The interest being aroused by today's Centenary of the Rolex Fastnet Race suggests that the current points system for the Admiral's Cup needs to be re-thought. For the classic Fastnet Race stands so tall – head, shoulders and more - above everything else in the Admiral's Cup programme that it surely deserves more points than the current treble scoring allotted.
CHOREOGRAPHED START
In recent days the Admirals Cup's Channel Race and inshore programme have been dominating the sailing news, with the AC boats racing on their own in the Solent. But the scene changes completely today (Saturday) with the choreographed start sequence off Cowes for the Centenary Race and its fleet of 451 boats, with the Admiral's Cuppers due to head westward from the Squadron line at noon.
The pressure eases. The prospect of open water sailing, after the crowded Solent starts, beckons the fleet westward to clear sailing beyond The Needles at the west end of the Isle of Wight. Photo: Rolex
WIDESPREAD IRISH INTEREST
In the total Fastnet fleet, there are around 20 boats with special interest for Ireland, and inevitably with her skipper's proven success in past Fastnets, Tom Kneen's JPK 1180 Sunrise IV RIYC will be fancied to emerge from the doldrums she has experienced in the Admirals's Cup until this morning, re-born as an offshore star to move Ireland up from the current 12th (just one point behind 11th) to something more appropriate.
But in throwing the net over the huge fleet, it seems to Sailing on Saturday that our best hope was hidden earlier this week in plain sight. Let's hear it again for Tshuss 2, Christian Zugler's Volvo 70.
A breath of fresh air. Tschuss 2 arrives into the west Solent at the end of June after a record 7 days and 15 hours Transatlantic crossing
SUCCESS WHILE ASKEW
She was originally the Groupama of 2011 vintage, then leapt to fame again as the Askew brothers' Wizard to win the 2019 Fastnet overall. More recently, she has become Tschuss 2 in the ownership of Christian Zugler, with Johnny Mordaunt of Howth as his right-hand man and co-skipper, and Nin O'Leary of Crosshaven and Baltimore as a lead helm and main trimmer.
Johnny Mordaunt of Howth, weatherbeaten but successful after Tschuss 2 had won June's Transatlantic Race
The Presence. Nin O’Leary of Cork maintains his Sphinx-like demeanour as Tschuss 2 wins the Transatlantic Race in record time. His grandfather Owen Aisher was overall winner of the 1951 Fastnet Race with the 49ft Charles A Nicholson-designed Yeoman II
Getting Tschuss 2 back into peak condition and keeping her there has been a massive challenge for Johnny and his team. But it has paid off with the re-born Tschuss 2 taking top honours in the Baltic in 2024, and then this year she won the RORC East-West Transatlantic Race in January, the RORC Caribbean 600 in February, and the RORC West-East Transatlantic Race in June by a huge margin with an elapsed time of seven days and 15 hours.
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
It has been like a breath of fresh air to think of Tschuss 2 sweeping into the Solent a month ago to win the Transat, when the close focus on the Admiral's Cup for a week in the Solent is beginning to make everything about it seem claustrophobic.
Admiral's Cup racing as it should be. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's Callisto, navigated by Nothern Ireland's Ian Mooore, sweeping in to the finish to win last weekend's Channel Race.
Its revival during the past week after 22 years, and the keenly-anticipated arrival of the Centenary Fastnet Race this morning with its record-breaking fleet, has swamped predictors with an overload of information and impressions.
QUESTIONABLE INSHORE RACES
And it's a state of affairs that, while it was manageable when the Admiral's Cup fleet were racing in fairly reasonable conditions in last weekend's offshore Channel Race, has become questionable as an ambitious programme of short inshore races is implemented in mostly light winds as best the organisers can manage in the Solent and nearby waters.
For it seems ridiculous that these inshore races – some of them little better than ultra-short sprints that would be disdained as a club mid-week evening race – are scoring one point, while the much more demanding Channel Race only gets 1.5 and the utterly challenging Fastnet Race – now in its all-new 695 mile glory to finish at Cherbourg – is only a treble scorer.
A MORE EQUITABLE POINTS WEIGHTING REQUIRED
Anyone who has done the classic programme of (1) Channel Race, (2) Two Premier Solent Races in Cowes Week, and (3) Fastnet Race, will have thoughts on this. It was a programme so good it regularly attracted folk like Dick Nye and other great American skippers across the Atlantic, and the Admiral's Cup emerged from their enthusiasm in the late 1950s.
This is what it's really all about. 2019 Fastnet winner Wizard (now Tschuss 2) clears the Fastnet Rock.
But then as now, there's no doubting that the Fastnet Race was the backbone of the whole thing. It was and is The Big Boys' Game. Thus it seems absurd that it should merit only three times as many points as a Solent sprint in an event which is organised by an "ocean racing" club.
