Inaugurated in 1925, the Fastnet Challenge Cup takes place every two years. The start line, off the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, is linked to its organisers, the town’s Royal Ocean Racing Club, but the name that sends a thrill through every serious ocean sailor derives from the Fastnet Rock.
This remote, windswept island, rising to around 30 metres, marks the southernmost point of Ireland, some four miles off the coast of County Cork. Topped by a towering granite lighthouse, it’s a beacon for shipping in these hazardous waters – and the turning point for sailors in this gruelling race.
In the early days, competitors were few: just seven boats took part in the inaugural race, covering 608 nautical miles. Today, however, around 300 boats cross the start line, with places so sought after that entries – costing from £564 for the smallest boats to £6,300 or more for the largest – are usually filled within minutes.
On paper, the challenge is quite simple – to head down the English Channel, across the Celtic Sea and around the Fastnet Rock before turning for home. Until 2019, the return course to the finish line was in Plymouth, via the Isles of Scilly, but in a move to accommodate a larger fleet, the course was changed in 2021 to finish at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin in northern France, adding nearly 100 nautical miles to the race.
No matter where the finish, this remains one of the classic offshore yacht races, now sponsored by Rolex and ranked among the top three in the world. Over the years, participants have been drawn from all parts of the globe, but among them were local twins Harvey and Richard Bagnall. Having learned to sail a Cadet dinghy at Keyhaven in the 1960s, they swept to victory in the Fastnet in 1975, with a crew of six on board a Nicholson 33, Golden Delicious.
Each year, the race throws up its own challenges, but none more so than in 1979, when freak weather conditions resulted in what Irish television RTE described as ‘the largest ever sea rescue operation in peacetime’. Of the 303 boats that crossed the start line, only 86 made it to the finish; 194 retired from the race, and a further 24 were abandoned. Tragically, the toll was high, with the deaths of 15 participants and a further three rescuers.
Fortunately, such tragedies are rare in the history of the Fastnet Race. Despite the vagaries of the weather, one thing is certain: the sight of those huge yachts looming into view as they make their way past Hurst Castle into the English Channel is set to make the day for anyone lucky enough to be on watch.