the centre cockpit, and fear sails downwind with a goosewinged jib rather than a spinnaker.

“Other than putting up the jib pole, there was no need to go on the foredeck at all,” she explains. “Then I have a series of straps that hold me onto the windward side of the boat, as well as a lot of handholds and extra supports so I could pull myself around using my body and not be reliant on my legs.”

Turner also competed in Para sailing classes, including the SV 14. Photo: c/o Jazz Turner

It wasn’t until late 2024 that Jazz knew whether a truly solo sailing adventure would even be possible.

“It was nearing December when I finally did my first solo, solo sail. Up to that point I’d always had someone else on board as a backup.

“I went out, past Dover and back. It was a lot, but it was good. That was when I realised I was actually going to attempt this solo, non-stop and unassisted.”

Around Britain

Turner and Fear set off on their round Britain challenge on 2 June from Brighton marina.

It did not go well. “It was a brutal start, properly brutal. I had 20 knots of south-westerly, upwind, that didn’t drop for the first four days,” Jazz Turner recalls. “Everything, everything, that could have broken did break.

“It was exhausting physically, and very exhausting emotionally – because I thought we’d done loads of sailing to test everything, and then things were still breaking. I genuinely thought we’d be forced to turn around. I remember I was off Poole and my electronic compass had stopped working.

Showing true grit turner refloated the boat herself during her Round Britain. Photo: Project Fear

I was on the phone to my parents and dad said, ‘Look, it’s okay. You can come home. You can start again. We’ll start you again next week.’

“And everything in me wanted me to say yes, but all I could shout down on the phone was ‘no!’ – and then hang up on him, because how could he even say that? That was when I realised I was going to push on no matter what. It just might nearly kill me.”

When Jazz says the challenge might kill her, she’s not talking purely metaphorically. Maintaining body temperature and processing food are among the vital physical functions disrupted by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and even harder offshore.

Another complication is that her joints easily dislocate. “Without being able to brace my legs, I get thrown around an awful lot. Physically, that is massively exhausting and painful, but all my joints dislocate. So every time I get knocked, a joint falls out and I have to put it back in.

“If I do a tack wrong or something, I can knock my hip out, knock several fingers out. And then once the boat’s on the new tack, I’ve got to reattach and relocate all those joints and carry on sailing.

“It happens daily, so I’m used to it, but it doesn’t stop it from hurting. And I couldn’t take most of the pain relief because of the risks with drowsiness.”

Sailing Round Britain

Over the top

Despite the rough start, Turner carried on. After nearly two weeks at sea, she realised she’d fallen into a rhythm.

“It was passing Fastnet rock on day 11. When I first started out in yachting, it was a Fastnet race year and I’d applied to loads of boats to do the race. I’d been turned down from each one – basically being told by teams that my disability was too complex and they couldn’t support me.

“So passing Fastnet was one of those moments where I suddenly thought we actually might pull this off!”

Fear was flying and the passage up the west coast of Scotland proved an unexpected treat. “It was really enjoyable. We had a breeze behind us pretty much the whole time, about 20 knots, just surfing down waves. So we made it to St Kilda by day 14, which was a lot faster than planned.”

Going into the challenge, Turner hadn’t set herself an end goal. “I didn’t set any expectations because I really didn’t know how long things would take – I never actually planned the second half of my route because I never thought I’d ever make it that far!” she recalls.

Turner’s yacht Fear aground. Photo: Project Fear

Second half

The return leg proved not so kind. “It was horrific. I thought by the point we were heading south, the worst had to be over. But the east coast and North Sea lived up to its reputation. A short, sharp, chop that was uncomfortable to sail through.

“Not nice for the boat, not nice for me, not good for the autopilot. That combined with the fact that you were having to slalom between oil rigs, tankers, and wind farms. It was pretty bloody miserable.”

Turner had onshore weather routing from Paralympian and offshore racer Hannah Stodel, and would check in twice a day via satellite communication.

“But a lot was just a case of keep going. There’s a massive storm coming? Reef, tough it out, carry on. Because once I’d turned south, there weren’t any anchorages I could get into and out of under sail alone.

“I think we saw 52 knots at one point in the North Sea. I was quite far offshore, and it was just a massive squall that came through. I was fully reefed and just drifted on the poles. But I had complete faith in Fear.

Turner is reunited with her parents, Chris and Carolyn, at the end of her circumnavigation. Photo: Fergus Kennedy

“She didn’t let me down in the slightest. She’s a bomb-proof little thing.”

The only point Jazz’s challenge was in true jeopardy was that grounding the night before she finished. “I was essentially drifting because there was no wind and an awful lot of tides. So I went inside to check the chartplotter, and I must have fallen asleep.

“The next thing I know, all the alarms were going off and I can see I’m in less than a metre of water. I throw myself out the companionway, look up to see the cliff, then chuck the rudder over to try and tack out to sea. But we’d hit and it was too late.”

After calling her family and team she formulated the strategy of using anchors to winch herself out.

Even getting on and off the beached yacht required some quick thinking. “The boat was high and dry, on its side. So I was able to slide off the front. I had on board a long piece of rope with a load of knots in, so I tied that onto the windward guardrail, and then I could pull myself back on board by pulling myself up the knots on the rope.”

Ashore after her circumnavigation. Photo: Fergus Kennedy

Success recognised

Jazz Turner completed her round Britain by sailing back into Brighton marina on 30 June after 28 days and 2,070 miles of sailing. She became the first disabled person to sail around the British Isles solo and unsupported.

Huge crowds turned out to greet her, her adventure having drawn the support of sailing A-listers including Ben Ainslie, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Pip Hare, and Ian Walker.

The achievement took a while to sink in. “This project started as nothing more than something to keep me going at a time where I didn’t really see any hope or any future for myself,” she reflects.

“It was very much a personal challenge. The fact that it has inspired so many people to believe they can do more than what’s expected of them – that’s a great bonus.”

However, Turner is not done adventuring yet. “I think i’m going to attempt a transatlantic in fear next year. I learned a lot while I was out there,” she said. She is also seeking sponsorship to compete in the RWYC’s 2026 Worldstar Solo Round The World Race.

“Pretty much immediately afterwards, it’s been, ‘oh, what can I do next?’ I don’t think I’ll ever be done.”

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post Inside Jazz Turner’s solo circumnavigation around Britain appeared first on Yachting World.

The Transat Café L’Or – formerly known as the Transat Jacques Vabre – has got off to a dramatic start with three Ocean Fifty trimarans capsizing in the first night of racing.

Four classes compete in the double-handed transatlantic race from Le Havre to Martinique: Ocean Fifty trimarans, Ultim trimarans, Class 40 monohulls and IMOCA monohulls.

A series of fronts in the Channel and North Atlantic have made conditions difficult, with the race village closed on Thursday 23 October. The scheduled start for the Ultims, Class 40s and IMOCAs was delayed from Saturday 25 to today, Sunday 26 October.

However, the 10 trimarans in the Ocean Fifty fleet started on Saturday afternoon at 1630hrs, aiming to get out of the Channel before the biggest winds hit on Sunday night.

The Ocean Fifty fleet at the start of the Transat Café l’Or on October 25, 2025 in Le Havre, France. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Three trimarans capsize

The first capsize was reported on the first evening at 2027 UTC (1027 pm local time) when the Ocean Fifty Lazare X Hellio flipped off La Hague, the first peninsular after the start at Le Havre. The trimaran had set off just four hours previously. Both skippers, Erwan Le Draoulec and Tanguy Le Turquais, were safely airlifted to shore.

French coastguard services (SNSM) marked the boat’s position, which was later recovered.

Weather conditions in the area were reported as rough, with steady winds of 22 to 25 knots, gusts up to 30 knots, and 3m waves.

The Ocean Fifty Lazare x Hellio being towed by the French SNSM rescue service after capsizing off Cherbourg, during the Transat Café l’Or race on October 26, 2025. Photo: Lazare Sailing Team

Skipper Tanguy Le Turquais posted on social media today: “Emotionally I can say that it was a bit shocking to see Erwan get in the helicopter from the central hull, then my turn [to get into the] chopper and see Lazarus x Hellio, with its white crossbeams and hulls half underwater… These are quite shocking images.”

The capsized Ocean Fifty Koesio washed up off a beach on Guernsey. Photo: Guernsey Coastguard

Around four hours later at 0025 UTC (0225 local time), the race management team was informed that a second Ocean Fifty, Koesio, had capsized north of Guernsey. At the time, the boat was in 8th position and sailing in a 25-knot northerly wind with 2.5m waves.

Co-skippers Erwan Leroux and Audrey Ogereau were both safe and unhurt, and rescued by helicopter. On Sunday morning the wreck of the trimaran had washed up on a shingle beach at Perelle on Guernsey.

Next to capsize was Inter Invest, skippered by Matthieu Perraut and Jean-Baptiste Gellée, which was reported as having capsized off the coast of the Abers, the north-west the tip of Brittany at 0405 UTC. Co-skippers Perraut and Gellée were also both safe and in good health, and airlifted from the trimaran around 0600. The boat was later salvaged by the 35m/115ft trimaran Merida.

Ocean Fifty Inter Invest, skippers Matthieu Perraut and Jean Baptiste Gellée at the start of the Transat Café l’Or on October 25, 2025. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Ocean Fifty: on the red line

The Ocean Fifty fleet is notorious for racing ‘on the edge’. In 2018 six of the 50ft trimarans started the TJV, with only three finishing.

“The vigilance level is a little higher than for the other [classes],” commented Elodie-Jane Mettraux before the race. Mettraux is racing ​​with Anne-Claire Le Berre on Upwind by MerConcept.

“We know there’s a red line that we mustn’t cross, otherwise we’ll capsize,” added her co-skipper Anne-Claire Le Berre. “It adds extra nervous tension and forces us to be even more focused.”

Co-skipper of the capsized Koesio Erwan Le Roux had told race media before the start: “It’s easy to put the foot right down hard on the accelerator, but capsizing is the problem if you push too hard.”

Ocean Fifty Koesio, skippers Erwan Le Roux and Audrey Ogereau at the start of the Transat Café l’Or 2025 on October 25, in Le Havre, France. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Tanguy Le Turquais, a recent convert from the IMOCA and co-skipper of the capsized Lazare X Hellio had also spoken of the risks before the start, saying: “On board, you realize that you are slowly getting used to it, to increasing the threshold of fear.”

Transat Café L’Or start

The remaining three classes got underway at lunchtime today. They include four giant Ultim trimarans, 18 IMOCAs and 42 Class 40s. The course lengths of the Transat Café L’Or vary to try and have the four classes arrive in Martinique at approximately the same time between 5-7 November.

The Ultims have been set a 6200-mile course that takes the fastest ocean racing boats in the world into the Southern Hemisphere to a waypoint south of Ascension Island and sees them cross the Doldrums twice.

The Ocean Fifty fleet was set a 4600-mile course, rounding the island of Sal in the Cape Verdes before turning right for Martinique.

The 18 IMOCAs are racing on a 4350-mile track that leaves the Canaries to starboard.

Because of an incoming frontal system with an expected deterioration in weather conditions at theentrance to the Bay of Biscay, the race management team has decided to alter the Class 40 course. The 42 boats will stop in La Coruña (Spain) to seek shelter, and a second start will then be given as soon as conditions permit.

The overall ranking of the Transat Café L’Or Le Havre Normandie in the Class 40 fleet will be calculated based on the combined times of the two legs.

The post Three 50ft trimarans capsize in first night of Transat race: all skippers rescued   appeared first on Yachting World.

Local dinghy classes tend to evolve to suit the particular conditions of the waters they sail in, and the Patí Català catamarans are unique to their Barcelona birthplace. The catamaran is a development of the simple twin-hulled platforms that Spanish fisherman would paddle out to check their nets in the late 1800s.

In 1942 two brothers from Catalonia added wooden spars and battenless mainsails to their boats and the sailing class was born. Often referred to as ‘skates’, the flat-bottomed Patí boats have no rudder, daggerboard, or foils of any kind, meaning they can be comfortably dragged across the sand of the Barceloneta and Badalona beaches.

They’re also exceptionally quick to rig, allowing locals to race the class in their lunchtime breaks before popping back to work (racing is held five days a week, first gun at noon). However, while the design may be simple in construction, they are complex to sail, relying on the sailor’s skill in body weight positioning, sail trim and rig adjustment to manoeuvre.

Dani Pich sailed his Patí Català solo around the Isle of Wight in July. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

Single mould design

The Patí Català is a strict one-design. So strict that not only must each boat meet the minimum weight of 89kg, but all bar a handful of boats are built using the same mould, as Spanish sailor Dani Pich explained.

Pich was showing me his modified Patí Català, which he went on to sail around the Isle of Wight solo on Thursday 24 July, in 13 hours and 8 minutes.

“They are all handmade near Barcelona. To make the hulls, we use what is called the cow. We call it the cow because when you put in the plywood, you stack it, and you have to clamp it.

“Then you have to go underneath and to tighten it the movement is as if you were milking a cow. Since 1970, all the Patí Catalàns have been made with this cow, except for maybe fewer than 20.”

Up close, the Patí hulls are surprisingly pretty, skilfully crafted from different woods to give different levels of structural stiffness in key areas.

Article continues below…

“The plywood is okoume. They are all tropical woods. The soft one, the yellow, is called ayous, it’s the one that permits the twist and the flex. And the one that is darker is called samanguila. That is a variation of the oak, and it’s very strong,” explains Pich.

The twin hulls are connected by five wooden crossbeams, known as racks or benches, which sailors use to traverse the boats and to move their body weight forward and aft depending on conditions. Weight is key – each racing boat has a minimum hull weight of 89kg and competitive sailors will sand their boats down to ensure they are as close as possible to the class minimum (if individual boats come in too light they must carry corrector weights).

Patí Català sailing off Barcelona during the America’s Cup. Photo: Ian Roman/America’s Cup

Custom build

Eight years ago Barcelona sailor Pich lost his sight when a fire extinguisher exploded aboard the gas ship he was working on as a merchant seaman. He is now totally blind.

Pich learned to sail as a child, starting in the Optimist dinghy before moving to the Laser (now ILCA) single-hander, though he never fell in love with racing. For him, the lure of sailing was more about the challenge of ocean crossings, and in his late teens he moved into sailing larger yachts, crossing the Mediterranean and Atlantic before building a career at sea.

Waterproof box housing a processor that converts wind data to a ‘clock’ direction system. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

He first experimented with sailing the local Patí Català when he was 16. “At first I thought this was too complicated for me. But after a summer when I had the opportunity to train a lot with it, I found it spectacular,” he recalls.

After his accident, Pich struggled to return to the sport he loved. He tried some ‘accessible’ sailing programs in Spain and was left feeling degraded by the experience. “It was ‘Sit here, sit there’. I felt like a package they were moving around, and giving me orders. And I was supposed to be thankful for the opportunity.”

Pich demonstrating how he uses foot placement and body weight during a tack. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

Despite their complexity, the only option for him to sail autonomously was to sail a Patí, out of a local Barcelona city club. “It meant that I could leave my house and go by public transport, and not require many more people to do this. I could go by myself,” he explains.

“I knew the club. And I thought, well, I know this is a difficult way to start. But the club were the only ones that said, ‘Okay, let’s try it.’”

Initially Pich was required to sail with another person aboard his Patí, so it was stiffened to carry the additional crew and the hull now weighs in at 150kg. However, the reinforced structure also helped Pich’s boat stand up to the short Solent chop during his single-handed sail around the Isle of Wight.

The ‘piano’ area of sail and rig controls. The cut-out notches both reduce weight and act as extra foot grips when hiking. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

“This is the only Patí that you can be sailing in 15 knots upwind, with two people hiking, and it doesn’t break. Normally, when you start to heel, the bow wants to fall down, and the aft end wants to fall down. So the bits that suffer are the first and the fifth benches. And they break, bam! After the third time I broke the benches, I said, enough is enough – we’re going to build from scratch a boat completely reinforced, so I don’t have this problem.

“I built it myself with the woodmaker. So I know everything about it, how it is made, the wood thicknesses. Because I thought that if I had to do some repairs I should know my own boat.”

Rig and controls

With no rudder, the primary controls on the Patí Català are rig adjustments, mainsheet and shifting of body weight.

“You start sitting in the neutral position,” explains Pich, indicating between the third and fourth cross-beam. “So how we can control the boat is with our weight moving to the bow or to the aft. If we go to the bow, the boat goes upwind. When we go to the aft, we sail a lower course. You can do this in five knots of wind without touching anything. But when it starts to blow harder, if you don’t trim the sail, you cannot.”

