The Volvo Open 70 movistar is covering the last miles in the Rolex Fastnet Race that it has been taking part in since last Sunday in the waters off the United Kingdom and Ireland. After three days of competition, only one boat reached Plymouth after covering the 608 miles of the Fastnet Race: Charles St. Clair Brown’s New Zealand maxi ICAP Maximus, with a time of 2 days, 20 hours, 2 minutes and 7 seconds. The kiwi maxi was helped by a 12 knot breeze on the last stetch of the voyage. Such strong winds have been unusual in a race that has seen almost flat calms most of the time. In fact, at 1100 hours today, only 72 of the 285 boat fleet had reached Fastnet Rock, which practically marks the half-way point.

Bouwe Bekking, skipper of the movistar, remarked from the boat yesterday morning: We have found a bit of a breeze at last, about 7 knots from the north west, so we are flying the spinanaker. I think that some of the Open 60s that chose to sail further south are under greater pressure than us. The group of boats that we were in has started to separate; but at least we are making headway. With its arrival in Plymouth, the Maximus won the prize for the real time winner. In total, there are over 30 trophies to be won in the Rolex Fastnet Race, apart from the two main prizes: the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy.

The boat should reach Plymouth between tonight and tommorow morning. That’s sailing: it’s no use having the fastest monohull in the world if it doesn’t have the fuel to deploy its full potencial, which is what is happening to us in the Fastnet Race with the wind. We are very happy to take part in this race anyway, because we are gaining experience and a lot of information, both of which will be very useful when the real competition that this boat was buit for starts: the Volvo Ocean Race.

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