#OSTAR - The OSTAR and TWOSTAR fleets have seen a slew of retirements after a storm hit the fleet in the North Atlantic on Friday (9 June), leaving one yacht abandoned and another dismasted.
According to Yachting & Boating World, the ocean liner Queen Mary 2 changed course to pick up solo sailor Melvyn Wheatley after his yacht Tamarind had its mast go under and flooded through a smashed porthole.
Wheatley (73), who scuttled the vessel for the safety of shipping traffic, was down below when the yacht took damage — with his wife later commenting that he was lucky to survive the “nightmare” conditions.
Elsewhere, the Bulgarian crew of Furia, a Luffe 37-09 in the TWOSTAR, were rescued by a survey vessel after their boat sank, while the crew of the Sunfast 37 named Happy were picked up by a tug when their yacht dismasted.
Other retirements include British OSTAR competitors Keith Walton, whose Najad 490 Harmoni is Azores bound with mainsail damage, and Peter Crowther, whose Swan 38 Suomi Kudu has turned around for the UK also with mainsail issues.
Despite the “extreme conditions” in what were described as hurricane winds, and with swells persisting in excess of 10 metres, there were no reported injuries across the fleet.
And Conor Fogerty’s BAM continues apace, lucky to be ahead of the storm when it struck the back of the fleet on the east of the track.
As of last night (Saturday 10 June) the Howth Yacht Club sailor’s Sunfast 3600 was making big gains despite the tough conditions, second to OSTAR leaders Vento and only a few hours behind on time.
WMN Nixon adds: Ireland’s Conor Fogerty clear of worst of OSTAR’s Atlantic storm
Ireland’s entry in OSTAR 2017 Conor Fogerty of Howth, having started on May 29th from Plymouth in Devon to race Transatlantic to Newport Rhode Island), has been putting in such a good performance that he has his Sunfast 3600 Bam safely to the west of the worst of the the mid-Atlantic storm mayhem which has resulted in a sinking, and five OSTAR/TWOSTAR sailors being rescued, with the liner Queen Mary playing a major role in the retrieval incident writes W M Nixon.
Although the clear leader is Andrea Mura with the Open 60 Venta di Sardegna. who has only 572 miles still to race, despite Fogerty being the smallest boat of those at the front of the fleet, he is in near-contact with the Uwe Pajkowska’s Open 40 Rote 66, which is second on the water and is actually two-handed in the TWOSTAR division. Pajkowska has 1158 miles to race while the solo-sailed Bam is on 1186 to lie either second overall or third, depending on which category is used for the rankings.
Update Monday, June 12:
North Atlantic Storm Hits OSTAR & TWOSTAR Fleet In the early hours of Friday 9th June, 60 knot winds and 15 metre seas were experienced by competitors, caused by a very low depression (967 mb). These extreme conditions caused damage to many boats with 3 emergency beacons (EPIRB) triggered. The Canadian coastguard in Halifax immediately reacted to the situation sending ships and air support to all the boats in distress.
The boats affected over the past 36 hours are:
TAMARIND - Suffered severe damage. Skipper well with no injuries. Rescued by Queen Mary en route to Halifax.
HAPPY - Dismasted. Both crew rescued by ocean going tug APL FORWARD. No injuries reported.
FURIA - Boat sunk. Crew resuced by survey vessel THOR MAGNA. No injuries reported.
HARMONII - Mainsail and track damage. Retired. Heading under engine for the Azores. Skipper ok, no injuries.
SUOMI KUDU - Mainsail problems. Retired. Heading back to UK. Skipper ok, no injuries.
All other competitors safe but still experiencing a 10 - 15 metre swell, no injuries reported.
The RWYC would like to thank all personnel at the Halifax Coastguard for their immediate and magnificent response to this emergency situation. All seafarers owe them a debt of gratitude
The Annual Conference of the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), an absorbing all-day affair in Limerick this Saturday (March 4th), has an intriguing agenda writes W M Nixon. But for many sailors from all over Ireland and the other side of the Irish Sea, the high point of it all will be the announcement of the ICRA “Boat of the Year” selected by the ICRA judges.