Pich uses ropes of different diameter so he knows which control line is which. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

To initiate and exit a tack, Patí sailors stand, using their body weight to drive the boat into a turn and swinging against the sail as it loads up in a fluid, acrobatic movement. Pich has added a solid panel between the forward cross-beams to allow him to more safely cross the boat without sight of his foot placement.

Besides the mainsheet and sail controls, there are also control lines that allow the sailor to adjust rig shape underway. “I can make the mast like a ‘C’,” explains Pich. “There are two ropes going from inside the mast to outside. I can bring on the front stay, but I’m not pulling the mast forward. I am just pulling from three quarters of the mast, to the front. So I can flatten the sail and twist the outer part of the leech.

“We call it like the gears of the car. You start with first, then second, third. So you start completely open, with the wind on the sail starting the power of the boat. When you feel the boat is starting to run, you go into first gear, put a little bit [of rig tension] on, then a bit more. And every time, then you have to trim the sail.”

Stripes of non-slip padding allow Pich to orient himself along the side decks and five racks. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

Because the boat has no boom, the Cunningham is heavily used to pull down the mainsail. A stainless steel metal beam aft is the traveller, and also counter-balances the weight of the mast forward.

Sailing by feel

Despite its complexity, Pich says the wooden construction of the Patí gives a lot more feedback to him as a blind sailor than a glassfibre boat such as his Laser dinghy. “We say that this boat, you sail it by feelings. The wood talks a lot. The sound that it makes is incredible. You can know many things about what’s happening on board just by hearing the boat.”

Pich says the plywood Patí Català gives a lot more feedback to him as a blind sailor than a glassfibre boat would. Photo: Tim Jeffreys Photography

“Every time I broke the boat in any way, I was the first to know it – more than anyone who has sight. The sound completely changes. There is a new sound that enters the puzzle.”

There are two other unique items on Pich’s boat: a wind sensor and a black electronics box. These read wind data which is then communicated to Pich through a special custom-made vibrating vest created by a Catalan startup company called White Jacket.

The vest has two strips around Pich’s torso, and 12 small vibration motors connected to a battery. The first strip feeds Pich information on his course, using the circle of a clock – so 12 o’clock is at his front and means dead ahead. The lower strip connects to the data from the wind sensor, and gives Pich true wind angle.

“I’ve got the two vectors; course over the ground and the wind angle. So then it’s trying to do some magic!” explains Pich, who calculates the course to steer in his head and by feel.

Pich only began working with White Jacket in April, and they want to develop the vest technology further to include heading guidance. This would also make the vest more of an accessibility tool for less experienced sailors than Pich.

The vest components are housed inside a silicone tube, with IP68 connectors for waterproofing. However, during Pich’s around the island bid in July his vest began overheating and he went on to complete most of the circumnavigation by feel, with his team on the support RIB communicating information on tide, waves and obstructions.

Pich also uses other cues such as the sun. “I cannot see light, but I can feel the heat. So for example, if I am reaching and I am on starboard tack, the sun is on my right. And I can feel it on my face. I know from the movement of the sun that is going from east to west, and knowing my latitude, I can orientate myself. But this is what I’d like to show people: that because we are blind, we’re not stupid. We can do things.

“Do you know how complex it is to fry an egg without seeing? It is hundreds of times more complex than sailing!”

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post How a blind sailor raced this unique rudderless catamaran around the Isle of Wight appeared first on Yachting World.

French ocean racer Charlie Dalin has revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, and completed – and won – the gruelling 2024/25 Vendée Globe while continuing treatment for the illness.

Dalin, skipper of the IMOCA Macif Santé Prévoyance had withdrawn from the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic race for unspecified medical issues. He confirmed in his autobiography La Force du Destin (‘The Force of Destiny’), released tomorrow, that he was in fact diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumour that autumn.

Despite this, Dalin went on to qualify for the Vendée Globe, completing the Transat CIC and return New York Vendée-Les Sables Race in the summer of 2024.

An emotional Dalin crosses the line to win the 2024 Vendée Globe. Photo: Jean-Louis Carli / Alea

Dalin then delivered one of the most impressive winning performances in the solo non-stop around the world Vendée Globe race’s history, pushing his IMOCA to blistering speeds and maintaining a ferociously relentless work rate throughout – famously riding a low pressure system in the South Indian Ocean to pull ahead of his close rival Yoann Richomme on Paprec Arkéa.

He finished the race in 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, and 49 seconds, demolishing the previous course record by 10 days.

Charlie Dalin cancer diagnosis

Dalin reports that he first noticed symptoms in late 2023 during a training sail, and received his diagnosis after emergency scans.

The skipper, who sails for MerConcept, did not publicly announce that he was going through cancer treatment, though he and his team adapted his training due to the weight loss and fatigue he suffered.

Dalin was first to finish in the previous 2020/21 Vendée Globe, but fellow competitor Yannick Bestaven was awarded the race win following receiving time in redress for his part in the search and rescue of Kevin Escoffier, whose boat PRB broke up off South Africa.

Before the 2024 race Dalin had spoken about how he came to terms with the unique emotional rollercoaster of crossing his first ever Vendée Globe in first place, but knowing his victory wouldn’t last.

Dalin’s 2024 Vendée Globe

With a purpose built Verdier-designed IMOCA and – outwardly at least – apparently perfect preparation until the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre, Dalin was a hot favourite for the 2024 Vendée Globe.

But privately, his participation was in doubt until the last minute, when a scan in November 2024 confirmed that his tumour had not grown and he was able to join the record-sized fleet on the start line in Les Sables d’Olonne. During the race he managed the illness with daily medication, and prioritised rest when possible.

“I stuck to my strategy, sleeping an average of six and half hours per 24 hours, which is more than on my first Vendée,” he told French news agency AFP, in one of several interviews ahead of Thursday’s publication of his book.

“I had stomach pains, but I just told myself: you don’t have time to worry about that. The pains went away as quickly as they had come,” he added. “By the time I got back to shore, I had almost forgotten about them.”

Macif was custom-built and designed for Dalin. Photo: Ronan Gladu/Disobey/Macif

Speaking about his race post-diagnosis, Dalin revealed that he felt very relaxed during his second Vendée.

“On November 10, 2024, the day of the Vendée Globe start, I was incredibly relaxed. We often hear that taking part in the Vendée is already a victory. In my case, that was exactly it! Because a year earlier, I didn’t even know if I would survive,” he told French sailing magazine Voiles et Voiliers.

“In fact, during a chat during the trip up the Atlantic, when I was neck and neck with Yoann (Richomme), I said: ‘In the end, it’s just a game.’

“Many people thought it was a bluff, thinking it didn’t correspond to my usual state of mind. But no, I was really relaxed, happy to be on my boat, battling for the final victory.”

Incredible story

Dalin had considered going public with his diagnosis during the media frenzy after winning the Vendée Globe, but when offered a book deal decided that would be the better way to tell his story.

“Frankly, if a screenwriter had imagined a script around the Vendée, he would never have dared to write the story of a sailor with cancer, who returns to the race of his dreams and wins it after crossing the line first, but finishes second in his first participation…

He would have been told that it was too much, that it didn’t make sense. And yet, that’s exactly what happened,” Dalin told Voiles et Voiliers.

Dalin (left) 2nd second placed Richomme in Les Sables d’Olonne after the pair’s fierce duel during the Vendée Globe. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

Dalin’s recovery

Shortly after the finish in February this year, Charlie Dalin underwent surgery and is now focusing on his recovery. “I had a tumour 15 centimetres long on my intestine. They removed it in February, but it came back elsewhere in April,” he explained to French newspaper L’Equipe.

British skipper Sam Goodchild is racing Macif in next month’s Transat Café L’or (formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre), with new IMOCA co-skipper Loïs Berrehar. The Macif team will be making a further announcement about their sailing squad later this month.

All of us at Yachting World sincerely wish Charlie and his family the very best for the future. Charlie and his team generously gave me the opportunity to sail aboard his incredible Macif in September 2024, and it was an absolute privilege to witness him at the helm. We hope to see him back there very soon.

The post Vendée Globe record-breaker Charlie Dalin won gruelling race after cancer diagnosis appeared first on Yachting World.

Without medical services, how do you keep yourself, your crew, or your family healthy? It’s one of the most daunting elements of sailing offshore.

We joined crews preparing for the Grand Large Odyssey: a three-year, 35,000-mile round the world rally organised by Grand Large Yachting, builders of Outremer, Gunboat, ORC, RM, Allures and Garcia brands, for owners of those boats (the next edition starts in November this year).

Ahead of the rally start, GLY held a ‘World Odyssey University’; a week-long series of seminars and networking events crammed with information for participants.

One of the recurring topics was healthcare on board, including a full-day seminar led by Dr Matthieu Coudreuse, an ER doctor who specialises in medicine in isolated and offshore environments. Coudreuse has worked as the onboard doctor on an icebreaking expedition vessel, in remote tropical clinics and with disaster relief teams. The GLY entrants also heard a presentation by previous rally crews on how to avoid or handle health issues based on their experiences and learnings. These are some of the key takeaways:

A medical kit to cover most likely eventualities is essential offshore

Before you go

Preparing the humans is as important as preparing the yacht. Just as you wouldn’t set out without servicing the boat’s engine, allow enough time for medical checks, including a visit to the GP, optician and dentist. Advice is that ‘men of a certain age’ should also consider visiting a urologist.

If you have any health conditions that require ongoing medication, such as diabetes meds or blood thinners, discuss with your doctor how to carry enough supplies to allow for delays or re-routing.

Look at the areas you plan on, or might consider, visiting and ensure you’re up to date on vaccinations (eg hepatitis, rabies, tetanus, typhoid, yellow fever or encephalitis). Proof of vaccination is mandatory for some countries. Make sure any crew or guests planning on joining the voyage do the same, and that everyone on board has comprehensive health insurance.

Article continues below…

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On a long passage, also plan to incorporate ongoing health checks – many countries along the way will offer good, affordable health and dental care. Previous GLY rally crews accessed treatment in Panama, Tahiti, Noumea, Reunion, Mauritius and South Africa.

Dedicate time to more advanced medical training – a basic First Aid at Sea should be the minimum, but there are multi-day courses suitable for situations where you may not be able to access medical help for days, including from marine specialists such as MSOS (msos.org.uk).

You might consider signing up for a tele-med service – there are several private providers that offer a dedicated e-medicine service for offshore sailors, in addition to the MRCC-connected TMAS services (see over the page). Anyone using the French TMAS service can send their medical records to their Toulouse base in advance.

And consider your own fitness – back sprains etc are a common problem and can be debilitating. Working on your own strength, core stability and balance before setting off can help reduce the risk of injury.

Skin welts from a jellyfish sting can be very painful. Photo: Adrian Weston/Alamy

Get prepared

Preparing for all medical eventualities is impossible, and health issues completely unrelated to sailing can always rear their head, but having a good awareness of your own health is key as getting an early and accurate diagnosis is critical.

You can work out what your greatest risk factors are, to prepare to mitigate them. The most common risks include: skin problems due to exposure to sun; wet/saltwater and problems with wound healing; food and drinking water contamination; the boat itself; and risks associated with stopovers.

During the previous two-year GLY world rally there were a small number of serious incidents, including a broken leg when a crew member was flicked overboard by the mainsheet while sailing in 4m waves, and safely recovered. Another dislocated their shoulder falling through an open hatch when walking on deck. A skipper dived to attempt to free their stuck anchor, but their air tank ran empty at 15m depth and they ascended too rapidly. And a seemingly innocuous incident led to a helicopter medi-vac after one crew member cut their feet on coral, which caused an infection that didn’t respond to antibiotics.

Be confident in basic first aid, including CPR. Photo: Grand Large Yachting

What to pack

When offshore or in many remote areas, your onboard medical kit will be your only resource, so spend time considering what to carry. There is no compulsory list of medicines to carry, only advisories – rally organisers and tele-med services can help, while TMAS France publishes two lists, for vessels 0-60 miles offshore, and 60 miles-plus.

As a starting point, you should carry treatments for seasickness, cuts and wounds, burns, bruising and broken bones, allergic reactions, hypothermia and sunstroke, infections, skin problems, and digestive problems.
Every first aid kit should have some sort of pain relief – from paracetamol and ibuprofen. Stronger analgesics, such as opiates and anti-inflammatories, will need a prescription (also include anti-sickness medication, as opiates can make many people sick). Always talk to a medical professional before administering opiates, and be aware of laws on restricted substances, such as morphine, when crossing international borders.

If any crew have known allergies or asthma they should have their own EpiPen or inhaler, with spares in the first aid kit. Even if you have no known allergies on board, consider carrying an EpiPen as you’ll likely come into contact with new foods, insects etc.

More advanced skills such as suturing or stapling wounds will need practice ashore before being attempted afloat. Photos: Grand Large Yachting

A range of dressings can be useful, including gauze, steristrips and tape. Suturing can be immensely difficult for inexperienced first-aiders, particularly on a moving boat, so a staple kit can be easier – but still requires training and practice beforehand. Consider carrying plastic or inflatable splints and a neck brace for any suspected broken bones or spinal issues.

Burns are surprisingly common at sea. Make sure the boat has both washes for chemical burns and scald treatments, as well as waterproof dressings to prevent infection. Diagnostic tools such as a pen torch to assess pupil dilation, mirrors, urine dip sticks, a thermometer, scalpels, scissors, needles and syringes should be kept in sterile waterproof packaging.

Consider if you want to carry a small bottle of oxygen in case of suspected drowning or respiratory issues. Or even a defibrillator – which can be helpful in an emergency, but is relatively heavy and bulky.

But the more comprehensive your onboard medical kit, the more you need to be aware of drug interactions – for example, medication that a crew member is taking for a chronic condition with a drug taken to treat a new issue. Do not administer prescription medicines without medical advice from a tele-med service or similar.

Keep tablets, drugs and treatments well labelled and in waterproof bags or containers in your medical kit. Photo: Pip Hare Ocean Racing

Prevention over cure

Tropical environments bring their own challenges. For example, mosquitos can fly more than two miles over sea, potentially carrying malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, or zika fever. Prevention – avoiding getting bitten – is best, although you can do a self-test for malaria onboard to avoid taking anti-malarials, which just involves a single blood prick.

Digestive issues such as gastroenteritis and parasites again mostly require prevention. A rule to reduce risk is ‘Cook it, boil it, peel it, or forget it.’

Watch out for drinking water and ice served ashore, as well as making sure your own water supply on board is safe (keep on top of filters, tank hygiene etc). There’s an added risk of dehydration when gastro issues combine with sailing, so carry rehydration and electrolyte sachets.

Travellers in the tropics can be at risk of Leptospirosis – avoid by not eating fallen fruits from the ground, or drinking from bottles in cafes/beach bars. Ciguatera can be avoided by not eating fish caught in some areas – check official and local sources to avoid risky catches.

In Vanuatu, nearly all the rally crews picked up some kind of infection, even from a simple splinter. Antibacterial gel is often ineffective – focus instead on handwashing with soap and being careful to dry your hands, and use alcohol to treat. Other key items to have in your armoury are tweezers and natural topical treatments which often have no expiry date, such as tea tree oil (antibacterial and anti-fungal), lavender aspic to treat insect bites, helichrysum or peppermint oil for bruises, and tiger balm for sprains and strains.

Events such as Outremer Week and the GLY rally ‘University’ include medical training seminars

If you need help

If you do have an emergency or require medical assistance on board while offshore, Dr Coudreuse emphasised that the first thing to do is check that the boat is secure, and the rest of the crew is safe. Prevent further accidents – before you begin taking care of the patient.

Assess the severity of the situation: are they bleeding? Have they lost consciousness?

Carry out any basic first aid needed: recovery position, chest compressions etc. If possible, take photos of their injury, skin colour etc, which can be useful for a tele-med diagnosis.

In a critical situation, first call TMAS or the tele-med service, but have email ready to send photographs or other information.

Make sure you know the medical history of the patient: do they have any allergies, pre-existing conditions etc? Then you will likely need to examine them: determine location of any pain, measure blood pressure, heart rate, breathing frequency, oxygen saturation levels, temperature and other key observations. There are forms you can download in advance with prompts to guide you through the process.

Patching up during The Ocean Race Sprint Cup

Dr Coudreuse explained that it’s important when observing and describing a patient’s condition to be very specific. For example, saying they have ‘difficulty breathing’ gives limited information. While a wheezing noise on exhalation is a classic sign of asthma, in children a noise on inhalation often indicates an object in the upper airways. Likewise, when describing pain, the more specific you can be, the more able a remote doctor will be to diagnose the problem – for example, kidney stones cause a very characteristic type of pain.

