At 11am yesterday, the 271 boats taking part in this year's Rolex Fastnet finally left Cowes after a 25 hour weather delay.
The conditions on the start line showed no signs of the severe weather that caused the first delay to the start of the Fastnet in its 82 year history. Blue skies spread out above Cowes as the boats left harbour, but unfortunately those conditions weren't to last. The 15 - 18 knot breeze on the start line soon built up and the winds are now as high as force 8, causing many boats to halt their progress westwards and take shelter.
Most of the multi-hulls didn't begin the race at all, owing to the conditions, and the single hulls haven't fared all that much better. Roxanna Maynard, our reporter from the lighthouse at the finishing point of the Fastnet, reports that some twenty boats have motored into Plymouth in the last hour or two to escape the high winds. Others haven't yet got that far and are seeking shelter in Dartmouth, while a few front runners are sitting out the winds in Falmouth harbour in Cornwall.
According to the rules of the race, boats are allowed to log a point at which they wish to take shelter and motor from there into a nearby harbour. So long as all the members of the crew remain on the boat for the duration of the 'resting period', and then motor back to the exact same point that they originally logged, they can continue the race where they left off. Numerous crews are currently taking this course, although some have already withdrawn from the Fastnet.
We haven't yet heard from the editor of TheMainSail, Cathy Brown, who's taking part in the race in her Grand Soleil 40, Brave, but we'll let you know as soon as we do. In the meantime, follow the latest developments from the south coast on the RORC Rolex Fastnet site or check on the progress of individual boats on the tracking page.