We revive memories of the great year of 2016 by running our own informal poll - just click as you wish on this alphabetic list at the bottom of this story to see whose achievements rise up the ranking. We can only say that that the wealth of choice speaks highly of the great good health and re-growing popularity of “waterborne truck racing”
QUARTER TONNER Anchor Challenge – Paul Gibbons from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Photo: Bob Bateman
Anchor Challenge: Paul Gibbon’s classic Quarter Tonner from Crosshaven was good on enthusiasm, and good on performance, her top line being the overall win in the IRC Europeans at Crosshaven in July, which he plans to defend at Marseilles this summer.
KER39 Antix – Anthony O'Leary from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Photo: Paul Wyeth
Antix:Anthony O’Leary’s Fast Forty+ may not have had her most successful season ever in 2016, but many crews would give their eye teeth to have a record as good, topped with the Class O win in the IRC Europeans in Cork Harbour in July.
Bam!: With the complexities of the RORC Caribbean 2017 still fresh upon us, we realize just how good was Conor Fogerty’s Class win in 2016 in this demanding maze of a race around the islands with his Sunfast 3600 Bam!. And on top of that, it was all just part of an extraordinary season with thousands and thousands of miles of sailing and racing
HALF TONNER Checkmate XV – David Cullen from Howth Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
Checkmate XV: David Cullen’s beautifully-presented classic Half Tonner Checkmate XV found form to rocket to the top in the ICRA Nats at his home port of Howth in June in a very convincing style. Dave also skippered the J/109 Storm to a class win in the Volvo Round Ireland as Euro Carparks, but maybe that should count as a success for the Kelly family’s Storm, which also won the J/109 Nationals
QUARTER TONNER Cartoon – Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
Cartoon V: Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack (RIYC) with their characterful Quarter Tonner came sweeping through the IRC Nationals to win their class in style.
DUBOIS 37 Dark Angel – Tony Ackland from Swansea. Photo: Bob Bateman
Dark Angel: Tony Ackland from Swansea turned all heads with his handsome boat which in a previous life was well known in both Cork Harbour and Galway. There’s more than just looks to the Angel – she won IRC 1 in the Europeans at Crosshaven.
HALF TONNER Harmony – Jonny Swan from Howth Yacht Club. Photo: Bob Bateman
Harmony: Jonny Swan’s wooden-built classic Half Tonner Harmony benefitted from an under-deck laminated fore-and-aft girder installed by Dougal McMahon of Belmont in County Offaly literally to provide a bit of backbone, and it worked a treat. In many victories, Harmony won IRC 3 in the Europeans at Cork.
J24 Ireland's Eye Kilcullen – HYC under-25s from Howth Yacht Club
Ireland’s Eye Kilcullen: The HYC nippers – aka the under-25s – in the club-backed J/24 showed there’s still life in this classic Johnstone design. In open events they took second place in Class 4 at Cork Week and the IRC Europeans, they also took third overall in the J/24 Under 25 Europeans. And in the class in Ireland they won the Nationals (7 wins in 7 races), the Northerns, the Southerns, and the Westerns.
KER36 Jump Juice - Conor Phelan from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Photo: Bob Bateman
Jump Juice: Like good wine, Conor Phelan’s Ker 36 from Cork improves with age. They won the RORC Easter Challenge in ferocious weather in the Solent overall, and they won Class O in convincing style at the ICRA Nats in June.
J109 Joker 2 - John Maybury from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
Joker 2: If you wanted a demonstration of the J/109’s all round ability, John Maybury’s Joker 2 provided it in 2016. She recorded a back-to-back win in the ICRA Nats – the only boat to do so in 2015-2016 – and under the skippering of Commandant Barry Byrne, she was the first winner of the new inter-forces Beaufort Cup including winning its Fastnet Race. Same boat, but completely different crews – Joker 2 makes a special claim for top boat of the year
E–BOAT OctopussE - Pat O’Neill from Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
OctopussE: The Julian Everitt-designed E Boat is a blast from the past, a miniature offshore racer in which the vertical keel can be retracted completely into the hull. The fleet at Clontarf deserve every credit for their multiple use, including club racing and canal cruising. But it is Pat O’Neill who carries it all through with competition in the ICRA Nats, and he won IRC 4.