But be reassured, according to Dr Coudreuse when the crew are the eyes and ears of the doctors, 70% of situations can be satisfactorily handled on board.

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Nathan Outteridge, undisputedly one of the best foiling sailors of his generation, is re-entering SailGP as helmsman for the newly announced Swedish Artemis Racing team.

The Swedish Artemis entry becomes the 13th team to join the multi-stage, travelling stadium race series.

Artemis Racing will be led by CEO Iain Percy, himself also an Olympic gold medallist and previously Artemis Racing’s Team Manager during their America’s Cup campaigns.

Nathan Outteridge (left) with Iain Percy CEO of Artemis SailGP Team and Russell Coutts (right), CEO of SailGP at the Artemis team announcement during the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva. Photo: Felix Diemer/SailGP

Outteridge back in SailGP

Outteridge’s return to SailGP will be much welcomed, as one of the biggest talents in the sport right now.

His appointment pits three of the four finalist helmsmen in the 38th America’s Cup  against each other in the foiling catamaran league. Outteridge was co-helm to the Black Foils’ Pete Burling on the winning Emirates Team New Zealand AC75 last year, beating Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher on INEOS Britannia, who currently manage and helm the GBR F50 respectively.

In the past two years Ainslie and former US skipper Jimmy Spithill stood down from racing in SailGP to take management roles, so the return of more Cup sailors with real star power will be a big boost for the circuit.

Nathan Outteridge (crouching) and Pete Burling celebrate after winning the America’s Cup in 2024 for Emirates Team New Zealand. Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images

Outteridge, who is Australian, is also a double Olympic medallist, winning a gold in 2012 and silver in 2016 in the 49er class.

However, his SailGP career has not gone entirely smoothly. As helmsman and team boss for the Japan SailGP Team in Seasons 1 & 2 he delivered great results on the water, but the team was unable to attract sufficient commercial backing and had their boat reallocated to other teams, before being dropped from the league by founders – and funders – Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts.

Since then he has raced and coached other crews, but has not skippered a team for a full season, and took some time out to go cruising with his family.

Nathan Outteridge helms the Japan SailGP Team during a practice session in Season 2. Photo: Bob Martin/SailGP

Of his return to the global racing championship, Outteridge said, “Reuniting with Iain, Torbjörn and the Artemis team for this new chapter in SailGP is incredibly exciting. We’ve shared huge moments together in the past, and bringing that experience, trust and energy into this arena gives us a powerful foundation.

“This is a new challenge for all of us – a chance to showcase what Swedish sailing can achieve in one of the toughest and fastest stages in the world. We’re approaching this season with focus, ambition and the belief that we can set the standard for what’s possible in this championship.”

Swedish Artemis Racing

Artemis Racing has a huge history in cutting-edge racing. The team is backed by Torbjörn Törnqvist, a Swedish billionaire and passionate sailor who has raced in highly competitive classes such as the RC44s and TP52s (in which he won the World Championships and Med Cup with SailGP founder Russell Coutts as tactician).

Törnqvist founded the Artemis Racing America’s Cup team, which competed in several America’s Cups – including in 2013 and 2017 – with Percy and Outteridge on the crew.

Most recently Sweden challenged for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cups as an ‘invited’ team, finishing fourth in both.

Nathan Outteridge spent time as co-driver and sailing advisor t0 the Switzerland SailGP Team in 2022. Photo: Jon Buckle/SailGP

The Artemis SailGP Team will join the Rolex SailGP Championship for 2026, the sixth season of SailGP which opens in January 2026 in Perth, Australia

Artemis SailGP Team CEO Iain Percy commented: “I’m proud to lead the Artemis SailGP Team as we return to the global stage with a clear focus – leveraging cutting-edge technology, a world-class line up, and the hard-won lessons from America’s Cup.

“SailGP is redefining the sport with unmatched speed, innovation, and fan engagement. Bringing Sweden into this elite championship is a milestone we’re proud of, and we’re determined to compete at the very highest level – pushing boundaries both on and off the water.”

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“I’ve been very lucky. I’ve sailed on a lot of really cool boats, modern boats, but also my background’s from dinghy sailing. So up until recently I probably would have said the International 14, which is an absolute classic, or the Merlin Rocket in the UK. But without a doubt, the Ultim is the coolest boat I’ve sailed on.”

Roberts was part of the Actual Ultim 4 crew for the Rolex Fastnet Race. “This was the old Gitana, it’s the new Actual 4. We put the boat in the water a week before the race, and when you buy these boats, you don’t get given all the information – or even all the right parts. So we’ve only scratched the surface of what we can do with this boat.

“It’s just next level. You sail around at 30 knots upwind, 40 knots downwind. The boat’s dead flat, I can make my cup of tea while we’re going 40 knots without even holding the mug! And it’s so reactive. The Ultim is the ultimate sailing machine in the world at the moment.”

Make sure you check out our full list of Coolest Yachts.

Ultim Actual 4 stats rating

Top speed: 51.7 knots
LOA: 32m/100ft
Launched: 2017
Berths: 1-4
Price: €10-15million
Adrenalin factor: 98%

Alan Roberts

Alan Roberts has won in a huge range of designs, from XOD classic keelboats to International Moths and other performance dinghies. Having raced at the front of the Figaro fleet he is now found on many top ocean race teams, including IMOCAs and Ultims. He will be racing The Ocean Race Europe in the IMOCA Holcim PRB.

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Thirty-one Class 40s started the CIC Normandy Channel Race on Sunday, 25 May, one of the first big races of the season. It had been a tough test from the outset, with 25 knots and a building forecast. By Tuesday there had been several retirements, including a collision between two boats on the start, a dismasting and gear failures. But the Class 40 is one of the most competitive fleets around – entries included Vendée Globe legends Michel Desjoyeaux and Vincent Riou, such is the level of experience.

The double-handed pairings had rounded the Isle of Wight, and were zigzagging their way across the English Channel and its tough tidal races. Jay Thompson, an American who has spent much of the last decade in France working with big IMOCA teams, was racing #Empowher with Irish co-skipper Pamela Lee. He recalls: “It was quite a hard race. We’d had 25-35 knots of upwind, basically the entire race. So everyone was really tired.”

Faced with forecasts of 40+ knots in the Celtic Sea, race organisers had altered course to take the fleet back across the Ouessant Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS, or DST in French). This is common – the Class 40s, along with the Figaro and other classes, frequently race across the shipping areas, though the diversion meant this particular race would cross a TSS six times.

“We had just passed the most southern mark,” Thompson continues. “We were going upwind, but slightly open. It was like a tight reach, about 80° or so true wind angle. At that time, there was 25 knots, pretty steady, with 28 knot gusts sometimes. So mostly everybody was sailing with a J1 and one reef in the main. We were on port tack, sailing north – basically to Fastnet, which was going to be our last mark before we came back to Caen, to finish.

“There was pretty good visibility. And there were big waves, about 2.5m or so of swell because a large front had just passed through.”

Event map showing the original CIC Normandy Channel Race course

Busy traffic

Cédric de Kervenoaël and Thomas Jourdren were about a mile ahead of #Empowher on their sistership Pogo S4 NST Cabinet Z. Not all the Class 40 skippers are pro sailors – de Kervenoaël is a lawyer during the week, but has been offshore racing for 30 years, and in the Class 40 fleet for a decade. He is also class president. Co-skipper Jourdren, 25, is a préparateur for Class 40s and has competed in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

De Kervenoaël says: “It had been two days of really, really tough sailing because the boats are very hard now. The scows are not so difficult to sail, but difficult to live in. You cannot eat, you cannot sleep.

“We crossed the Channel very, very quickly. And when we rounded the buoy, near Ouessant, it was about 1800-1900. We were preparing for about 15 hours of very [high] speed [sailing] and the wind to be stronger when we arrived at the Fastnet.”

“I was not really sleeping inside, but I’d kept my oilskins on. Really I was wondering if I could put my oilskins out because everything was so wet, but I had no motivation to do that. That proved quite useful later.”

Thompson had a clear visual of NST Cabinet Z as they chased north. “We were slightly south and east of their position, just a bit to leeward. So I could see him quite well – well, I could see his navigation light as it was 0200 in the morning. We were on port tack, and so off to the port side is really clear. It’s really hard to see things that are on starboard because they’re underneath the sails and the waves and the spray.

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“We were crossing the DST off Ouessant, which is the turning point. And it’s quite a busy one. My skipper, Pamela, was relaxing inside, and I was out in the cockpit just racing the boat. We have a screen on the outside, so I’m able to see the AIS and also do the sail adjustments at the same time.

“I noticed two cargos that were coming westbound. They would have been east of us. So they’re in that zone that’s difficult to see. And I could see that the crossing was going to be quite close. At that point, you’re paying more attention, and I’m trying to understand how I’m going to go around these two ships as well. Both boats had about 16-18 knots of boat speed or so.”

On board NST Cabinet Z Cédric de Kervenoaël heard his co-skipper on the VHF radio. “He was calling the cargo, but he was speaking very low, so I didn’t hear exactly what he said. But I learned afterwards that 25 minutes before the collision, he tried to call the cargo. The cargo didn’t answer. And after that, they answered.

“[Thomas] told them that, on the AIS, we were crossing in front of the cargo and he wanted to be sure that the cargo had seen us. And the guy answered, ‘Okay, I move my course’.”

“And maybe five or seven minutes after, I heard the same guy saying, ‘Well, you’re not a sailing boat, you take me for a piece of shit.’”

31 Class 40s started the 2025 CIC Normandy Channel Race, an approximately 1,000-mile double-handed offshore race around the English Channel and Celtic Sea. Photo: Photos: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

Not clear

Monitoring the situation, Thompson recalls. “I heard 191 (NST Cabinet Z) call one of the cargo ships and ask if he can pass ahead. And the guy responds by saying, ‘Yeah, you can pass ahead.’

“I would say by then we’re quite close to the cargo, getting within a mile or so – I did a couple of degrees [adjustment] to just pass behind it, and he was going to try to pass in front of it, basically in between the two cargos, because one was going to be clear ahead.

“Then a few moments later, the guy [on the cargo] comes back on the radio and says, ‘You are the give-way vessel. YOU are the one that’s going to move out of the way.’ And he says it in a way that’s really kind of unprofessional. It was more in his intonation – angry or upset.” Thompson didn’t hear anything further in the VHF exchange.

On NST Cabinet Z de Kervenoaël got up in alarm.

Cédric de Kervenoaël (on left) and Thomas Jourdren. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

“I said to Thomas, ‘Did you understand what he said?’ He was not sure, but I understood very well. So I took the radio, and I told them, ‘Yes, we are a sailing racing boat. That’s why we are fast.’ Because I suppose those guys are used to crossing sailing boats at 6.5 knots – not when they’re going at 15 knots.

“But the guy [on the cargo] didn’t answer me. I looked at the chart and I asked Thomas, ‘Okay, look, look, where is the boat? Where is the boat?’ He went outside and said, ‘It doesn’t cross, it doesn’t cross, it doesn’t cross!’
“And then we were crushed by the ship.”

Hit and run

Thompson had heard the conversation and noted it as odd. Watching from #Empowher. “I could see the Class 40 and the cargo ship’s lights coming together. And then I see just the cargo lights, so I assume he passed in front.
“Then I hear on the VHF a guy comes back on – which I assume is the cargo ship because he says, ‘You need to call the Cross.’ I thought that’s a weird thing to say.

“I waited maybe 30 seconds, the cargo ship continues on, and I don’t see the lights of the Class 40 anymore. Then I look at my screen, and their AIS has disappeared on the screen. I pick up the VHF and I call NST. She doesn’t answer. And so I tell Pam, there might be a situation here. Then a radio call comes in. He says, ‘Mayday, the boat is cut in half. We’ve de-masted. Come and get us now.’

Cédric de Kervenoaël and Thomas Jourdren were racing NST Cabinet Z. Photo: Photos: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

“It was very crackly because it was just a handheld VHF. So I responded, ‘Okay, we’re going to come right away.’”

Thompson readied his Class 40 – furling the jib and starting the engine, while Lee relayed the Mayday to the Cross Corsen – the French maritime rescue service. Jourdren had also activated the EPIRB on NST.

It’s not totally clear what the cargo skipper meant when he said ‘You need to call the Cross,’ but Thompson believes he was telling the yacht they needed to call the rescue services themselves after the impact. The ship did not stop to offer assistance.

“When I saw the AIS disappear, I just put a very quick waypoint on the Adrena of where it happened,” recalls Thompson, “So we headed over to that zone. We were there within 10 minutes.

“We could see that the boat was in pieces. The bow was apart but attached, and the mast laying in the middle with the sail. The cockpit was slightly sticking out of the water, but most of the back half of the boat was underwater.”

Class 40 rules require each yacht to have large blocks of foam for flotation built-in both forward and aft. “With the keel, the aft section was barely floating, nearly vertical. The crew were on the starboard pushpit. It was the only section that was out of the water, but with the waves, it was still going in the water. We could just see their reflectives on their jackets because we had a big spotlight. That’s how we spotted them,” Thompson adds.

The Cross rescue confirmed that a helicopter could be with them in 40 minutes. They also halted all shipping traffic in the area around the disabled yacht.

“We asked Cédric and Thomas: ‘Do you have your TPS survival suits?’ They said, no, all they had was a handheld VHF. So we relayed that, and the Cross said, ‘Well, you really need to try to get them off because 40 minutes in the water is going to be a long time.’

Pamela Lee and Jay Thompson are campaigning the Pogo S4 #Empowher. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

“We instructed the crew to inflate their liferaft, get into the raft, then let it float behind the boat. Because with the wreckage and everything in the big swell, it would have been almost guaranteed that we would put a hole in our boat if we even got close. But when they tried to inflate the liferaft, the liferaft didn’t open.”

Next the crew of #Empowher tried a different plan – inflating their own raft, with the intention of letting it drift down to the stranded crew. “We went just upwind of the boat and opened the raft. This was when it got really crazy because I looked down for two seconds to help Pam get the liferaft out of the back. And when we looked up we couldn’t see the boat anywhere. It happens so quickly that you can lose somebody. It took a little moment for us to search around to find them again.

“Then Pam opened the liferaft, and everything went perfect. She was holding on to the rope at the back of the transom. I’m driving the boat, trying to hold station, just to windward so that she could let the raft down to them. And then Pam tells me “There’s nothing on the rope.”

The rope had detached from #Empowher’s liferaft. Having had the scare of losing sight of the Class 40, Jay and Pam decided not to attempt to recover the raft, but instead to keep eyes on the crew – not an easy task short-handed.

“The boats are not easy at all. In one moment, you’re going super fast because you’re going downwind and down swell, kind of surfing. Then the next, you’re trying to go upwind super slow. And you’re trying to stay close, but not too close.

Pamela Lee and Jay Thompson on #Empowher. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

Pam was handling all the communications, I was just driving and trying to always keep a visual on the boat, basically making anticlockwise loops around them, which was easiest for me because the port side is where the controls are for the motor.”

Cedric and Thomas confirmed that their situation on the disabled NST Cabinet Z was stable – not sinking, but cold, so #Empowher kept circling for another 20 minutes.

“I think the most stressful part for us was when there was about 10 minutes left to go for the helicopter to arrive,” recalls Thompson. “Every time we did a circle, we would check in with them. But after that 10-minute point, we could start to hear in their voices how they were in themselves [going downhill] a bit. They were asking, ‘Where are you? Where are you guys? I don’t see you anymore.’”

Fortunately the helicopter arrived from Brest shortly after, and the rescue divers swiftly lifted the two men to safety – Jourdren first, as he was suffering from severe cold, then de Kervenoaël, who had broken four ribs in the impact, but – remarkably – both were otherwise unharmed.

Lessons learned

Both Thompson and de Kervenoaël commented on how the Offshore Personal Survival training had helped in the moment. “It was a bit terrifying,” admits de Kervenoaël.

“But as soon as we crashed and saw that we were both still on the boat, we did the job we had to do. The sea survival training was very useful. When you are in this situation, you know exactly what you have to do. So there was no panic. We knew that someone would come and that it would be too stupid to die in that place! It was just a question of time.”

However, Thompson notes that one thing that could improve the training is more on boat-to-boat rescues.

In a separate incident two Class 40s collided at the race start. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

“Actually there’s quite a lot of scenarios where one boat is assisting another sailing boat, and that’s often not really taught too much. It’s mainly about what happens when the helicopter comes or a cargo ship.

