Compete in over 1200 miles of offshore racing including three qualifying races and the Rolex Fastnet race.

The biennial Rolex Fastnet Race is considered one of the world's classic ocean races, the 608-mile course a test for skippers and crews with its tricky tidal currents and changeable weather conditions. The race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, with the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth will start off Cowes, Isle of Wight.

The course will take the large fleet South West down the Solent, past the Needles and out into the English Channel. The headlands along the South Coast of England - Anvil Point, Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard, Lands End - must each be weathered on the way to open ocean and the leg North West to the Fastnet Rock with it's mythical lighthouse. The return leg to Plymouth, via Bishop Rock Lighthouse on the South side of the Scilly Isles, is just as demanding, as fatigue and competition take their toll.

Like no other race the Rolex Fastnet Race attracts every type of sailor and boat from just about every sailing country in the world. Sailing schools, corporate institutions, family owned and crewed cruiser-racers, dedicated amateurs, club sailors along with the hardened champions from the Grand Prix circuits, are all attracted to compete in the best known offshore race in the world. All come to enjoy the challenge of one of the trickiest and most demanding sporting events that an individual or a team can aspire to today

Training and qualifying races (provisional dates only):

March - Training Weekend 1

April - Training Weekend 2

May - De Guingand Bowl Race

June - Morgan Cup Race

July - Cowes – Dinard – St Malo

August - Cowes – Fastnet – Plymouth

The costs include two training weekends

For further information please contact Commodore Yachting by email or telephone, bookings for the race campaign are now being taken

Experience Qualification:

The skipper and at least half the crew must have completed in the yacht in which they will race the Fastnet, in the 12 months preceding the Fastnet start:

1. 300 miles of RORC offshore racing, or if the yacht is normally kept in a place without reasonable access to RORC racing:
2. One RORC offshore race plus offshore racing or a nonstop passage making a total of at least 300 miles, or
3. Other qualifications similar to (2) above to be proposed to and agreed by RORC by Friday 6th July 2001.

Notes:
1. When plans to qualify as above cannot be completed (e.g. a race becalmed) or in exceptional circumstances, alternative proposals must be made to RORC as soon as possible.
2. A service yacht may qualify as above or submit written authority from her service establishment.
3. The acceptance by RORC of any experience qualification does not warrant suitability for the Fastnet race.

Training Qualification

It is the skipper's responsibility to ensure that at least two people on each yacht have a certificate/letter of attendance, from a recognised establishment, on completion of the following:

1. A First Aid Course, and
2. Training/instruction in the use of liferafts.
The above training must have taken place after January 1995.

Contact us at: yachtcharter@sailing.co.uk

Commodore Yachting, Gosport Marina, Mumby Road, Gosport, PO12 1AX
Tel: 023 9250 4443 or 07971 290589