JPK 10.80 Rockabill – Paul O'Higgins from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
Rockabill VI: It takes courage to start racing in a boat with a massive international success record like the JPK 10.80, but Paul O’Higgins was game for the challenge when he took Rockabill VI fresh out of the wrappings to do the Volvo Round Ireland Race in June, and came within an ace of a class win. He then re-surfaced for the IRC Europeans at Cork in July – and won IRC 2.
Conor Fogerty's BAM from Howth Yacht Club is lying second overall in class and fourth overall in the inaugural Solo Fastnet race this morning. Fogerty is expected to finish the five day course tomorrow.
The Royal Western Yacht Club of England (RWYC) has certified this ‘Solo Fastnet’ as an official qualifier for the 2017 OSTAR race in May 2017. The category 2 race was designed by solo sailors for solo sailors who want to test their skills and endurance in an offshore race across the unpredictable North Atlantic Ocean, and is open to any IRC rated boat or class boats racing under their class rules.
Conor, who celebrated his 45th birthday during the race, has done more than 300,000 nautical miles of offshore sailing, including 30 Transatlantic and 2 Round the World trips - one as skipper on Cardiff for the Clipper Round the World Race in 2005/06. New to short handed sailing on his Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600 ‘Bam’, he won the 2-handed ISORA series in 2015 and was 6th overall. Many of you will also have read of his offshore racing exploits this year including winning IRC Class 3 in the Caribbean 600, earning him the 'Afloat Sailor of the Month' in February and also finished 3rd in Class 3 in the recent Round Ireland Race.
His practice by taking ‘Bam’ single-handed from St Martin to the Azores earlier this summer is part of his calculated regime to prepare for this event. Conor reported ‘I'm keen to progress in the single handed sailing, and see this event as a great opportunity to race against far more experienced single handed sailors, and perhaps nip at their heels!’ It’s no secret that Conor also has eyes on the 2017 OSTAR Race. The OSTAR (The Original Single-handed Transatlantic Race) founded by Cockleshell hero Blondie Hasler in 1960 and run every four years since and the ‘TWOSTAR’, first held in 1981, will both start from Plymouth heading for Newport, Rhode Island on 29th May 2017.
Saturday’s inaugural SORC Round the Rock Race is a Category 2 (ISAF) race and designed by solo sailors for solo sailors. It’s heralded as being ‘for Corinthian sailors who want to test their skills and endurance in a substantial offshore race - a race that only requires a week's holidays to complete but still offers the excitement and challenge of nights at sea combined with the unpredictable nature of North Atlantic weather’.
The Notice of Race specifies the experience required to participate as: ‘The skipper is required to have substantial offshore short handed sailing experience including solo nights offshore. The race is challenging especially for a solo skipper, requiring well developed navigation skills, practiced boat handling in both strong and light conditions and familiarity with managing the effects of fatigue and limited sleep. If you are in any doubt regarding your experience you are encouraged to contact the RC for guidance.
Rob Craigie, Race Director of the SORC Round the Rock Race, said: “The Round the Rock Race enabled us to establish a long distance UK-based iconic solo race which would be both tactically and strategically demanding for sailors, but could be completed in a week. There is also a strong social element to the event, and we look forward to reaching Plymouth and berthing in the heart of the city in Sutton Harbour before celebrating at the race party.”
UPDATE 2200hrs: The RORC Caribbean 600 continues to be a race of swings and roundabouts as different boats come to the fore depending on which part of this multi-island course they’re sailing along writes W M Nixon. There are stages where the only encouragement is in maintaining your class position, and this Wednesday evening at 2200 hrs, Conor Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam from Howth Yacht Club has the excellent consolation for the Irish squad of leading CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association) Division 2, and holding on to second in IRC Class 3, despite slipping to 24th in the IRC overall rankings.
The big news may well be that Adrian Lee’s reliable steed, the Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners, from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, seems finally to have got her skates on, and she was pushing towards 14 knots to be lying 8th overall in IRC – her best placing to date in this year’s race – to have her second in the IRC canting keel division with 57 miles to go to the finish.
The situation is completely different back down the line off Guadeloupe, where Kieran Jameson & Co on the First 40 Southern Child are none too happy at barely 6 knots, and they’re back at 29th overall, though in the kindly CSA 2 they’re lying third in class.