“For example, something I’d never actually thought about before, was that the rafts have something like 300kg of water ballast. So you can’t just drag it wherever. You either have to get rid of the water ballast once you deploy the raft, or make sure that you don’t inflate it until you’re in the exact right area.”

That two rafts failed in an emergency situation is something the class is taking very seriously. Both boats were carrying Waypoint rafts, favoured by Class 40 skippers for their light weight. The class has since mandated an alternative Plastimo raft, which is around 12kg heavier. Waypoint is also investigating the cause of the failures – Thompson confirmed he was visited by the manufacturer to discuss what happened and view the liferaft on NST Cabinet Z (the Class 40 hull was salvaged).

Cédric de Kervenoaël speaks to the media after his dramatic rescue. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

De Kervenoaël says the class will also look into liferaft positioning (both the Pogo S4s had their raft stowed on the transom), and how grab bags can be best secured within reach. “Maybe it should be attached somewhere because I was very lucky to find it floating beside the boat. But if we hadn’t had the grab bag, with the VHF, it would have been another story.”

The collision itself is subject to a police investigation. The cargo ship Ital Bonny, which was Italian flagged, was intercepted by a French warship and escorted to shore.

“Clearly, a conversation was going on about taking avoiding action, and for some reason, that didn’t happen. In terms of the angle [crossing the TSS], there was no fault. The race crew did everything right,” an experienced Class 40 sailor told me, who didn’t want to be identified.

However, as the confusion on the VHF shows, calling a cargo ship is no guarantee of a safe outcome. “I basically never call the ships,” says Thompson, “just because in my experience, it’s very rare that it goes well. Often you have a lot of different nationalities so it’s quite difficult to speak with them. So I think that should be your secondary step – if you need to do it. The very first step should be to adjust your course early so that it doesn’t become an issue.

Cédric thanks Thompson and Lee for their part in saving him and his co-skipper. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/CIC NCR

“When we’re crossing the lanes, closing speed starts to get so quick because we’re averaging between 16-18 knots, and the cargos are going anywhere from 12-18 normally. When you’re going 6 knots, you have so much more time.

“So it’s really important to get that visual – because the moment you get a visual, normally you can tell fairly easily how it’s going to cross. Sometimes it’s difficult, and you have to do that painful thing of letting the sheets go and the boat slow down a bit, or even turn downwind for a second to make sure that you can really see.

“Often, those decisions that we figure would be quite standard end up being really difficult when you haven’t slept for a couple of days. It’s definitely the most stressful and difficult thing on these races, because we’re basically crossing a freeway on a bicycle.”

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The much delayed Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup has – finally – been agreed and signed, and there are some radical changes within it for both the racing and the structure of the America’s Cup. Plus, potentially some promising hints for the British team.

This Protocol is long overdue, and the past few months have seen publicly played out disagreements between ETNZ, headed by Grant Dalton, the Challenger of Record, represented by Ben Ainslie, and the other potential teams (Alinghi, New York Yacht Club, the French, and Italians), that have been vehement and, at times, a bit ugly to watch.

Even until late last week I was still receiving messages from those closely involved suggesting that the 38th America’s Cup could yet become a ‘Deed of Gift’ match – or in other words, that the Protocol could fail, and the Cup go back to a two team match. There have clearly been some emergency summits held among the key players with Ainslie, Dalton, and Bertie Bickett of the Royal Yacht Squadron hinting that it had been a fairly torrid 72 hours.

So today’s news is something of a relief, and positive step, though it’s worth noting that until the final ‘Partnership’ agreement (more on that below) is signed in September, this could yet all become null and void. Such is the way of the America’s Cup…

Cup cyclors replaced with batteries

Some of the most visible changes will be in the crew used to sail the AC75 for the 38th America’s Cup. Teams must sail either their existing AC75 from the 37th Cup, or build one to an existing design.

The boats will race with a crew of five, one of which will be a female sailor. However, the four cyclors are to be replaced with a new battery power system.

There are no ‘surrogate’ boats allowed this time around, such as the LEQ12 designs some teams built in the last cycle, and were heavily used in the design and testing of elements such as power cycles. The addition of batteries also removes the number of athletes on board, and adds a ‘push button’ element, similar to the AC40s in the last Women’s America’s Cup and Youth America’s Cup.

“This isn’t a decision taken lightly regarding the cyclors and the athleticism of sailing these boats and the effort that those guys put in,” Sir Ben Ainslie – the head of Athena Racing, the official Challenger of Record – told Yachting World this morning. “But we had to make some difficult decisions regarding cost caps and moving forward. That’s a tough call.”

“It doesn’t actually change the sailing of the boat,” Grant Dalton added. “I think the key to it is not to just create unlimited power because, really, you might as well carry around a power station. It’s to mimic – and I think this won’t be very hard – the peaks and troughs of the power of an average [AC]75 from the last America’s Cup and produce that.”

Peter Burling – who left Team New Zealand and joined Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli – will be eligible to compete for the Italian team

Nationality and Non-compete agreement

The nationality rule was known to be a huge sticking point in the negotiations for the new Protocol. For AC38 the female sailor and at least two other crew members must be of the same nationality as the yacht club they represent.

The other big shift in this updated Protocol is the removal of a ‘non-compete’ clause which would have banned sailors who competed in one team from competing in another, which was a point known to be a big bone of contention among some teams.

Widely referred to as the ‘Burling clause’ after New Zealand three-times winning helmsman Peter Burling did not re-sign with Emirates Team New Zealand but instead moved to Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, a lot of focus has been on whether Burling could sail for the Italians. In this morning’s media call, Grant Dalton confirmed that he now could.

After an announcement earlier this year Naples is now confirmed as the 38th America’s Cup venue.

38th America’s Cup venue

The 38th America’s Cup is still due to be held in Napes, Italy, in 2027. The racing cycle for the 38th Cup will include up to three Preliminary regattas – potentially two as soon as next year in AC40s, before a Preliminary Regatta in AC75s in Naples.

There will also be more racing scheduled, including fleet racing for the AC75s as part of the Challenger Series.

A cost cap of £75million is to be imposed – though Dalton acknowledged that would be tricky to fairly implement for teams such as Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who are already up and running, with staff employed.

Entry opens soon, with just a 28 day window, and a €7million entry fee. Ainslie said that they are expecting most of the AC37 teams to enter. “I think we’re looking at five, maybe six teams for this next cycle.

Grant Dalton added: “Whether there is any further – if there is, they’re going to come out of Italy. I think that would be fair to say. So there could be an extra one, not sure yet.”

‘Fundamentally reshaped’ America’s Cup

However, the biggest structural change to the America’s Cup baked into this Protocol is the formation of a new Partnership Agreement, in which all currently involved teams have agreed a new commercial structure for the America’s Cup.

The idea is to give the event – which has historically been largely subject to the whims of its current holder – a firmer timetable. Going forward the Cup should have a two-year cycle giving teams more security when it comes to sourcing sponsors, planning campaigns etc. A new board will make key decisions such as class rule, agreeing venues etc, following an Formula One type model.

There’s no getting away from the fact this is controversial. The America’s Cup is the oldest sporting trophy in the world, and the Deed of Gift is one of its most unique elements. But it has also struggled to maintain momentum between cycles, and often ended up with protracted legal battles to get events off the ground. At one stage, it looked as if the 38th Cup could go the same way.

In this morning’s announcement, Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said: “As the three-time successive winner and Defender of the America’s Cup and along with the RNZYS as current Trustee, we feel the responsibility to continue to drive the growth of the America’s Cup event.

“Although the America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport and the pinnacle of sailing, its Achilles’ heel has always been its lack of continuity, so this transformation now gives all teams collective stewardship, and we are introducing a new executive management team to be headed up by a new independent CEO.

“By negotiating this Protocol and the America’s Cup Partnership with the Challenger of Record, it provides certainty for teams, commercial partners, and event venues to invest for multiple editions. This is the boldest change in 174 years of the Cup, while respecting the Deed of Gift, along with the Challenger of Record we are confident this is the best initiative to grow what is already one of the greatest sporting events in the world.”

New York Yacht Club Commodore Jay Cross said: “As the founding Trustee of the America’s Cup, we are completely supportive of the move to modernise the oldest sporting trophy in the world.”

“This is a seismic moment for the America’s Cup,” said Ainslie. “The partnership agreement fundamentally reshapes the governance and organisation of the event. The teams and yacht clubs share a vision to make the America’s Cup more inclusive, compelling, and financially sustainable. This new model marks a unified commitment to that vision. I am excited for the future of the sport.”

So will this partnership agreement actually go through? There does seem to be – on the surface at least – more agreement on the fundmental principles of this, than on some of the details that were driving the AC38 disputes.

Grant Dalton explained that there is more to it than appears in the Protocol. “You’re not seeing really the key document that actually has been signed – and you’re not going to be able to see it either, which is the term sheet,” he told invited media this morning.

“Which sets out the transitional period and the transitional rules of the defender handing over basically the keys to the city, the Crown jewels,  handing over all that. That is the key document. The rest of [the agreement], I have every confidence [will be signed], because it’s well done.”

Both of the AC75s used on the 2024 America’s Cup are likely to return, although the British boat will be renamed. Photo: America’s Cup

Hope for British America’s Cup team?

For British Cup fans, the signing of the Protocol by the Royal Yacht Squadron as Challenger of Record, represented by Ben Ainslie’s Athena Racing, is obviously a very good sign. Since the loss of sponsorship by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, there have been major concerns about the viability of the British America’s Cup Challenge.

While Ainslie did not speak about the funding of his own team, he did drop a few hints that could be interpreted encouragingly. The first being that, while he confirmed that the AC75 hull they used in the 37th America’s Cup to win the Louis Vuitton Cup will race again, it would be under a different name, suggesting a title sponsorship deal may be in place.

“The boat that’s Athena Racing’s boat is not going to be called Britannia,” he said in today’s media call.

While talking about the importance of having female athletes in the America’s Cup, he added: “We have funding in place for our youth and women’s team right now, for the whole programme. I think it just goes to show how much support there is out there across the sailing community to push this agenda.”

There’s lots more to unpick from this morning’s announcement, and we’ll follow up with further details as we have them.

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The Yacht Club de Monaco team of Jolt 6, skippered by Pierre Casiraghi and Jolt 3, skippered by Peter Harrison, has won the 2025 Admiral’s Cup after a high tension finish to the event’s conclusion, the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race.

Monaco finished with a 19-point advantage over the Royal Hong Kong YC entry after the leading boats in both the big boat AC1 and smaller AC2 fleets poured into Cherbourg in a frenetic night of finishes that saw over a dozen boats over the line within an hour from 2130 on Tuesday 29 July.

The final deadline for protests is six hours after the last boat in the event has finished. As the slowest boat in the fleet (Hamburg’s Edelweiss) wasn’t due to finish until this evening – and there were rumours aplenty of potential protests on the Cherbourg docks as the big boats approached – organisers RORC did not immediately confirming the Monaco team as winners, with the crews were being equally circumspect.

Monaco’s Jolt 3 team celebrate after moving into the lead of the Admiral’s Cup overall on the provisional results after the Rolex Fastnet Race.

Monaco win Admiral’s Cup

Ocean racer Will Harris was navigating the smaller Jolt 6 Carkeek 40, which won AC2 by just 2 minutes 45 seconds on corrected time. Harris explained on the dock straight after finishing:

“We were coming into this race in second place overall on the scoreboard with the Beau Ideal and Beau Geste team. And yeah, we think we’ve just managed to beat them into the finish line there, but we’ve still got to keep our fingers crossed and see how the other teams go.

“We know we’ve done everything we can and we’ll just have to see. But it’s a big relief to be here at the finish line.”

Ed Baird helms with an all-star team on the rail of Jolt 3 during the Admiral’s Cup. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

After the win had been confirmed, Jolt 6 skipper Pierre Casiraghi said: “Honestly, I still can’t believe what we’ve achieved.

“To win the Admiral’s Cup in its revival year and with Monaco’s first ever participation is beyond words. I’m not a professional helm and this was the most exhausting race I’ve ever done.

“We knew the Fastnet would be decisive and our team executed it flawlessly. Will Harris, our navigator, was just phenomenal, he didn’t miss a beat. From the moment we exited the Solent everything went to plan. This was a true team effort, from sailors to shore crew.

“Right now, I’m exhausted and can’t imagine doing another offshore race on a 42-footer any time soon, but this has been a magical journey. The Admiral’s Cup is an extraordinary event. I’m so proud to have been part of it.”

Jolt 6 in the RORC Admiral’s Cup 2025. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

America’s Cup legend Ed Baird was helming the 52-footer Jolt 3. “The points were close. We had to do well in our division and so did our 40-footer. Sounds like they are going to finish okay,” he said.

“I would say there hasn’t been a lot of tension amongst the team but everybody was very aware [of how close it is]. We have been racing both divisions of boats since April in Cowes, and we knew the whole time that it was going to come down to very, very tight margins.”

Seconds in it

Those tight margins initially dropped the Italian team out of the podium places in the provisional results.

“[The Fastnet Race] was very enjoyable and I think that we had a possibility to have a great result. Unfortunately, we lost by 55 seconds after 697 miles and that’s a little sad, but I think that I’m proud about what we were able to do,” said Vasco Vascotto, skipper of the newly launched WallyRocket 51 Django, the YCCS AC1 entry.

DJANGO WR51 rounds Fastnet Rock. Photo: Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

“But this was day 11 in the water for this boat and we were able to go around that Fastnet and that was a big challenge but we did it.”

However, the small Italian AC2 boat Django JPK finished 3rd in class some 12 hours later – just 18 seconds ahead of the New Zealanders, which also moved the YCCS team back up to 3rd overall ahead of New Zealand in 4th on the team series.

Admiral’s Cup Fastnet finale

The Admiral’s Cup fleet had its own start for the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race, with the 15 two boat teams scored on handicap in the big boat (AC1) and smaller AC2 class. Twenty-nine boats started, after the dismantling of Red Bandit (GER) during the inshore series. Ino Noir (GBR) also had to retire from the Fastnet due to electronics issues.

Jolt 3 leads a tightly packed group of finishers to the Admiral’s Cup fleet in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: RORC

Going into the Fastnet, after one double-scoring Channel race and three days of inshore racing, the Royal Hong Kong YC team led on 36 points, ahead of Monaco on 44, the Italian team of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in third on 59 points, and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s team at 76 points in fourth.

The Rolex Fastnet Race counted for triple points, non-discardable, making some significant place changes possible on the overall leaderboard.

Intense racing

The Admiral’s Cup teams raced much of the 695-mile Fastnet course with the same intensity as the inshore series. “It was unbelievably intense racing with the other fast four teams,” said Harris. “We were racing like match racing the whole way around, neck on neck crossing each other really closely.”

A dominant north-westerly breeze also turned the Fastnet track into a 700-mile windward-leeward course. “A disappointing [result] in the end for us, but it was a cracking Fastnet race. Some beautiful conditions – and just a giant windward-leeward, but just a little shutdown at the end that tripped us up,” said Miles Seddon, navigator on Beau Geste, the big boat in the Hong Kong team.

Beau Geste finished 9th in AC1 in the Fastnet, and the smaller Beau Geste 8th, dropping the Hong Kong team off the top spot for the Admiral’s Cup win overall.

The smaller boat in the Hong Kong Admiral’s Cup team, Beau Ideal, rounding the Rock during the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

Racing focussed on a single class, instead of competing against the whole 444-boat Fastnet fleet, also changed the strategy for the Admiral’s Cup teams. “When you’re racing IRC in general, you’ve just got to sail the boat as well as you can sail it. If it’s your conditions, it’s your conditions,” explained Seddon.

“But when you’re racing the Admiral’s Cup fleet, you’re just racing that fleet and you’re really focused on where they are all the time, which is quite draining.

“Just constantly keeping tabs on where everybody in the fleet is and how you’re going to manage them – and that’s 13 boats to manage. So it’s tough You’re constantly aware. I went into it knowing what we needed to do and then you’re constantly recomputing and looking at weather tracker updates, so you don’t get a lot of rest.

“Ultimately,with the finish here in Cherbourg, it’s fantastic. But it just adds that extra tidal gate and that’s brutal – it can be a real bonus, but it can take away as well.”

Dutch win in AC1

Huge celebrations for the Van Uden crew after winning AC1 in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: RORC

The biggest celebration of Tuesday night unquestionably belonged to the Dutch team on Rost-Van Uden, winners of AC1 overall, whose supporters were out in force showering the team in traditional flowers, champagne and song.

The Rost-Van Uden team is led by Gerd-Jan Poortman, who was part of the winning Dutch team in the 1999 Admiral’s Cup, and made up largely of young sailors from Rotterdam. To take the class win against an entry list stacked with pro America’s Cup sailors, Olympic medalists and world champions was a phenomenal achievement for this team.

