Fastnet Articles
Leading the Rolex Admiral’s Cup fleet to the Rock was Stefan Jentzsch’s Black Pearl (NYYC). Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste (RHKYC) rounded 30 minutes and 19 seconds later, chased hard by Peter Harrison’s Jolt 3 (YCM), just seven minutes further back.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen the Rock without fog—it was pure magic,” said Jentzsch. “It’s a huge milestone, but as any climber knows, the descent can be just as tough.
© ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi
Black Pearl leads the Rolex Admiral’s Cup fleet around the Fastnet Rock
01-08-2025
But don’t be fooled. This race is never easy. Wind or not, the tide off the south coast of England always has a say: dodging foul currents off St Alban’s Head, Start Point, the Lizard, and Land’s End is just as much part of the game as catching a shift. Then there’s the final sting in the tail: the Alderney Race, churning through the finish approach into Cherbourg.
The course remains a game of threading needles — and this year’s TSS dance is as tricky as ever.
31-07-2025
After the cannon roared, the fleet scattered like gulls in a gale. Black Pearl (YCCS), skippered by Stefan Jentzch, wasted no time — tacking straight toward the mainland shore. She sniffed out a lift and took it like a thief in the night, gaining ground fast. But out near the island side, Jolt 3 (YCM) helmed by Peter Harrison, was all business — early leader on the water and staying sticky to the fleet like barnacles on a buoy.
30-07-2025
The 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race marks 100 years of hard offshore truth — and the multihull fleet has shown up in force. A record 20 boats are racing in the MOCRA class, all gunning for the coveted Crystal Trophy, a prize that’s older than some of the hulls — and certainly a few of the crews.
25-07-2025
Its starts on Saturday 26 July 2025
Veterans of the last two Rolex Fastnet Races are checking the weather with cautious optimism. After two editions that opened with 30-knot headwinds and a battering Channel slog, the long-range forecast for this centenary running looks — dare we say it — gentle.
24-07-2025
IRC Zero has a rich seam of ocean-going history running through it. While French round the world race legend Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (aka VDH) isn’t competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race, two of his former steeds will be on the IRC Zero start line.
10-07-2025
The fight to claim the prestigious monohull line honours prize in the centenary edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Rolex Fastnet Race is lining up to be a tough one between the world’s fastest 100ft maxi yachts. The winner of the Erivale Trophy for monohull line honours will follow a long line of the most significant offshore racing yachts of all time, such as Rambler 88, Comanche, ICAP Leopard 3, Alfa Romeo, Stealth, Steinlager 2, Congere, Nirvana, Condor, American Eagle, Gitana IV, Stormvogel, Latifa, among many others.
03-07-2025
Now 20+ years old, the Class40 has proved itself one of the most successful genre of offshore race boat ever. Since Géry Trentesaux and class co-founder, round the world sailor and journalist Patrice Carpentier entered their first Pogo 40 in the 2005 edition, the Rolex Fastnet Race has included a strong entry from this French box rule class, providing it with its own class since 2009. Today the Rolex Fastnet Race features in the Class40’s main championship.
25-06-2025
The Admiral’s Cup stands as one of the most storied and prestigious events in the world of offshore yacht racing, a competition that has long been regarded as the unofficial world championship of the sport.
28-05-2025