Pictured at the start of the Fastnet race 2015 at Cowes is Bristolian, a Frers 63 owned by Philip Rann


Pictured at the start of the Fastnet race 2015 at Cowes is Bristolian, a Frers 63 owned by Philip Rann skippered by John Burnie. The Fastnet Race is a famous biennial offshore yachting race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club. One of the classic offshore races, the 'Fastnet' is a difficult contest testing both inshore and offshore skills, boat and crew preparation and speed potential and remains closely linked to advances in yacht design, sailing technique and safety equipment. The Fastnet Race has been sponsored by the Swiss watch manufacturing company Rolex since 2001. The Race prize is known as the Fastnet Challenge Cup. The Fastnet Race takes place every two years over a course of 608 nautical miles (1,126 km). The race starts off Cowes: leaving the Solent through The Needles Channel, the race follows the southern coastline of England westward down the English Channel, before rounding Land's End. After crossing the Celtic Sea, the race rounds the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland. Returning on a largely reciprocal course, the race rounds the Isles of Scilly before finishing at Plymouth.


Size: 3704px × 4976px
Location: Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, UK
Photo credit: © Philip Chapman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 63, boats, bristolian, challenge, classic, club, contest, cowes, crew, cup, fastnet, frers, inshore, isle, monohull, ocean, offshore, philip, race, racing, rann, red, relaxed, rolex, rorc, safety, sail, sailing, solent, speedy, squadron, uniform, west, wight, wind, yacht, yachting