Polished Manx in the Fastnet
Douglas Bay Yacht Club’s Sigma 33 ‘Polished Manx’, owned by local sailor Kuba Szymanski, was one of 314 yachts to set sail from Cowes on Sunday August 14 to compete in the historic Fastnet Race.
Alongside Kuba was local sailor John Barrett and regular Island visitor Jonny Hart, with Manx sailor Paul Carine forced to withdraw at the last minute due to illness. The yacht was sailed continuously using a rotating watch system, with two crewmen on deck while the other rested.
Taking place every two years, the famous offshore race is a 608-mile round trip from Cowes on the Isle of Wight to the Fastnet Rock off the southernmost tip of Ireland, then passing South of the Scilly Isles before finishing in Plymouth.
This year’s race was characterised by extremes of weather: after two days of racing in near-gale force winds, the breeze around the south coast of the UK disappeared with the arrival of a high pressure system.
While the larger and faster yachts were able to complete the course before the wind died, the armada of smaller boats that followed them over the next few days found themselves virtually adrift near the finish. Over 100 boats finished in the space of two hours during Thursday night as they were funnelled across the line in Plymouth Bay by the tide.
After rounding the Fastnet Rock on Wednesday in 150th place overall and 22nd in their class, the crew of ‘Polished Manx’ put in a superb effort, travelling 141 nautical miles in 25 hours to reach the Scilly Isles. This performance catapulted them up the leaderboard: with only twelve miles to the finish they were running ninth in class.
Unfortunately the wind around the finish remained frustratingly absent and the crew spent an agonising six hours drifting the final few miles, losing precious time to their rivals. They finally crossed the line at 13:33 on Friday August 19, completing the course in five days, two hours and three minutes, finishing an admirable 139th overall and 41st in class, despite having lost over thirty places while becalmed.
Well done Polished Manx! Other Manx Fastnet entries were Rob Cowell and Edward Whipp, sailing on’White Knight of Wessex’, a HOD 35, competing in IRC 3. They collected a 28th in class and 145th overall.
I was sailing an Élan 410, ‘Premier Flair’ offshore this year, we were sailing in class 2, and worked ourselves into 26th in class and 73rd overall. We were fortunate enough to be quick enough over the first 600 miles of the course to be only 3 miles off when the wind collapsed. This result helped the team to 11th in class for the entire 2011 RORC series.