STAYING TRUE TO THE TRADITIONS AND ETHOS
It would surely be truer to the traditions and ethos of the RORC in its Centenary Year to have the Fastnet score by eight, the Channel Race by three, and the inshores by one.
But that's another day's work. Meanwhile, the international enthusiasm and the oft-repeated desire that classic offshore racing - as most of us know it - really does merit something that approximates to a world championship, and for now the Admiral's Cup is it. But that consideration takes second place this morning as we contemplate in awe the fact that the Centenary Fastnet Race is upon us.
LIKE A HORSE TRYING TO WIN BOTH THE DERBY AND THE GRAND NATIONAL
That's a relief in itself, for the compression of the Admiral's Cup fleet into a relatively windless Solent was nautical flat racing big time, yet whatever the conditions offshore, there's always an element of clearing the jumps in the Fastnet.
Ger O'Rourke's Cookson 50 Chieftain from Kilrush in the Solent in the early stages of the 2007 Fastnet Race, which she won overall.
In other words, creating the ideal boat for the Admiral's Cup in its revived form is like breeding a race-horse capable of winning both The Derby and the Grand National. So it's all to the credit of today's designers, boat construction engineers, builders and crews that an ultra-versatile boat like the Botin 52 Caro was capable of winning the stormy 2023 Fastnet Race overall in considerable style, while supposedly more rugged craft were falling by the wayside.
Out on her own. Chieftain coming in to finish first overall in the 2007 Fastnet Race. After a gale in mid-race, she sailed the second part without electrics, navigating by mobile phones and "very wet charts"
ROYAL CORK YC'S KEY ROLE IN SETTING THE MOOD
It takes some doing to grasp the full significance of the Fastnet Race's Centenary, and the hundred years of the Royal Ocean Racing Club with it.
So fair play to Admiral Annamarie Fegan and the Royal Cork Yacht Club, they put the progression towards the Centenary onto a smooth track for Irish sailors with an epic Fastnet Race/RORC Centenary Dinner in their hyper-hospitable clubhouse in mid-April, when proper honouring of their own Harry Donegan being part of the original race in 1925 could be celebrated, as could the fact that there were sailors present who had raced together in Fastnets as long ago as 1967, and many since.
Winners re-united. Chieftain owner-skipper Ger O'Rourke and crewman Donie Heragthy (curently Commodore Lough Ree YC) get together again at the Centenary Dinner in the Royal Cork YC on April 12th. Photo: Robert Bateman
RACING THROUGH THE STORM OF 1979
As for acknowledging that there was indeed a fatal storm in the 1979 race, it was put into perspective by pointing out that Royal Cork's Donal McClement had won Class IV in that 1979 challenge by continuing to race the UFO 34 Black Arrow, fearlessly pointing her sharp bow straight into the endless succession of huge breaking waves, thereby going through them rather than being overcome and rolled by helplessly lying a-hull.
Jim Donegan, great-grandson of Harry Donegan and an entry in the Centenary Fastnet with the J/109 Jalapeno (left) with Janet Grosvenor, Admiral of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and Donal McClement, winner of Class IV in the storm-wracked 1979 Fastnet Race, at the Royal Cork Fastnet Dinner. Photo: Robert Bateman
OVERALL WINNERS
In Crosshaven in mid-April we could also celebrate overall winners such as Tim Goodbody of Dun Laoghaire, the lead helm of the all-victorious Dubois 40 Irish Independent in 1987, and Ger O'Rourke of Limerick, owner-skipper of the all-conquering Cookson 50 Chieftain in 2007's race.
Tim Goodbody, helm of 1987 Fastnet-winning Irish Independent, and crewman Tom Roche Jnr at the 30th Anniversary celebration of their victory. Tim Goodbody Jnr is racing the 2025 series on board the Botin 56 Black Pearl.
Since then, our most successful boats have come from our Sailing Schools, with class wins for the Sunfast 37 Desert Star skippered by Ronan O Siochru of Irish Offshore Sailing, and the J/109 Jedi skippered by Kenneth Rumball of the Irish National Sailing School. However, this is a mixed blessing, for in today's world of Tasting Menu Living, having won their class in the Fastnet, the paying crews on Desert Star and Jedi might well move on to another challenge in another "danger sport" altogether, and then another one after that.
Making the perfect Fastnet Race start in the summer westerly involves calling port tack rights with precision right in under the RYS battery, and here in 2017 with the J/109 Jedi, Kenneth Rumball of the Irish National Sailing Scholl is doing it with style.
NEW BLOOD
But happily our strong club system has seen new blood coming through, some of whom are determined to campaign their own offshore boats in the fullness of time, and we now have input at several levels from a variety of Irish sailing centres.
