Dmitry Rybolovlev’s ClubSwan 125 Skorpios took line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race this evening, after crossing the finish line in Cherbourg at 2015 BST. Their total elapsed time for completing the 695 nautical mile course from Cowes to Cherbourg was 2 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes and 55 seconds.

Competing in her first offshore race, the recently launched Skorpios came through a brutal first 12 hours of the race in good shape. As the breeze softened, Skorpios extended away from her chief rivals for line honours including previous winner George David’s Rambler 88 and the strong IMOCA fleet.

1800 BST Tuesday 10 August

The lead in IRC One continues to ebb and flow between Matador and Sailplane, with Pata Negra now showing up to spoil the match race. As the fleet was rounding the Fastnet Rock, on IRC corrected time it was Rob Bottomley’s Mat 12, Sailplane, which held a 10-minute advantage over the new leaderboard interloper, Pata Negra, the Marc Lombard-designed IRC 46 campaigned by Andrew Hall and his son Sam.

Only 40 minutes off the pace is recently overtaken leader, Matador, which rounded the Rock late this afternoon, two miles behind INO XXX, James Neville’s HH42. Jonas Grander, owner of the 44ft Matador, got in touch soon after their milestone moment: “To be honest we’re pleasantly surprised at how we’re going. But we’ve sailed together a lot over the years, and we’re very coordinated as a crew.”

While it is hard to draw attention in the Rolex Fastnet Race away from the fast and the glamorous at the front end of the fleet, we must spare a thought for the smaller boats among Sunday’s 337 starters. As the mighty Ultime trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was arriving in Cherbourg having devoured the 695 mile course in just over one day, Alaistair Cooke’s Sigma 36 Sundance was heading backwards on the tide at 2 knots, unable to round Start Point still with 570 long miles left to sail.

Over the course of today Brian Skeet and Nicolas Malapert racing doublehanded on the Sigma 38 Marta faced a similar problem as they passed Start Point, only to see it again as they were drawn backwards at the mercy of the tide.

1200 BST Tuesday 10 August

At midday on the third day of the Rolex Fastnet Race, about half of the IRC Three fleet has left the Isles of Scilly to port to race through the Celtic Sea towards the Fastnet Rock.

The Army Sailing Association’s Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier, leads the class on the water, just under two miles ahead of Louis-Marie Dussere’s JPK 10.80 Raging Bee². Philippe Girardin’s J/120 Hey Jude is third. The leaders are still beating, but the wind has abated to about ten knots. It must feel almost serene after the pounding taken over the first two days.

1200 BST Tuesday 10 August

The Fastnet Rock has seen a flurry of IRC Zero competitors doing the big handbrake turn this morning along with a bunch of IMOCAs. 

I Love Poland continues to set the pace in IRC Zero, Grzegorz Baranowski’s Volvo Open 70 now holding a six-hour advantage over second placed.

Ironic after Sunday’s brutal start, less than 48 hours in and across the Rolex Fastnet Race fleet competitors have been struggling in light winds, especially around the Traffic Separation Scheme between Land’s End and the Scilly Isles and, for those right at the front of the fleet, off Cherbourg.

Since last night’s arrival of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, to a tumultuous reception from the assembled crowds in Cherbourg’s Port Chantereyne, this morning two more Ultime maxi-trimarans have finished with Yves le Blevec’s Actual arriving in an elapsed time of 1d 18h 41m 22s, followed by Thomas Coville’s Sodebo Ultim 3 in 1d 20h 16m 36s.

0700 BST Tuesday 10 August

IRC Two is living up to expectations of being a close battle between the JPK 11.80s, a design that has proven highly potent in previous editions of the Rolex Fastnet Race. More surprising is the fact that the French teams are trailing their JPK 11.80 rivals from Great Britain and the Netherlands.

Currently heading the IRC Two standings on corrected time is Tom Kneen’s Sunrise which is engaged in an upwind duel with Astrid de Vin's Il Corvo [Spanish for ‘The Crow’] to the Fastnet Rock, with the British boat six miles ahead of the Dutch and about two hours in front on corrected time.