Rost-Van Uden raced representing the Royal Maas Yachtclub, along with a family team on the AC2 entry Baraka GP, a Ker 43, and finished 6th overall.

Admiral’s Cup return

There’s no question that for the crews, the Admiral’s Cup has been a hit. “It’s been really, really good. The racing in our division AC2 was just super close, you never really knew how it was going to pan out until the end – that was the way it should be,” said America’s Cup winner Dean Barker. Barker was part of a very high level crew on Callisto, the small boat in the New Zealand team. The Kiwis finished 4th overall.

“The Channel race was just amazing. Like that was some of the best downwind sailing I’ve probably done in my life actually. And then, the Fastnet on a 42-footer, it’s challenging,”

Callisto put in a strong performance for NZL in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race for the Admiral’s Cup 2025. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

“The [format] adds a huge dynamic to the event because there’s a lot of inshore races specifically and not a lot have a strong offshore component. So to mix it up is actually really challenging for all the teams,” added Barker.

“The equal weighting between inshore and offshore, I think it’s a really good way to do it. You need to be able to be strong on both. So I really enjoyed it. It’s hard – but at the same time it’s what makes it rewarding in the end.”

“It’s been absolutely fantastic. The heritage of it, the history, it’s been a great event,” said Seddon.

“The lead up to it was fantastic. Hopefully it goes on strength to strength and really showcases the sport because it does everything – it does offshore, it does inshore and it’s team racing as well. So it’s been a really, really good event. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

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The monohull line honours winner of the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race is BlackJack 100, finishing the 695-mile race at 0021 (BST), early on Tuesday 29 July after 2d 12h 31m of racing.

Three 100-footer monohulls joined a record fleet for the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race, adding not only an added element of spectacle to the packed IRC Super Zero startline in Cowes, but also bringing some long-standing rivalries that are more often fought out on the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race to the biennial British classic.

IRC Super Zero start of the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Early monohull leaders

It was Hong-Kong based SHK-Scallywag, skippered by David Witt, which took the early lead out of the Solent. The veteran Leopard 3 initially stuck closely to the Hong Kong entry, and passing Portland Bill this pairing were side by side.

However, by the Lizard BlackJack100, owned by Remon Vos, had pulled into a close second and set up a duel which continued right across the Irish Sea, the two yachts matching each other tack for tack all the way to the Rock.

Scallywag 100 dwarves the spectator yachts at the start of the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race.
Photo: Rick Tomlinson/RORC

BlackJack skipper Tristan Le Brun explained on the dock after racing that the two boats were covering each other so closely, they were using the dirty air generated by the enormous five-spreader rig to try and stall their opponent as both boats fought for the favoured inside line. The 19-man crew were also maintaining constant tacking duels and sail changes.

BlackJack wins line honours

SHK-Scallywag was the first monohull around the Rock, rounding at 23:00 on Sunday 27 July, with BlackJack just 7 minutes behind and Leopard in hot pursuit, just 9 minutes further.

On the long run back the lead pair again matched alongside each other. But after gybing towards the Scillies TSS, BlackJack managed to gain a slight advantage on the reach east, which they extended to 20 miles approaching the Channel Isles.

BlackJack 100 won monohull line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

The pair split at Alderney, BlackJack going south, and adding manoeuvres to their final miles but picking up favourable tide. Le Brun said they picked up around 6 knots of favourable tide, which was coming from astern so strongly it affected the handling of the yacht.

Meanwhile SHK-Scallywag took a straight line north, closing the gap to around 7 miles. But in a repeat of the Ultims’ battle for multihull line honours, it wasn’t quite enough, and BlackJack took the win.

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The first boat to finish the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race is the Ultime SVR-Lazartigue, which won multihull line honours this morning, Monday 28 July, crossing the line at 0438 (BST) this morning after 1 day, 17 hours, 18 minutes and 4 seconds of racing.

Less than hour later, at 0523, Banque Populaire XI, skippered by Armel Le Cléac’h, finished in second.

On the dock in Cherbourg, the two crews were visibly drained, the race having been both mentally taxing and physically demanding for the six and seven-man teams on the 100ft trimarans.

“I think all of us are quite tired from grinding with a lot of manoeuvres,” said Kiwi America’s Cup helmsman Pete Burling, who had joined SVR-Lazartigue for the race, with typical understatement.

“Everything is obviously quite big as well. It takes a lot of work, but it was an awesome ride.”

SVR Lazartigue celebrate arriving into Cherbourg as multihull line honours winners in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

SVR-Lazartigue Fastnet double winner

For SVR-Lazartigue this is an impressive back-to-back victory, having also taken line honours in 2023.

This year’s team was made up of co-skippers Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas, sailing with Amélie Grassi, Antoine Gautier, Emilien Lavigne, as well as Burling.

In 2023 the blue foiling trimaran set a new course record of 1 day, 8 hours, 38 minutes, and 27 seconds. This year conditions were considerably slower, and even the foiling Ultimes were – relatively speaking at least – crawling upwind at sub-10 knots on the approach to the Fastnet Rock.

However, once the Ultimes rounded the Fastnet Rock – SVR-Lazartigue at 1622 (BST) on Sunday 27 July, second-placed Banque Populaire XI just over an hour later – they were able to hit warp speed, immediately bearing away at speeds of 35-37 knots.

SVR Lazartigue skipper Tom Laperche talks to the media in Cherbourg at the finish of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2025. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

First home in record fleet

Four Ultime trimarans were among the 444 boats which made up a record sized fleet to start the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race on Saturday, 26 July.

With a larger than ever fleet, and a start area packed with spectator craft, negotiating a safe exit of the Solent was critical.

“Franck and Tom did a really good job getting us to the start line nicely. We didn’t have too many boats to interact with on the way out to Solent, but a lot of tacks,” explained Burling.

“Everything takes a lot of energy to do. We peeled from J1 to J2 to make the tacks a little bit easier and then had a really good trip out.”

“I didn’t count, but we did lots of manoeuvres,” recalls Laperche. “A lot of tacks, lots of board up, board down, foils, sail changes too.

“In the Solent, we only have, I don’t know, seven minutes between two tacks. We are six onboard and with a very good crew, so it was okay. But one tack is at least 10 minutes.”

First boat home in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race, the Ultime SVR Lazartigue, rounds the Fastnet Rock. Photo: Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

2025 Fastnet Multihull winner

SVR-Lazartigue got the best start of the giant multihulls, though it was the smaller MOD70 Argo who initially led out past the Needles. Approaching Lyme Bay on the first evening, by taking a more inshore line SVR Lazartigue claimed the advantage, didn’t relinquish it.

“We took a good decision to go to the shore, to go close to the England Coast,” explained Laperche. “So we managed to cross on starboard with the north-west wind in front of [Banque Populaire].

“We took a small advantage at this time and after that we managed to stay in front. It was difficult because for the longer [run] coming back from Fastnet to Scillies, the wind was better for them, stronger behind. So they came back, they reduced the gap.”

After the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) at the Scilly Isles, the Ultime fleet headed north, sailing east of the rhumb-line in order to play the angles for optimum speed, before the final upwind approach to the Fastnet Rock.

After flying around the Rock in a building north-westerly, with flat seas, yesterday afternoon the leading multihulls again able to speed.

“The trip back, really showed what these boats can do. The average speed would have been 30, 35 knots, something like that. Yeah, it was really good fun and cool,” said Burling.

“We had between 15 to 20 knots, very flat water – like we don’t see every day. And the boat flying at 35 knots!” commented Laperche.

Second boat home in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race was Banque Populaire XI. Photo: Nicolas Touzé/RORC

Second boat home

Second placed Banque Populaire XI, skippered by Armel Le Cléac’h, chased hard – splitting away from SVR-Lazartigue to round to the north of Alderney on the final approach to the finish.  But in the end, Banque Populaire XI finished 45 minutes behind.

“After a light wind start in the Solent – with way too many boats around for these things! – we managed to get out unscathed,” said Sam Goodhild, who’d joined the Banque Populaire XI crew for the race.

“And then as we left the Solent, I did my first upwind flight, going 30 knots upwind at 50 true, which I didn’t think was actually possible!

“Then we made the big mistake of the race. After Portland, we went offshore and paid hard to the boats that were inshore and basically played catch up from there on in. We had light winds all the way across Celtic Sea with some nasty clouds stopping us. And then a lovely run all the way home going 35 knots average since the Rock.

“The run back was great. I was driving last night when the sun was going down. They’re just amazing boats to drive when you get them all locked in and going – it takes a lot of winding to get there! – but once you’re there, it’s good fun and you’re going 35 plus knots downwind. I think we were over 40 at one stage on a reach.

“So, a good race. Good fun. A shame we lost so much in Lyme Bay, but that’s the game. And well done to SVR,” Goodchild added.

Third was Actual Ultim 4, with Sodebo fourth to cross the finish line.

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The leaders in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race have rounded the Fastnet Rock after 1 day and 4 hours of racing.

After a relatively slow first 24 hours, which saw even the foiling Ultimes crawling along at 8-10 knots for periods this morning, the first two boats have rounded the Fastnet Rock and are now reaping the rewards with a fast flight home on flat seas with a following wind.

First to round was the 2023 race winner, the Ultime SVR-Lazartigue, skippered by Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas, who has not been challenged for the lead since yesterday’s race start.

SVR-Lazartigue rounded the Rock at 1622 (BST) today, immediately bearing away to hit speeds of over 35 knots.

Second was Armel Le Cléac’h on the Ultime Banque Populaire XI, who rounded 1hr and 8 minutes later.

This duo are now powering south-east in a 25-knot north-westerly, setting up for a fast and furious final 315 miles in the race for line honours. The leader is expected to finish in Cherbourg around 0800 BST tomorrow morning.

The leader in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race, the Ultime SVR Lazartigue, rounds the Fastnet Rock. Photo: Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

Monohull leaders

In the race for monohull line honours the two 100-footers SHK-Scallywag and BlackJack are matching each other tack for tack, while in the building breeze Leopard has also made gains on the pair in 3rd.

In the IMOCA class the newest boat in the fleet, Élodie Bonafous’s Association Petit Princes has a narrow lead from Jérémie Beyou’s well-campaigned Charal.

Largely benign conditions for the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race so far – here the Botin 52 Caro enjoys the company of dolphins in the Celtic Sea. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Fastnet 2025 retirements

Unfortunately, Pip Hare, Scott Shawyer and team on Be Water Positive – Canada Ocean Racing retired from the race this morning after suffering a hydraulics issue.

LIke other modern IMOCAs, Be Water Positive – Canada Ocean Racing (ex-11th Hour Racing) has a comprehensive hydraulics package that includes key sail fittings which are required to stabilise the mast.

“We’re retiring due to a technical issue with one of our main hydraulic control systems,” said the team in a statement. “We’re gutted — this is such an iconic race and it’s so disappointing not to finish it.

“But we’ve got six weeks of racing ahead of us in The Ocean Race Europe, and it’s critical that we stay focused on a repair in time for that series of races starting in just two weeks’ time.”

The crew are all safe and the boat has arrived at Cherbourg.

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A record-breaking fleet started the 100th anniversary edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race today, Saturday 26 July, with 444 boats and over 3,500 competitors setting off on the 695-mile epic offshore. 

To mark the centenary year, HRH The Princess Royal started some of the fleets. The crowds which packed the shoreline in both Cowes were also treated to a flypast by the Red Arrows, jetting down the Solent in formation just as the Admiral’s Cup’s start got away.

HRH The Princess Royal fires the canon at the start of the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

Conditions were in marked contrast to the previous two races, when howling gales and a severe sea state both kept spectators away and decimated the fleet with dozens of retirements in the first few hours.

By contrast, today the Solent was hot, humid, and relatively flat – the main chop being kicked up by the competitors circling pre-start and the vast numbers of spectator boats that poured out to see the fleet off.

RORC Admiral’s Cup start in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

Record Fastnet fleet

The combination of a record entry, a very diverse fleet, a huge spectator flotilla, and the usual Solent traffic will certainly have raised stress levels on some boats. Getting away cleanly and safely is key.

Speaking ahead of today’s start, IMOCA skipper Pip Hare, who is racing with Be Water Positive Canada Ocean Racing commented. “Coming out of the Solent isn’t our favourite place to be in the IMOCAs! You run out of room quite quickly.”

The distinctive yellow Mike Birch-designed trimaran Acapella had a close run-in with a spectator RIB on the Mocra start line, but despite the congestion there have been no serious incidents reported and by evening just three boats had retired (one being Noel Racine’s highly fancied JPK 10.10 Foggy Dew).

Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Big boat start

Despite the punitive two-hour OCS time penalties, many of the starts were also closely contested – the IRC Zero line up was a real show, the crew on Pyewacket 70 appearing dwarfed by the melée of 100-footers as they spun on a dime to duck back on port after trying to approach on the Royal Yacht Squadron end of the line. The Volvo 70 Tschuss got the best start of the big boats.

Of the three 100-footers, BackJack will have been relishing the lighter forecast. Boat captain Tristan le Brun explained: “With our boat we are at max power in eight knots of wind – after that we have to depower the boat. So Black Jack is very strong in light air. It is also quite strong downwind VMG, which will be the second half of the race.”

Although conditions were benign in the central Solent, a building breeze and wind over tide meant that by the time some fleets reached Hurst Narrows and the Needles, the swell had increased and some boats reefed down.

Admiral’s Cup contender Final Final meets lumpy seas in the western Solent after the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

Early Fastnet leaders

At the end of the first day, the Ultime SVR-Lazartigue, skippered by Thomas Laperche and Franck Cammas with Pete Burling on board, heads the line honours charge. The Actual Ultim 4 (ex-Gitana) is second, followed by the other two Ultimes. Unsurprisingly, the MOD70s Argo and Zoulou are also chasing hard.

The Hong Kong-based SHK Scallywag leads for monohull line honours, while Charal is second monohull and 1st IMOCA. Tschuss 2 is also firmly in contention. 

We’ll be following the fleet to Cherbourg, and bringing you all the news on YachtingWorld.com and YouTube.

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In sharp contrast to the dramatic conditions which saw the 2023 and 2021 fleets decimated by retirements and damage, the 3,000-plus crews sailing 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race look set to enjoy fair, largely stable conditions.

With a large high pressure system over the Azores controlling the weather systems for the next five days, the 695-mile race course looks set to become a beat to the Rock, and a run back – potentially with a bit of reaching along the English south coast and Normandy shores at the beginning and end.

Adrian Stead, tactician on last year’s winner Caro, described it as a “350-mile windward-leeward race.”

It’s expected to be a beat out of the Solent for the start of the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Upwind Fastnet start

In other words a relatively ‘easy’ race – albeit a 350-mile beat to Ireland could certainly be mentally taxing. Wind speeds are expected to be mostly 8-16 knots, with max guests around 20 knots for most of the fleet, and wave heights no more than 1-1.5m in the Celtic Sea.

Brian Thompson, who is on the MOD70 Argo, added: “This year’s Fastnet could be a real classic. It’s going to be a real race, rather than a survival test.”

The high pressure system will generate a north-westerly offshore, which becomes a westerly in the Channel and Solent for the start. There’s a little bit of disagreement in the models on how strong that breeze will be, but from Tuesday the high becomes more powerful and conditions more stable. Any boats sailing back from the Rock by then could enjoy a fast, pleasant ride to Land’s End.

The Celtic Sea is expected to be benign for the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

Fastnet 2025 forecast

Conrad Humphreys, who is navigating on Hound, a stunning Aage Nielsen/Abeking-Rasmussen sloop from the 1970s, talked us through the course.

“Twenty-four hours from the start, and the weather is looking pretty stable for the race. We’ve got this dominant high pressure ridge that’s sitting just off into the Atlantic, producing a really kind of steady north-westerly air stream. That’s going to be sort of the main focus of the race, certainly out to the Fastnet Rock.

“Moring of the start the breeze is more in the south-west, so it’s going to be a beat out of the Solent, and down through Hurst Castle, obviously with a little bit of current underneath us.

And, we’re expecting 15 knots of wind. We’re likely to be on the J3. We might still be on the Genoa. But then as we sail across St Alban’s, down towards Portland, we’re going to try and obviously be on the favored tack, maximise the tide and the flow to Portland.

“It’s a little bit questionable whether we’ll get there in time before the tide turns. But around about that time, as we come into Lyme Bay, we’ll start to see this wind come round to the northwest.

“And behind this little front we should see some quite reasonable pressure. I’m expecting up to 20 knots, which is going to be fantastic.