At the top of the leaderboard, the Maxi 72s Proteus (George Sakellaris) and Momo (Diter Schoen) are finished and looking good for IRC first and second overall, but Piet Vroon’s Tonnere 4 is just 24 miles from the finish and could pip Momo yet, though Proteus looks secure.
Meanwhile, spare a thought for Jim and Kristy Clark’s mega maxi Comanche. They went to an awful lot of trouble to get the big fat girl back from the Sydney-Hobart in time to do this race. And for sure, they did take the mono-hull line honours this morning. But their elapsed time was 33 minutes outside the course record set by George David’s Rambler 100 in 2011. That’s the very same Rambler which made an unscheduled visit to Baltimore in August of that year, when her canting keel decided to go walkabout at the Fastnet Rock. 33 minutes. Ouch.
This race is both a blue riband international yachting fixture and a biennial offshore pilgrimage that attracts crews from all walks of life:- from aspiring sailors to professional crews; all ages and all professions. Some are racing for charity, others for a personal challenge.
For the world's top professional sailors, it is a 'must-do' race. For some, it will be their first-ever race, and for others, something they have competed in for over 50 years! The race attracts the most diverse fleet of yachts, from beautiful classic yachts to some of the fastest racing machines on the planet – and everything in between.
The testing course passes eight famous landmarks along the route: The Needles, Portland Bill, Start Point, the Lizard, Land’s End, the Fastnet Rock, Bishop’s Rock off the Scillies and Plymouth breakwater (now Cherbourg for 2021 and 2023). After the start in Cowes, the fleet heads westward down The Solent, before exiting into the English Channel at Hurst Castle. The finish for 2021 is in Cherbourg via the Fastnet Rock, off the southern tip of Ireland.
The leg across the Celtic Sea to (and from) the Fastnet Rock is known to be unpredictable and challenging. The competitors are exposed to fast-moving Atlantic weather systems and the fleet often encounter tough conditions
Flawless decision-making, determination and total commitment are the essential requirements. Crews have to manage and anticipate the changing tidal and meteorological conditions imposed by the complex course
The symbol of the race is the Fastnet Rock, located off the southern coast of Ireland. Also known as the Teardrop of Ireland, the Rock marks an evocative turning point in the challenging race
Once sailors reach the Fastnet Rock, they are well over halfway to the finish in Cherbourg.
The international fleet attracts both enthusiastic amateur, the seasoned offshore racer, as well as out-and-out professionals from all corners of the world.
The Fastnet Race multihull course record is: 1 day 4 hours 2 minutes and 26 seconds (2019, Ultim Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Franck Cammas / Charles Caudrelier)
Cork sailor Henry P F Donegan (1870-1940), who gave his total support for the Fastnet Race from its inception in 1925 and competed in the inaugural race in his 43ft cutter Gull from Cork.
Ireland has won the Fastnet Race twice. In 1987 the Dubois 40 Irish Independent won the Fastnet Race overall for the first time and then in 2007 – all of twenty years after Irish Independent’s win – Ireland secured the overall win again this time thanks to Ger O’Rourke’s Cookson 50 Chieftain from the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland in Kilrush.
QUARTER TONNER Anchor Challenge – Paul Gibbons from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Photo: Bob Bateman
KER39 Antix – Anthony O'Leary from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Photo: Paul Wyeth
SUNFAST 3600 BAM! - Conor Fogerty from Howth Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
HALF TONNER Checkmate XV – David Cullen from Howth Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
QUARTER TONNER Cartoon – Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
DUBOIS 37 Dark Angel – Tony Ackland from Swansea. Photo: Bob Bateman
HALF TONNER Harmony – Jonny Swan from Howth Yacht Club. Photo: Bob Bateman
J24 Ireland's Eye Kilcullen – HYC under-25s from Howth Yacht Club
KER36 Jump Juice - Conor Phelan from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Photo: Bob Bateman
J109 Joker 2 - John Maybury from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
E–BOAT OctopussE - Pat O’Neill from Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
JPK 10.80 Rockabill – Paul O'Higgins from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Photo: Afloat.ie