0700 BST 10 August

By the morning of the third day of the Rolex Fastnet Race all of the boats still racing in IRC Four had passed Lyme Bay. The leaders on the water have made Land’s End and are readying themselves to pass the Isles of Scilly and into the Celtic Sea. Ludovic Menahes & David le Goff, racing JPK 10.10 Raphael are still leading on the water; an admirable achievement for one of the smallest boats in the race as well as sailing doublehanded. Harry Heijst’s S&S 41 Winsome has recorded the best 24-hour run in the class and is second on the water having skirted close to the exclusion zone overnight.

The extraordinary 32m long Ultime Maxi Edmond de Rothschild showed a clean pair of heels to the rest of the fleet in the 49^th Rolex Fastnet Race arriving this evening (Monday 9 August) at 20:24:54 BST, setting a new record for the race’s new longer 695 mile course to Cherbourg of 1 days 9 hours 15 minutes and 54 seconds.

As the huge blue and white trimaran arrived in Cherbourg’s Port Chantereyne, the marina was packed with cheering fans of the team and of its famous crew of six led by co-skippers Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier. Also on board were David Boileau, Erwan Israel, Morgan Lagraviere and Yann Riou.

Almost 10 hours after the lead Ultime trimaran, Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev’s brand new ClubSwan 125 Skorpios became the first monohull to round southwest Ireland’s most famous rock this evening. Due to this year’s mostly upwind conditions being more ‘typically Rolex Fastnet Race’, even the massively fast Skorpios, was unable to better the record monohull time to the Fastnet Rock of 26 hours 45 minutes 47 seconds, set in 2019 by George David’s Rambler 88. Skorpios’ time was 30 hours 38 minutes 43 seconds.

Skorpios rounded just astern of the final Ultime trimaran, the Jacek Siwek-skippered elongated ORMA 60, Ultim’emotion 2, but of more concern was a boat less than half her length nipping at her heels. Although racing outside of the IRC fleet, Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat on the 60ft IMOCA Apivia have done a phenomenal job leading the IMOCA fleet since they charged out of the blustery Solent 24 hours ago. Approaching the Fastnet Rock, the talented Frenchmen, both past class winners in this event, were leading the IMOCA class, 35 miles ahead of second placed Charal, the defending IMOCA champion, sailed by Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt. 

1800 BST Monday 09 August

The demise of some of the leading contenders in IRC One has thrown the division wide open. As the bulk of this fleet passed the Lizard and closes in on the Land’s End TSS, on corrected time Matador and Sailplane were neck and neck with barely a minute between them. 

On the water, Jonas Grander’s Elliot 44 CR, Matador, is 25 miles in front of Rob Bottomley’s Mat 12, Sailplane, with the Swedish team having already passed Land’s End and moving up the northerly side of the TSS zone, just two miles behind INO XXX, the IRC One frontrunner in terms of distance to the finish. Twice winner of "Offshore sailor of the year" in Sweden, Matador’s crew has competed in several editions of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, RORC Caribbean 600 and two Rolex Fastnet Races. So it’s no surprise to see the Swedes near the front in such a challenging first 24 hours at sea.

1630 BST Monday 09 August

Just over 24 hours into the race and the heavy weather has made it a big boat bonanza in the race out to the Rock. The Volvo Open 70, I Love Poland, holds the lead in IRC Zero by just over three hours on corrected time. Grzegorz Baranowski’s Polish crew, the line honours winner from the 2020 Rolex Middle Sea Race, is also at the head of IRC Overall. 

The VO70 may be more than 70 nautical miles behind Skorpios on the water, but in terms of corrected time the Poles are doing well on the long port fetch out to the Fastnet Rock, considering the lack of waterline length compared with the two boats ahead of her. Rambler 88 is second overall under IRC, more than four hours ahead of her giant rival for line honours, the ClubSwan 125 Skorpios. Also vying for the top three in IRC Zero is Germany boat Varuna, Jen’s Kellinghusen’s Ker 56.