“We’ll just sail down the rhumbline towards Start Point, across past Plymouth – past home! – down to the Lizard.

“And then when we get to Runnel Stone, which is kind of the first day really, we’ll be there in the early hours of the morning.

“The next second stage is really setting up for the Isles of Scilly, the TSSs off the Land’s End, and making sure that we tackle those well. That we’re on the right side of those TSSs and play the shifts – it’s going to be it’s going to be a beat out to the Rock.”

It could be a downwind run from the Fastnet Rock. Photo: Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

Downwind from the Rock

“Then rounding the Fastnet Rock, the breeze remains in that sort of north-west air stream. So it’s going to be downwind back to Bishop Rock at the Scillies. And then obviously playing the tidal influences.

“There’s a little bit of sort of diurnal shifts between the winds. So we might see the wind during the day a little bit more in the west, and at night perhaps a little bit more in the north-west, and just getting those shifts right.

Conrad Humphreys is navigating on the 1970s offshore racer Hound 

“And then, of course, the last leg – which is arguably the most tricky, and certainly will be tricky for us because the breeze looks to be lightening on that final leg. Very strong currents as we close in on the Channel Islands and Cherbourg. Some of the strongest tides, Spring tides, of the year.

“And that obviously is going to be a roll of the dice towards the end.

“So, overall, a pretty steady, stable race tactically. Not too challenging, but it’s a boat speed race. And, we’ve all got to be sailing as well as we possibly can.”

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The Rolex Fastnet Race looks set to celebrate its 100th birthday (24 years sponsored by Rolex) with a record fleet, making this year’s running the biggest offshore race ever.

The 51st edition of the famous race starts from Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, UK, this Saturday, 26th Juy, with a 695-mile course to Cherbourg, France, via the eponymous Fastnet Rock off Ireland.

The entry list currently stands at 451 yachts, which would smash the previous record entry of 430 (in the 50th edition, in 2023) and also make it the biggest ever yacht race for sheer number of competitors. Over 3,500 sailors will take part, aged from 14-81 years!

The fleet is not only massive, but diverse, and spectacular. It includes three 100-footers: Black Jack, SHK Scallywag and Leopard down to the 27ft (8.5m) Puffin.

SHK Scallywag returns for the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race, one of three 100-footers. Photo Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

Flying Multihulls

First to start on Saturday will be the multihulls at 1120, which includes four Ultime giant trimarans. Manoeuvring these high speed behemoths in a crowded Solent is particularly challenging, and four giant multis will make for a truly impressive sight. 

The fleet includes current course record holder SVR-Lazartigue, who two years ago was first to finish in Cherbourg in just 1 day 8 hours 38 minutes 27 seconds. Along with co-skippers Franck Cammas and Tom Laperche, the fighter-jet style foiling trimaran welcomes America’s Cup winning helmsman Pete Burling onboard.

Burling has been on board training in the Ultime, and commented: “It’s an amazing boat — huge, powerful, yet very stable. It’s also incredible to see how much these boats have evolved since the last time I sailed an Ultima.”

The four-strong Ultime fleet will make for a spectacular sight on the Cowes startline. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Also on the Ultime startline will be Actual Ultim 4, which is the former Maxi Edmond de Rothschild/Gitana 18 – another former Fastnet winner and record-setter; now skippered by Anthony Marchand and joined for the Fastnet by British ocean racer Alan Roberts.

There’s also Thomas Coville’s Sodebo; and Armel le Cleac’h and his team on Maxi Banque Populaire XI, whose crew includes Briton Sam Goodchild.

The Ultimes aren’t the only fast multihulls in the fleet – there are 20 MOCRA entries, including two MOD70s, Jason Carroll’s Argo and Erik Maris’ Zoulou, with an all-star crew list including Loick Peyron (Zoulou) and Brian Thompson (Argo). There are also nine Ocean Fifty trimarans – the class Sam Goodchild once described to me as “arguably one of the most dangerous and sketchy boats to sail offshore!”.

Foiling IMOCAs

Nine IMOCAs will line up on their own start , many teams using it as a pipe-opener before The Ocean Race Europe, which starts in August. Likely favourites include Vendée Globe runner-up Yoann Richomme with Paprec Arkéa. Richomme was also runner-up in the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race – four minutes behind winner Charlie Dalin’s Macif – and will be looking to go one better this year.

Another hotly fancied IMOCA is the brand new Association Petits Princes-Queguiner, which only launched in February and finished 2nd in its debut race, June’s Course des Caps race around Britain.

Designed by foiling genius Guillaume Verdier the new IMOCA is an updated sistership to the Vendée Globe winner Macif, and skippered by Elodie Bonafous, a top Solitaire du Figaro racer. Her crew includes ocean racing legends Pascal Bidegorry and Yann Eliès.

Nine IMOCAs start the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race, including Sam Davies on Intiatives Couer. Photo Rick Tomlinson/RORC

The star-studded IMOCA fleet also includes Jérémie Beyou with his Manuard-designed Charal 2, Britain’s Sam Davies, racing with offshore protege Violette Dorange on Initiatives-Coeur 4, and Justine Mettraux with SNEF Teamwork.

Regular Yachting World contributor and British Vendée Globe entrant Pip Hare will be racing with Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive. The former Ocean Race winning and 3rd-placed Vendée finishing boat (Sébastien Simon’s Groupe Dubreuil) is now owned by Canadian Scott Shawyer, who is building up to a 2028 Vendée Globe campaign.

Admirals’ Cup firepower

The big boat fleet has been bolstered by the 29 boats competing in the Admiral’s Cup fleet.

Each Admiral’s Cup team has had to balance optimisation between the inshore race series and triple-points Rolex Fastnet Race offshore. So it’ll be fascinating to see if the lighter built inshore designs or more experienced offshore race teams come to the fore.

Rán is one of the Grand Prix fleet joining the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race as part of the RORC Admiral’s Cup. Photo: James Tomlinson

For example, the lead boat in the big boat class is currently the brand new WallyRocket 51, Whereas the Royal Irish YC team is currently lying 12th overall, but their team is made up of Sunrise IV, a JPK 1180, and the Cookson 50 Privateer – both hugely experienced and successful offshore teams that have previously won in the Rolex Fastnet Race. With triple points weighted to the Fastnet, there could yet be a reshuffle in the Admiral’s Cup.

Record Fastnet fleet

But the huge fleet size has been swelled by large entries across the monohull classes – with over 380 IRC entries, on top of 24 Class 40s.

There will be over 45 of the hugely successful JPK line, dozens of J-Boats, 16 SunFast 3600s and the same of 3200s, and 16 Swans of all vintages.

An incredible 81 teams have entered the 695-mile marathon as double-handed crews.

And then there are plenty of iconic boats for true yacht racing aficionados to swoon over. They include the famous maxi Kialoa II, 1961 line honours winner Stormvogel, and the Nielsen-designed Hound, built in 1970 (watch our course preview from Hound’s navigator Conrad Humphreys).

The stunning 1970-built Hound will be racing hard in the Fastnet, having just completed the Transatlantic race.

Check out our full Rolex Fastnet Race coverage on Yachtingworld.com, social channels and YouTube as we follow the Fastnet fleet to Cherbourg.

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“I think it’s really good when we see the team’s owners get together, put on the same t-shirt, fly the flag and come; and I think the sport’s really missed that for the last 20 years,” enthused Beau Geste skipper Gavin Brady in Cowes at the start of racing for the Admiral’s Cup.

That mood of an energised reset – it’s 22 years since the last Admiral’s Cup was held – was palpable on the dock as the 30 boats, representing 15 teams from 12 nations prepared for the event opener, the Channel Race on Saturday 19 July.

Beau Geste flying at the RORC Admiral’s Cup 2025. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

The revived Admiral’s Cup, organised by RORC in its centenary year, has lived up to its billing as the ‘big boat world championships’. The level of talent, preparation and, frankly, cash, that some teams have invested is astonishing.

Everywhere you look in Cowes at the moment, there are America’s Cup skippers rubbing shoulders with Volvo Ocean Race winners. When merely having won a World Championship or single Olympic medal means you’re one of the ‘nippers’ on the boat, you know you’re in some seriously illustrious company.

But the yacht club ‘team’ element gives the Admiral’s Cup a unique dynamic. There are also boats with a majority of friends, family, amateurs and youth sailors, supplemented by a bit more experience in key roles.

This isn’t just an old-timers revival regatta, and there is already plenty of dockside chat about next time…

Kiwi America’s Cup sailor and match racer Dean Barker at the daily prize giving for the RORC Admiral’s Cup. Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Admiral’s Cup start

Despite the anticipation, there was no early drama in the first offshore Channel Race. So light and patchy was the breeze that the east-going tide did more than the wind to carry the fleet eastward out of the Solent.

A repeating cycle of snakes and ladders racing finally gave way to a building southerly as the fleet headed for the Le Havre turning mark, winding up to a fast and furious downwind return across the English Channel in the early hours of the following morning.

It was a race that had something for everyone, but it was the Italian Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s team that came out on top in the big boat fleet (AC1) with Giovani Stronati’s light and rapid WallyRocket51 Django taking top spot (check out our sail onboard the WallyRocket51 here).

James Murray’s 42ft Callisto took out the smaller class AC2 win for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

It was a light airs start to the first offshore for the RORC Admiral’s Cup 2025. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

Inshore mix

After a layday, the fleet shifted into three days of inshore racing.

The first was a Solent classic. A 15-20 knot sou’wester against an outgoing tide made for a punchy windward/leeward race westward from the Bramble Bank. Sadly, that race put paid to the hopes of the Bayerischer Yacht Club, with Carl-Peter Foster’s TP52 Red Bandit being dismasted.

“It was on the second beat, explained Red Bandit crewmember Adrian Hörsch. “We were just going upwind in a straight line, and then at some point, just mass collapsed. There was no warning, no manoeuvre, nothing special – it just collapsed and broke into three pieces.”

The German TP52 Red Bandit dismasted in the RORC Admiral’s Cup 2025. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

“I think everybody’s pushing the boats to the limit, for sure. We were as well. But we’ve had this boat in way worse conditions and offshore. But better now than offshore in the Fastnet!”

Until that point the young German team had been enjoying their Admiral’s Cup experience. “It’s great to have the event back. I think most of our team were in Opti’s or not even born when the last one happened. So I think it’s unfinished business here, though. I guess we might have to come back!”

That race was also something of a warm-up for the second start of the day: a 25nm round the cans race for both AC1 and AC2 divisions.

Close inshore racing for the RORC Admiral’s Cup 2025. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

By the end of the first day of inshore races the cream was already rising to the top, with the exceptionally well-armed Yacht Club de Monaco (Peter Harrison’s Jolt 3 and Jolt 6) leading on a countback from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste and Beau Ideal), with the Italian YCCS team (Giovanni Sronata’s Django WR51 and the smaller Django JPK) in third.

Day 2 of Solent racing was a frustrating affair, with a sketchy northerly airstream gaining just enough energy for the PRO Stuart Childerley to get the fleet away on a windward/leeward race, before the breeze turned to a whimper, leaving the round the cans race abandoned, shortly after it started.

Mid-point leaders

With four races completed the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club had taken the lead in the series by a single point from Yacht Club de Monaco. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron was in third, two points ahead of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.

Despite a persistent and unobliging patchy northerly airstream that persisted, PRO Childerley was determined to make good the shortfall by running three races on Day 3. That resulted in a very long day in the eastern Solent, with the last race start gun firing at 1700 but all three races successfully completed!

“The Fastnet is going to feel like a holiday after that!” one tired sailor was heard to say on the dock afterwards.

Ino Noir racing at the RORC Admiral’s Cup, 22 July 2025. Photo Rick Tomlinson/RORC

All to play for

With the six-race inshore series completed a discard could be brought into play, and just one point now separates the top three boats in AC1. The script for the revived Admiral’s Cup, counting down to the deciding final act of the Rolex Fastnet Race, could not have been better written!

In the big boat class Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s Django WR51 (YCCS) holds a very thin lead over Peter Harrison’s Jolt 3 (YCM) and Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste (RHKYC).

In AC2, tied on points for the class lead are James Murray’s Callisto (RNZYS) and Karl Kwok’s Beau Ideal (RHKYC). Pierre Casiraghi’s Jolt 6 (YCM) is third.

Historically, the triple point scoring Rolex Fastnet Race has been the making and breaking of many Admiral’s Cup teams over the decades; so with the points close, a forecast for a lighter airs race in play and none of the top three teams’ yachts having a major ocean race under their keels, there’s still everything to play for.

Albator goes through the Solent chop in the RORC Admiral’s Cup. Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Check out our full Rolex Fastnet Race coverage on Yachtingworld.com, social channels and YouTube as we follow the Admiral’s Cup and 450-boat Fastnet fleet to Cherbourg.

The post The ‘other’ Cup: Admiral’s Cup builds to high tension finish at the Rolex Fastnet Race appeared first on Yachting World.

The hotly anticipated British leg of the SailGP circuit, the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, takes place this weekend from 19-20 July.

Twelve F50s will be racing on a tight racecourse just off Southsea, with an enormous grandstand in the race village expected to welcome 20,000 spectators over the weekend.

Weather conditions look promising, with 8-16 knots forecast for Saturday 19, and a punchy 16-26 knots possible for Sunday.

Strong breezes are forecast for Day 2 of the British SailGP in Portsmouth. Photo: Ricardo Pinto/SailGP

SailGP CEO Russell Coutts commented: “10 years ago I wouldn’t have said this [20,000-strong crowd] was likely, but we obviously set the tone in Auckland, where we had a similar size crowd on shore, and we’re absolutely thrilled to have that sort of support here in Portsmouth.

“I think fans are in for a great event – especially on Sunday, when the breeze is going to be up, they’re probably going to be on that small wing foil configuration. And who knows, they might hit that new speed record.”

Sail GP obstacle course

For added jeopardy, the course area – always intentionally tight at Sail GP events – is likely to include several immovable obstacles – potentially including Spitbank Fort, one of Portsmouth’s famous sea defences, and shipping lane markers. A substantial exclusion zone will be in place from 2pm each day in the busy eastern Solent.

The Auckland SailGP set a new bar for crowd numbers – organisers will be hoping for 20,000 spectators at Portsmouth this weekend.

Giles Scott, who helms the Canada SailGP team commented: “I think the waters here are going to be an amazing racecourse. There will be some obstacles to dodge – may be a fort, some navy posts. So there is a lot going on, but it’s going to be an amazing venue.

Dylan Fletcher, helmsman of the Emirates Great Britain team, told Yachting World: “It’s an interesting race course – which if it gets the green light could add a curve ball! Not so much the marks, more the proximity of the start line to the shore!”

The huge grandstand under construction in Portsmouth for the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix. Photo: Yachting World

Tom Slingsby, team boss and helmsman of the Australian BONDS Flying Roos SailGP team, cautioned that with added spectacle, comes added risk for the teams. He told Yachting World: “Some of the Sail GP race tracks have had a few obstacles – Cadiz has a reef. But I’d say this is probably the most obstacles we’ve had, and probably the biggest one with the fort.

“Honestly, we’re going to have to go away and brush up on our rules when approaching an obstacle and who gains right of way and how. I’m going to go and brush up on that stuff. But other than that I’m pretty confident.

“Sometimes when you’ve got obstacles on the course the drivers just need to have a little level of respect that – I might have right of way here, but if I keep pushing this there’s going to be a nasty crash, and back out of the situation. It’s not nice to back out of a situation because it doesn’t help your race result, but we also need to have a level of understanding that these boats are dangerous and if we push the situation too hard where it might not be your boat, but another boat might have an incident. You’ve got to have enough common sense.

“The penalty points work for boat on boat situations, but often we’re coming into a situation and there’s five boats coming in and one boat might have right of way and exercise that right, but in doing that can cause a collision between others.

“Whether the rules need to adapt more for these sorts of racecourses or this type of racing, we’ve got to keep looking at that because these boots, when they hit, can be catastrophic and very dangerous.”

Pressure on British SailGP team

There was much talk in the press conference about the potential home advantage for the British team.

Emirates Great Britain SailGP team CEO Ben Ainslie commented: “People talk about pressure in sport, and it’s definitely an added pressure when you see tens of thousands of people there all expecting the home team to win, that’s frankly a little bit intimidating. But we also say pressure is a privilege and I think Dylan, Hannah and the team will thrive off that.”

Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team won the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, but have struggled to get on the podium in more recent events. Photo: Jason Ludlow/SailGP

For the British squad, however, it’s not just the home crowd that’s piling on the pressure – after a near perfect start to the season, the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix team has dropped to fourth overall, finishing the previous event in New York in eighth, following a seventh in San Francisco and fourth in Los Angeles.

