Lonely Rock Race
Many readers responded to the announcement of a new race by the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth that it was launching a rival to the Fastnet Race on that biennial event’s ‘off’ years and following the traditional route the Royal Ocean Racing Club is forsaking from
2021 to finish in France.
The Fastnet Race should have become an annual race. In this way, Plymouth may have been encouraged to develop the necessary infrastructure to support the race village, berthing, etc.
The result of this development is that unless there’s a clear partnership between the new race, the RORC and Plymouth, very little may change and the same challenges will exist simply because there is unlikely to be a meeting of minds.
John Mccurdy
The difficulty with the RORC’S new format comes with the additional mileage and time for boats to attend the race. If you are not a pro boat it adds up quickly and getting a crew together with the ability to qualify and take time off for racing becomes difficult. As a skipper in this year’s race, I know!
Putting the finish on the other side of the channel is a stupid move. RORC has given an easy route in to a competitor and has annoyed the amateur entry. Expect the Lonely Rock Race to have a full entry. Good luck to the RORC in recapturing those entries.
Stewart Henderson
To be fair, it’s not just RORC’S stupid move that has sparked this, it is their treatment of the average Corinthian sailor. Basically if your boat didn’t cost over a million, RORC treat you as an inconvenience to their race.
I actually swore after my last Fastnet Race that I wouldn’t do it again. However I’m looking forward to this new one!
Andrew Carr
The race is in partnership with the Royal Victoria YC but I see no mention of that in your article. I wish it well and like the Corinthian emphasis.
It will be interesting to see the Notice of Race, giving some detail about safety and qualification requirements. How about an upper IRC rating limit too...?
Peter Cover
I suggest that if you want a serious offshore challenge people should try the Round Ireland Race. That is a better challenge than the Fastnet. It is definitely not for the faint hearted!
Cut the lines and go
Following on from your feature on preparing for ocean cruising (January issue), I have spent a lot of time and money refitting in boatyards. It never ends trying to get it perfect, but eventually you just have to toss the lines and leave. That is when you begin your cruising adventure.
You must not have mainland obligations and be truly free to go. Lock the mobile phones away. Or, better yet, just throw them off the stern as you leave. Only then are you free of the stranglehold of the day-to-day confusion and traffic of land.
If you just want to daysail then charter a boat. If you own it, go for an extended time. The Caribbean and Mediterranean are the best – summer in the Mediterranean and winter in the Caribbean. The perfect boat is not strictly necessary. Jon Carter
The joy of sailing in luxury is you don’t have to make an effort. That choice is easily eliminated for most of us and so we find joy in making an effort while sailing to new horizons. Martin Hald