It was a roaring start to the Fastnet Race in England. Winds gusting into the high 20s, with wind against current producing some really angry chop. Our PNW team aboard the First 40 Jazz had a good start and apparently worked their way to weather out of the Solent. Their class, IRC 2, was the last to start and faced the most challenging winds and waves. The hard beat will go on for a while, but a large high pressure zone is moving north and may produce lighter winds in the days to come. A couple of notes – there are about 50 boats in Jazz’s class, including about 10 First 40s. Here is video of the IRC Class 2 start, beginning with about a minute to go before the gun goes off.
A couple more notes – If you want to track the race, the link is https://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/en/2021-tracking-player. My friends at 48 North have a nice piece on the Jazz team. There are lots of battles on the course, with several multihull classes going at it, IMOCA foiling 60s and Class 40s. Around one quarter of the fleet is sailing doublehanded. This is the first time the race will finish in Cherbourg, France, and apparently there is no small amount of trickiness right until the end.
If any of you have further insights, please send them to me. I’ll be covering my friend Brad Baker and the Jazz team closely.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.