“Ultimately we had a really good start to the season, but I’m still inexperienced, explained helmsman Dylan Fletcher.

“I think we saw some cracks appear in San Fran, so we’ve put some things and processes in place so hopefully we won’t see those again.”

Tom Slingsby, driver of BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team. Photo: Andrew Baker/SailGP

He explained further, telling Yachting World: “In LA we had a bad first day but a good second day, and we were one point away from the final, so it’s not really a bad event, it’s just the margins are super-tight.

“I think San Francisco was the one we were a bit surprised about, we went there with high expectations – probably too high expectations. We made some mistakes, and then didn’t quite rectify those mistakes.

“In New York we spent a lot of time on debriefing and we were in good spirits, but sailing three-up was really a curve ball that I’d never done before. And part of think the problem was the way that we sail the boat four-up was little bit different to some of the others and that exposed some errors. But in reality there was just two decisions or mistakes that day that cost the difference between in the hunt and not, and Sunday we had a top three day. So it looked really bad on paper, but it’s not quite so bad.

“And we had a really unfortunate incident with the Canadians that cost us a season point, the umpire have said they got the call wrong, but ultimately we have to bear that.

“But we’ve spent a lot of time watching videos of the others teams, and they’re not doing anything special, they’re not doing anything we’re not doing. They’re making plenty of mistakes and that’s the nature of SailGP, you’ve just got to keep fighting for every point.”

More to come?

So, if each team is still making mistakes – how much potential is there still to come from the F50s?

“There’s plenty [of room to improve],” says Fletcher. “You can see when we’re all in our own space, we’re all sailing the boat quite well, but sailing them at that level all the time is another thing – especially the start. You see some teams start really well one event and sometimes really bad, so being consistent there will deliver the results.”

Tom Slingsby agreed: “There’s still a huge amount of potential there. These boots are incredibly difficult to sail, and no one is sailing a perfect race.

“Compared to when I used to sail my Laser I think I got a lot closer to 100% than I ever have in a SailGP race. The difficulty of the boots, the co-ordination of the team – just everything coming into it. the top teams might not even be at 90%.”

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The Admiral’s Cup returns, for the first time in 22 years, with a bumper fleet of 15 international teams racing in the Solent from 19-26 July, before the event concludes with the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race.

The 23rd Admiral’s Cup will take place in Cowes, Isle of Wight, with racing organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, which has successfully revived the event for its centenary year.

Competition begins with a short offshore race on 19 July – the Channel Race, around 110-150 miles. Counting for double points (and non-discardable), this race will put the pressure on the Cup teams from the off. To complicate matters for the strategy team on board, there will also be a further 40 boats racing in the RORC offshore that aren’t connected to the Admiral’s Cup fleet.

The forecast currently shows a light to moderate 8-14 knots at the start of the Channel Race, building to a cracking 15-25 knot south-westerly into Sunday, which should see the all-out race designs flying offshore.

After a layday, there will be three days of inshore racing, before the grand finale: the Rolex Fastnet Race, starting on 26 July.

The format for the revitalised event is a two-boat team competition, under IRC, with the larger boat from 45-56ft and the smaller yacht 36-44ft.

Entries may represent yacht clubs and/or countries, with three teams from Germany and two from the UK, as well as entries from Australia, the Netherlands, the USA’s New York YC, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Ireland, Monaco, Italy, France and Sweden.

Preparations ahead of the 2025 RORC Admiral’s Cup in Cowes. Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC
Photo: James Tomlinson

Mandated women crew

Another change for 2025 is that each boat must include one female, plus one ‘young’ (under-27) crew member – a rule which has divided opinion.

“I’ll be honest – I wasn’t initially thrilled about the crew rule requiring one woman on board. It felt like the bare minimum, and I’ve often found myself as the only woman on the team,” commented American ocean racer Cole Brauer, who is sailing with the Monaco team. “While I respect and enjoy sailing with the guys, I truly believe crews perform better with more women involved.

“I hope that in five or 10 years, we won’t need a rule like this, because the sailing world will naturally reflect the talent of both women and men equally.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Joy Racer, who’s sailing with RORC White (GBR). “Honestly… my first reaction to the crew rule was a bit of an eye-roll – are we really still having to tell teams to include women?

“But I also recognise that this rule has opened doors. For me, it led to joining the Final Final team and becoming part of something that goes beyond just one regatta.

“Yes, it might start as tokenism for some, but it gives women the chance to prove their value and build a place in professional teams.”

The new WallyRocket 51 Django racing past the Needles ahead of the 2025 Admiral’s Cup. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

IRC design race

Boat choice is critical – each team’s yachts need to be optimised to perform over both short-course racing and the 695-mile Rolex Fastnet Race, in a potentially huge range of wind conditions. Many of the newest designs now utilise water ballast to switch between inshore and offshore racing modes.

“I grew up with the Admiral’s Cup as the premier offshore event and it was always dubbed the unofficial world championship of offshore sailing. I hope we get back to that and that title gets given back to it,” commented British tactician Adrian Stead, who has competed in four previous Admiral’s Cups and for 2025 will be on the New Zealand big boat Caro.

“There are some very strong teams competing. However, a team’s results are only going to be as good as the best and worst of your races; and you’ve just got to be consistent.

“The Channel Race has double points and the Fastnet triple points. Neither can be discarded so they are very important, but if you are finishing 14th or so for the inshore races it’s very unlikely that you’ll win the Admiral’s Cup.

“Also, you have to be good across all the weather conditions that are thrown out and the regatta is going to be raced over 10 days, so who knows what we will get? So, consistency will be the key.”

In previous decades the Admiral’s Cup (and its Corinthian equivalent, the Commodores’ Cup) was a huge driver behind one-off race boat designs and builds, and it’s hoped the relaunched event will also have a revitalising effect.

New yachts launched for this event include a Botin 40, built by Carrington Boats in Hythe, Hampshire, for the Royal Hong Kong YC entry, and the freshly launched Wallyrocket51 Django – see the August issue of Yachting World for our first sail – in the Italian team.

Jolt 3 is racing for Monaco in the 2025 Admiral’s Cup. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

Stellar entry

From its first run in 1957, until its last event in 2003, the Admiral’s Cup has attracted some of the biggest names in sailing, including Ted Turner, Dennis Connor and Peter Blake.

The 2025 event includes a similarly stellar crew list – the highly competitive Yacht Club Monaco boats Jolt 3 and Jolt 6 count Ed Baird, Will Harris, and Joey Newton on their team sheet. Meanwhile the Swedish entry has Bouwe Bekking, Steve Hayles and Justin Slattery among the crew on Ràn.

The Australian TP52 Zen (CCYA) includes ocean racing legend Chris Nicholson among its all-star Australian crew, while fellow Volvo Ocean Race veteran Ian Walker is on the highly successful Cookson 50 Privateer (racing for Royal Irish YC), and the Botin 56 Black Pearl (New York YC) has Abby Ehler and Mo Gray onboard.

Other boats to watch for include Caro (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron), which won the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race; 2021 Fastnet winning team Sunrise, now on a JPK 1180 (also Royal Irish YC); and the stunning Elida, a modern cold-molded wooden design by Thomas Tison racing for Hamburger SC.

Many teams have been training hard in the Solent for weeks – the Royal Thames YC’s 250th anniversary regatta with the IRC Nationals offered an early form indicator with 21 of the 30 boats competing. The Hong Kong big boat, Karl Kwok’s TP52 Beau Geste, took IRC 0, and Monaco’s Carkeek 40 Jolt 6 won IRC 1.

Photo: imagecomms

How to follow the Admiral’s Cup

The Admiral’s Cup has a dedicated microsite at admiralscup.rorc.org with full entry list.

There will be satellite tracking for both the inshore and offshore races. The Live YB Satellite tracking for the first Channel Race is at https://cf.yb.tl/channel2025

The inshore racing can also be followed on Trac Trac (be warned, the tack-by-tack live action is addictive).

The Channel Race will start from the Central Solent, but the Rolex Fastnet Race famously starts from the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes. The Admiral’s Cup start is at 1200. Also see our full guide to following the Fastnet Race.

The prize giving will be held at the Rolex Fastnet Race village in Cherbourg on Thursday 31 July at 1800.

The post Admiral’s Cup bounces back – is this the pinnacle of ‘big boat’ racing once again? appeared first on Yachting World.

When it was announced that three-times Kiwi America’s Cup helmsman Peter Burling had not re-signed with Emirates Team New Zealand, a lot of people wondered what he was going to do instead.

News last month that he was joining Italian Challengers Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli certainly made sense. Between that and his Black Foils New Zealand SailGP team – and a young family – he seemed to have enough on his plate.

But Burling is evidently enjoying the freedom that not being locked into an ETNZ contract or Olympic cycle brings, with the news that he is going to join the Ultim SVR-Lazartigue for this month’s Rolex Fastnet Race.

The Ultim SVR-Lazartigue being relaunched for its 2025 programme

SVR-Lazartigue will race with skipper Tom Laperche (who took over from Francois Gabart last year – Gabart is taking some time out for a cruising circumnavigation with his family) and a crew of six, including new co-skipper Frank Cammas. Cammas has moved from the Gitana stable, where he was long-time skipper and co-skipper of the Ultim Maxi Edmond de Rothschild with Charles Caudrelier.

Recruiting Burling

Tom Laperche explains: “François (Gabart) encouraged me to reach out to the Anglo-Saxon sailing scene, where some of the best in the business are pushing the limits of these flying boats.

“We had a shortlist of sailors we were keen to sail with. The New Zealanders have long been leaders in this area. Peter is an exceptional sailor — Olympic medals, America’s Cups… and from our first conversations, he was totally on board. His flight expertise is top-level, he’s an outstanding inshore racer, and I know he’ll bring a lot to the team.”

SVR-Lazartigue skipper Tom Laperche

“When they contacted me, it was an easy decision to say yes to the Rolex Fastnet Race,” adds Burling.

“I’ve always loved offshore racing — that’s what led me to The Ocean Race. The Ultim class is the pinnacle of high-performance offshore sailing. These boats are incredibly innovative and versatile. I’m really excited to get back offshore and to learn more about how this class is evolving.

“Joining a team with such deep experience on these boats is a fantastic opportunity. I’ve followed François Gabart’s journey and everything the team has achieved, and seeing Tom take over the project is great. He’s an exceptional sailor. For me, this is a chance to push myself, learn, and work with an outstanding crew. I can’t wait to get started.”

Leg 9 of the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race from Newport, US to Cardiff, UK – on board Brunel. Peter Burling thinks Vestas 11th Hour has tacked and fever sets in

Burling is no stranger to offshore racing: he raced with Brunel in the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race. He was helmsman and watch leader on the Dutch boat, and widely rumoured to be something of a secret weapon when it came to Brunel’s impressive boat speed improvements over the race.

Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel finished third overall, in the closest finish in the race’s history. Burling sandwiched the ocean marathon in between winning Gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and Silver at the 2020/21 Games in Tokyo, and winning back the America’s Cup for New Zealand in Bermuda in 2017 and defending it in Auckland in 2021.

Cammas switches teams

For Laperche and the SVR-Lazartigue team, having Franck Cammas join after six years with Gitana is a significant appointment. The Gitana stable is currently building a top-secret – and rumoured to be radical – new Ultim, designed by Guillaume Verdier and due to be launched this autumn.

Cammas will be Laperche’s co-skipper for this autumn’s Transat Cafe L’or (formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre), but also performance director.

“When I called Franck, I wasn’t just looking for a co-skipper,” explains Laperche. “I wanted someone who could also contribute to the sporting and technical vision — someone to challenge and build on the work from our design team.”

“My goal is to bring a fresh perspective to a team that already knows the boat inside out,” says Cammas. “We’ll need to keep the dialogue open, challenge ourselves, and remain receptive to new ideas.

“It’s all about working the details, staying rigorous, curious and open-minded. That mindset is something Tom and I share. We’re always looking for new ways to push technology further — but we know that innovation comes with risk.

Franck Cammas has joined the SVR-Lazartigue team for 2025 as co-skipper and performance director

“Humility is essential because the competition is fierce. Everyone is stepping up. Each time we go to sea, we aim to perform better than the time before. With this team — both on land and at sea — and one of the most advanced boats in the fleet, we have everything in place. Now we just need to deliver. Sometimes you have to be patient for results, but that’s the nature of the game.”

The Rolex Fastnet Race starts from Cowes on Saturday, 26 July. The Transat Café L’Or from Le Havre on 26 October.

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Summer came early this year, with much of northern Europe basking under stable, warm conditions throughout April and May that brought predictably light winds and sunny, dry days. The balmy period finally broke, in typical British fashion, just before the second May Bank Holiday, until another high pressure system firmly established itself across the country for much of June and into July.

Significantly, this makes 2025 the third season in a row ahead of the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race when many competitors likely completed early training miles or qualifying races in predominantly light conditions. And while we can’t yet guess what the wind gods will serve up for the Fastnet Race start on July 26, the last two races have seen 30+ knot winds in the first 24 hours.

Tough start?

The 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race was particularly testing, with one yacht sunk, a man overboard (all crew safely recovered), multiple dismastings and dozens of retirements all before the fleet had even left the Solent.

Over the first night in the last race, conditions deteriorated further, with winds gusting to over 40 knots and a sharp sea of over 4m and waves peaking at 7m. Most of the fleet experienced at least one additional battering later on, with multiple fronts sweeping the racecourse.

Following the 2023 race, organisers RORC conducted an internal review. Steve Cole, RORC’s racing manager, explains: “Surveys were taken from boats that took part and then retired or suffered damage. RORC also met with HM Coastguard and other agencies to determine any particular issues that arose from the race.”

Additionally, RORC held two very informative panel evenings with skippers and navigators from competing yachts across the fleets, sharing their learnings from the 2023 race (we highly recommend watching them at youtube.com/@RORCRacing). We’ve distilled some takeaways from the review and skippers’ discussions that any boat preparing for a Rolex Fastnet Race – or any longer offshore – should consider:

Bowman 44 Skadi under storm sail heading out of the Solent at the start of the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi;Rolex

Train for the worst

The key point that came out of 2023 was to make sure you have trained in all conditions.

Cole says: “Although the training and mileage qualifications did not change [for 2025], we encourage boats to sail in race conditions for at least 6-8 hours between sunset and sunrise. By race conditions, we mean a watch system operating, and at night.

“In the eventuality of the qualifying races being light wind events, take the boat out in windy conditions and practice reefing, man overboard and emergency drills. Make sure that if the skipper is incapacitated in any way, that everyone else knows where safety gear is kept, and the process for asking for assistance.”

His advice was echoed by competitors during the panel discussions. Henry Foster, who skippered the Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier, commented: “The build up to the Fastnet often lulls us into a false sense of security – we do too many light races and the Fastnet seems to serve up a kicking in the first 24 hours and we learn the same lessons over and again.”

If you feel you’re lacking time in some conditions or on particular angles of sail, it can be worthwhile deliberately seeking them out. The 2023 IRC overall Fastnet winners Caro (a Botin 52) practised the opening section all the way out to the Fairway Buoy on the Wednesday before the race start, with similar current and in 25 knots, in order to ensure that they were acclimatised to the expected forecast.

Heavy weather greets the reefed Palby Marine out of The Solent and past The Needles during the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

Plan your decisions

The Fastnet is a race determined by tidal gates and tactical choices. Delving into each one of the 695-mile race would be a full feature in itself (do check out winning navigator Tom Cheney’s excellent Fastnet Race guide), but the critical thing is to understand when each decision is coming up, to have a plan for them going into the race, and to understand how changing conditions will affect that plan.

“It’s the sea state that gets you rather than the wind, so it’s about how we positioned for the various tidal races along that coastline [Isle of Wight to Lands’s End] , which are significant, and the impact they can have on the sea state,” explained Jack Trigger, navigator on the Carkeek 45 Ino Noir in the big boat panel discussion. “You don’t always know what the sea state’s going to do tack to tack: you don’t know until you get out there if one tack is going to be significantly better than the other.”

One of the first decisions was whether to go inshore or offshore at Hurst Castle. In 2023 there was stronger tide offshore, offering some gains, but at the cost of a bigger chop that was difficult to helm and harder on the crew.

The next big decision was whether to go in or out at Portland Bill. Some boats, such as the double-handed team of Chris and Justin Wolfe on the Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby made significant gains by going far inshore.

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“Knowing these gates were going to be out there, every minute counted from the start,” recalled Justin. Though Chris added: “It was a huge relief to get around Portland Bill – everything leading into it was just a washing machine.”

