Due to a severe weather warning, the start of the biennial Fastnet event has been postponed by 25 hours. Low pressure moving in from the Irish Sea means that bad weather would have hit the 300 boat fleet when they were in the exposed regions of the Western Channel and the Celtic Sea.
It is the first time in the event's 83-year history that officials have chosen to postpone it. The predicted weather conditions are not dissimilar to those experienced by Fastnet participants in 1979 where 17 lives were lost and dozens of boats went missing.
Despite this, the weather conditions could prove favourable for the likes of the ICAP Leopard and Alfa Romeo which could see the race completed in 24 hours.
For up to date information on further developments visit http://fastnet.rorc.org/.