For other boats the inshore gains weren’t worth the risk. Ben Palmer, who took part in his first Fastnet in 2023 on the double-handed Sun Fast 3200 Surf, was initially planning to take the inshore route, but didn’t feel confident in the dark and swelly conditions. “I’d like to do it at 15 knots in the middle of the day before doing it in 35 knots at night!” he explained.

Besides knowing when the tide turns at each headland – and whether it’s safe to cheat the tide, where shallows/rocks are etc – it’s worth calculating the risk of taking the north or south route at the TSS splits. If there’s a significant shift, what are the likely benefits or costs? A good way to analyse this is to re-run the YB tracker data from the previous races (see rorc.org) for each fleet.

A brutal start last race for crew on the rail of Carkeek 45 Ino Noir. Photo: Kurt Arrigo/Rolex

Know your heavy-weather sails

Though shaking out or putting in a reef is a core skill any crew needs, Solent traffic and pre-race nerves mean the pre-start often isn’t the easiest point to be making final sail selections. RORC commodore and double-handed racer Deb Fish noted during the panel discussion: “If you’ve got a rough, windy start you know you can prepare the sails in the harbour, you can put the reefs in before you leave the dock, and that makes life so much easier.”

Exactly what combination of sails and reefs to opt for will depend on your boat, sail wardrobe, and crew – but any boat needs to be prepared to handle gales. That might involve adding a third reef, or having a dedicated headsail.

Following the RORC review, the Offshore Special Regulations (which apply to the Fastnet Race as a Cat 2 race) were amended in 2024 to improve the safety of storm sails, particularly on modern designs which carry staysails.

The new regulations ensure any storm or orange sails can handle a Force 8 storm, and are made from suitably robust and brightly coloured materials.

Whether you consider your orange sails part of your racing wardrobe is up to you. Tim Goodhew, who sails the Sun Fast 3200 Cora double-handed, commented: “If we’re using a tri-sail it’s to go somewhere safe, and we’ve probably given up racing by that point!”

The key is to know your worst case scenario set up as well as your preferred fastest sail combinations. Ben Palmer said: “My main lesson is going out in 20 knots and practising your heavy weather set up. What sail plan are you going to use in 30 knots? Go and feel the balance of that.”

Foster, who sails British Soldier fully crewed, recalls: “When we decided we were going with one reef and J3 we knew the set up was bulletproof because we’d put a lot of time into getting to know what mode we needed to sail.”

Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier skippered by Henry Foster. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex

Prepare for damage

No boat or sail will ever be truly bulletproof, but knowing likely points of failure can help prevent them becoming race-ending. Cora suffered two snapped reefing lines, though Palmer was able to rethread them. Then he realised Cora’s radial panel mainsail wasn’t holding load at the second reef point and was splitting.

“Luckily we’d brought a lot of 1x3m heavy duty Dacron tape,” he recalls. Having patched the sail with tape, it held for the rest of the race.

Henry Foster learnt the hard way that slamming in waves can pull a smaller jib out of its headstay slot.

“On British Solider we find the angle of our jib halyard against our Tuffluff and forestay is pulling the head out of the top, and when we slammed twice coming out of the Needles Channel last [Fastnet] the whole sail blew out.

“By putting a soft shackle around the top it stops the shock loading. It means we have to change sails bare-headed, but we figure if we’re on the J3 and we know it’s going to be heavy seas then the loss of the jib blowing out is potentially race ending, whereas the loss of bare headed through a peel is not much.”

Steve Cole says other things to prepare for worst-case conditions include making sure crew on deck can hear the VHF radio (and to have Ch16 turned up loud in windy conditions). “We’d encourage owners to consider installing a cockpit speaker, especially if double-handed,” he suggests.

There have been two windy starts in a row for the Fastnet – 2021 (pictured) and 2023. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

He advises carrying spare gas canisters for re-arming lifejackets that may have auto-inflated on board, and to: “Make sure lifejackets that have personal AIS attached are not put in a place that will get wet and activate the AIS. There were a lot of false alarms in 2023.”

Additionally: “Make sure the boat VHF/AIS system is functioning properly, especially when it is the same cable, and make sure the contact details entered into your system are correct and that phones are switched on and charged.”

Another recommendation RORC made to the OSR guidelines included a review of the 200 lt/min rule on emergency pumps to make the rule more relative to boat length, so skippers may want to consider what onboard pump capacity they have.

Avoid untested kit

Just like running a marathon, don’t rely on untried new gear. On board British Soldier a new laptop proved not to be water-resistant enough. “When it got absolutely soaking we lost the ability to charge it, and with it our ability to download GRIBs and replan packed up by Lands End,” explained Foster. “The first section of our race was planned and executed but as our understanding of the weather degraded we made worse choices and resorted to sailing short distances.”

Many boats had water come in through the companionway, or leaking hatches, and suffered electronics issues as a result. It’s worth checking washboards and seals, adding waterproofing if needed.

Pogo 44 Mariejo with reefed sails ready. Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

Heads up in the calms

Though most of the 2023 fleet saw at least two periods of strong weather conditions, there were also periods of calm. Maintaining crew morale – particularly after a punishing start – can be tricky, but crews should never give up.

“The compressions were soul-destroying,” said Foster. “It’s hard to keep the guys’ heads up and know it’s a 600-mile race, there’s opportunities the whole way through. With three fronts rolling through, the race wasn’t over until Cherbourg.”

Size down

Sometimes a conservative choice can pay. Red Ruby’s Justin Wolfe recalls they had a fast reaching leg on the return from Fastnet Rock.

“We’d made the decision early that we weren’t going to carry the A4 kite when it got dark. That gave us the freedom that we didn’t have to sail high with the spinnaker, because we knew we were going to take the kite down anyway and jib reach. It took the pressure off, so we could sail a bit lower and faster, and probably didn’t wipe out as much!

“When we took the kite down and put up the jib, it was pitch black, raining sideways, you couldn’t see the bow of the boat – the people that hand-steered, hats off that you even made it to France!

Caro closing in on the Rolex Fastnet Race finish in Cherbourg in 2023. Photo: Paul Wyeth / RORC

“You couldn’t see anything, couldn’t see the waves. So we turned on our autopilot, set it on a compass setting, and sat there and just watched.”

Sailing the direct line course under autopilot and jib paid off and Red Ruby gained 4-5 miles overnight.

“When we took the kite down we thought we were being conservative but we were not racing to win anymore, we were just trying to get through the night. But we might have actually been accidentally smart in having the right sail plan for the conditions.”

Preserve the crew

The Rolex Fastnet Race is the longest endurance test many crews will take part in. In 2023 conditions meant you needed a crew that was still fresh enough to be able to fly a spinnaker in 25 knots for the last 100 miles of the 700-mile race (see panel, right, for more).

Though many a Fastnet has been lost in the first 24 hours, the race can often be won in the final miles.

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The Ferrari foiling yacht project – named ‘Hypersail’ in reference to Ferrari’s three-times Le Mans winning Hypercar – is being led by legendary Italian skipper Giovanni Soldini, with design by foiling wizard Guillaume Verdier.

The Hypersail project will not only be the largest fully foiling monohull ever built, but is also designed to be the first yacht of its size to be entirely energy self-sufficient.

The 100-footer will stabilise in flight on three points of contact: an innovative canting keel, a foil on the rudder and, alternately, one of two lateral foils. While the T-foils, with flaps, and rudder with elevator look reminiscent of the America’s Cup foilers, the AC75s, the bulbous canting keel with elevator is unique (the keel on the foiling Maxi Flying Nikka, the most similar design so far, does not have elevators).

No details have been released about the rig and sailplan, but the drawings suggest a huge 40m high wingsail with stays on outriggers.

“This boat is absolutely innovative in every respect. We set the bar very high from the very start, with extremely ambitious goals in every area,” said Soldini.

Hyperfoil in build. One of a series of slightly opaque images supplied to the press. Photo: Ferrari / Hyperfoil

“It’s a flying monohull, designed to fly across the ocean, bringing together all the advantages of a multihull – a lot of righting moment, stable flight even in large waves – combined with all the benefits of a flying monohull like an America’s Cup yacht, which from an aerodynamic point of view is much more efficient. For the first time ever a monhohull is fitted with a foil on the keel.

“It is to do something that has never been done before. It’s about taking a leap of faith.”

The foiler will have no diesel engine, and the intention is that all the power required to run the control systems for the appendages, sails, as well as computers and instruments, will be generated autonomously while under sail using renewable energy sources of solar, wind and kinetic energy.

The yacht is currently under construction at an undisclosed yard in Italy, and scheduled to launch in 2026.

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“I’m happy and honoured to be part of this adventure,” said Giovanni Soldini, Team Principal. “An exciting challenge, backed by a truly unique team that brings together Ferrari’s excellence and the expertise of specialists in ocean sailing design. The meeting of different cultures and advanced technologies is enabling us to build a yacht that is revolutionary in many respects.

“It’s innovative in both its structure and how it will fly; on the systems front, Ferrari’s contribution is driving the development of on-board control technology that has never been seen before. To prepare as well as we can for the variability and force of the phenomena and conditions encountered at sea, our top priority is to strike the right balance between the pursuit of extreme performance and maximum reliability.”

The team have yet to confirm what events or records they hope to take the Hypersail yacht to, Ferrari Chairman John Elkann saying at the launch: “[The] America’s Cup is regulated and this boat is thought to go beyond rules.

“This project gives us the chance to experiment in new areas.”

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The hull of the 183ft/56m Perini Navi Bayesian, which sank after capsizing off Sicily with the loss of seven lives, has been raised from the seabed today, Friday 20 June.

The lifting of the intact hull of the superyacht is a major milestone in what has been an exceptionally complex and challenging salvage operation to recover the yacht from approximately 50m depth in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Bayesian was knocked down during a sudden violent storm whilst at anchor off the Northern coast of Sicily, and sank rapidly, resulting in the deaths of seven people in the early hours of 19 August 2024.

The raising of the Bayesian. Photo courtesy of Superyacht News/The Yacht Report.

Bayesian hull raised

TMC Marine, the specialist British company is leading the salvage operation, reported that – after weeks of preparation – the vessel has been slowly brought to the surface over the past three days.

In a statement released this afternoon, TMC reported: “Over the past three days the hull has been eased, or parbuckled, into an upright position, which gave access to the previously inaccessible starboard side that had been laying directly on the seabed, 50 metres below the surface of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Mediterranean.

The raising of the Bayesian. Photo courtesy of Superyacht News/The Yacht Report.

“During this time the vessel has been gradually lifted off the seabed so that additional lifting straps could be placed under the keel.

“The hull has been continually supported by eight steel lifting straps – four under each of the bow and stern sections – and which are part of a specially designed steel wire lifting arrangement.”

This lifting structure is attached to the enormous 5,695-grose-tonne floating heavy lifting crane, the Hebo Lift 10 – one of the biggest and most powerful marine cranes in Europe, which held the yacht securely on the seabed, before raising it.

The lifting of the superyacht has attracted considerable attention, with local and specialist channels live-streaming the salvage operation from Italy, such as superyacht channel The Yacht Report.

The boom of the Bayesian on the HEBO LIFT 2 salvage platform. Photo: TMC Marine

The hull is expected to remain in its current position until tomorrow, when it will be lifted clear of the water. Sea water will be pumped out of the hull as it is raised. It will then be held in a raised position over the weekend before – weather allowing – the Hebo Lift 10 will transport it to the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese, some 10 miles away,

Once in port, the Bayesian will be lifted onto a specially manufactured steel cradle that has been constructed on the quayside. That is scheduled to take place on Monday 23 June.

Bayesian salvage operation

The salvage operation has been complex and highly technical, with the specialist teams of around 70 people involved including the Dutch crane company HEBO, SMIT Salvage, and support from Italian specialists.. Besides Hebo Lift 10, a second giant vessel, the Hebo Lift 2 has also been deployed. This multi-purpose barge has 700sq m of deck space as well as an integrated crane.

HEBO LIFT 10 alongside sister-vessel-HEBO LIFT 2 in Termini-Imerese ahead of the Bayesian salvage operation. Photo: TMC Marine

The operation has increasingly been using remote-controlled tools following the tragic death of a salvage diver working for the Dutch SMIT Salvage team on May 9. Operations were halted for a period after the fatal incident.

Since May the yacht’s boom, mainsail and furling gear were recovered. A remote-controlled submersible was also deployed to cut one of Bayesian’s anchor chains, enabling the recovery of both the anchor and chain from the seabed.

On Tuesday, June 17 the yacht’s 72-metre mast was cut free using a remote-controlled diamond wire cutting tool and recovered onto the floating crane platform The mast was then lowered to the seabed to be recovered at a later stage. Removing the rig allowed the process of rotating the hull to begin, until the yacht was in a near-vertical position ready for lifting.

Throughout this salvage operation, the recovery team has been monitoring for pollution, and a precautionary oil boom is currently in place.

The cradle structure constructed to receive the salvaged Bayesian hull. Photo: TMC Marine

Investigation underway

Marcus Cave, Head of Naval Architecture and a Director of TMC Marine, said: “The salvage team has made very substantive progress in the last 10 days. They are now preparing for the final, complex and delicate lifting operation, to bring Bayesian to the surface and ultimately into port.

“This is a challenging programme of activity, that will be progressed in a measured and systematic way. While there is enormous interest in this project, we continue to ask that media and other spectators adhere to the security perimeter, which is in place to help protect the safety of everyone on site.”

The fatal sinking of the Bayesian is subject to a criminal investigation in Italy, while the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its interim report into the tragedy, which resulted in seven deaths, including that of the yacht’s owner Mike Lynch, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.

A strict security cordon is in place around the yacht, of 1 nautical mile by air and 650m by sea around the working site.

The post Bayesian superyacht hull raised from seabed during investigation into fatal sinking appeared first on Yachting World.

Peter Burling, the most successful America’s Cup helm in the modern era, has signed with Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

Following much speculation, the Italian challengers confirmed today, Friday 20 June 2025 that Burling – who helmed Emirates Team New Zealand to a record three back-to-back wins (the ‘three-Pete’) – will join Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli for the 38th America’s Cup cycle.

Burling announced he was departing Team New Zealand back in early April this year, after he and team boss Grant Dalton were unable to come to agreement on key terms.

Exactly what they were were never disclosed, but there was plenty of speculation that it was to do with the level of all-in commitment Dalton sought from his key team members. Burling is also skipper of the Black Foils New Zealand SailGP team.

Burling’s SailGP team racing in front of an adoring home crowd earlier in 2025. Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP

Exactly what capacity Burling will join the Italian team in is unclear, in part due to wording in a draft protocol released by Team New Zealand in late May 2025

That draft Protocol currently forbids sailors who competed in the last Cup for one nation representing another in AC38 stating:

‘…up to two non-nationals may participate as crew on a Competitor’s yacht in a race in the AC38 Events, provided such non-nationals did not participate as crew in any races of the following AC37 Events – the AC37 Final Preliminary Regatta, the Challenger Selection Series or the AC37 Match.’

This rule was known to be one of the sticking points among several Challengers – including the Challenger of Record, Ben Ainslie’s Athena Racing.

However, the Italian challengers have been notably quiet following the recent dissent voiced by the British, American and Swiss teams.

This does raise the question of whether the Italians intend to have Burling on the water for AC38 at all, or if that rule is no longer set to be included in the Protocol.

Peter Burling has signed for the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team for the 38th America’s Cup

“We’re thrilled to welcome Peter Burling to Luna Rossa,” said Max Sirena, CEO of Luna Rossa. “Peter has been a long-time rival, and over the years we’ve come to deeply respect both his exceptional sailing talent and his sportsmanship on the racecourse.

“Even though his exact role has yet to be defined, he will certainly be part of the sailing team, reinforcing Luna Rossa’s core leadership group and contributing to key areas of our development program.

“Peter brings tremendous sporting, technical, and personal value. We are confident his presence will give the team a significant boost, bringing renewed energy, expertise, and determination as we look ahead to the challenge before us.”

Luna Rossa competing in the 37th America’s Cup. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

“I’m incredibly proud to be joining Luna Rossa for the 38th America’s Cup,” said Peter Burling.

“I’ve always loved racing against Luna Rossa and now to join this iconic team is a real honour. The innovation and competitiveness they bring to the Cup has always inspired me. I’m grateful for the warm welcome and I’m looking forward to working hard alongside a world-class team, doing my part to help win Luna Rossa’s first America’s Cup.”

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If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post 3 time America’s Cup winner, Peter Burling, swaps New Zealand for Italy in shock move appeared first on Yachting World.