SAILOR OF THE YEAR
Current "Sailor of the Year", Figaro 2024 overall winner Tom Dolan of the National YC, is continuing his new direct involvement with the Imoca 60s by doing the race with Jeremy Beyou on the Imoca 60 Charal. The news here is that the great Charlie Dalin may be well enough after recent illness to do the race. He delighted everyone in 2023's initial westerly gale by making his first significant starboard tack, when clear of the Solent, by taking Apivia right across channel, threading his way past multiple islands and rocks until he finally tacked close off the North Brittany coast and then re-crossed the Channel to Land's End to find himself the class leader, and there he stayed. It was beautiful to behold.
Charlie Dalin's IMOCA60 Apivia getting clear of the western Solent in 2023's race. He carried this tack all the way across channel to the north coast of Brittany, then tacked close inshore to France to be first at Land's End.
Also involved in the French offshore scene taking on the Fastnet is Pamela Lee of Greystones with the Class40 Empower. They were frustrated in their first major race of 2025 by having to retire in order to assist another boat in serious difficulties, so this Fastnet has extra edge for the Empower crew.
IRISH SKIPPER FOR RORC'S CLUB YACHT
Noted Natonal YC helm Nicole Hemeryck was most noted in 2024 for her skilled driving of Johnny Treanor's all-conquering J/112e ValenTina, but she's in a very fresh field in 2025 by being nominated to command the RORC's own club yacht, the Sunfast 3600 Griffin, in today's race.
Other boats of Irish interest include the ever-enthusiastic Chris & Patanne Smith of the Royal St George YC with the J/122 Aurelia, Royal Cork YC Admiral Annamarie Fegan and her husband Denis Murphy with their Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo (they made one of the best starts in 2023) and Kinsale's Conor Doyle with the Xp50 Freya, continuing the Fastnet traditions of his legendary uncle Denis Doyle.
RCYC Admiral Annamarie Fegan's Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo makes a perfect port-tack start in the 2023 Fastnet Race.
GREAT-GRANDSON OF FASTNET RACE FOUNDER
Kinsale is also sending forth our hottest two-man team, Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt with the Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl, while another Cork area entrant is somebody who may be unique in the entire fleet, as Jim Donegan with the J/109 Jalapeno is the great-grandson of Fastnet Race founder member Harry Donegan of Gull fame.
Dynamic duo. Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt of Kinsale are taking on the two-handed Fastnet Race challenge with the souped-up Sun Fast 3300 Cinnamon Girl
It would be interesting to find if any other owner-skipper in the Centenary fleet has such a direct connection to the first race, or indeed any connection at all at any level of crewing. But meanwhile Irish interest broadens as we bring in ISORA Fastnet Racers, as they include two Pwllheli boats, the Hall family's Lombard 46 Pata Negra and Vicky Cox & Peter Dunlop's J/122 Mojito.
KEEPING THE FLAG FLYING
A noted skipper who keeps the flag flying for Ireland in the RORC annual programme is Mike O'Donnell with the J/121 Darkwood, and Darkwood is there in the entry list under a non-nonsense Irish tricolour. Also unmistakably from Ireland is Keith Miller's Mills 36 Prime Suspect from Kilmore Quay, while further along the coast, Dunmore East's WHSC is sending forth Robert Marchant's Fulmar 32 Fulmar Fever.
The show goes on. Harry Donegan's Gull well placed in the second Fastnet in 1926, with Jolie brise astern.
EXOTIC HOME PORT
Ryan Wilson's Elixir is also in the Centenary Hunt, while perhaps the most exotic home location of all provides Kenneth Cunnane's Swan 46 Mynx – they give her home club as Tralee Bay SC, but as this handsome craft is found at various times at Foynes, Fenit or Dingle, it may be that TBSC is a compromise attachment, and it's remarkable that a boat which home-ports Dingle is racing the Fastnet.
GET DISNEYLAND ON OUR SIDE
Menwhile, in the heights of the fleet it would be reasonable to suggest that one of the boats that might give Tschuss 2 a hard time is Roy Disney's former Volvo 70 Pyewacket. She set the pace in last year's Bermuda race in very convincing style, and as the Disney association with the Royal Cork is so strong that they race for the Pyewacket Trophy every year, if needs be we can get Pyewacket on side big time.
In addition to the crews on the Royal Irish YC boats in the Admiral's Cup team, we have special interest in Northern Ireland's Ian Moore, navigating the New Zealand AC 2 boat Callisto with world-class skill, and Cian Guilfoyle of Dun Laoghaire is to be found on Caro, as he was for 2023's overall win.
The great win of 1987 with Tim Goodbody as lead helm on Irish Independent is recealled in that Tim Goodbody Jnr is on the Botin 56 Black Pearl in the Admirals Cup. At 56ft, Black Pearl is very much the biggest boat in the fleet, and was maybe showing it by coming first in one race and then finding herself in the crab grass in another.
The 1913-built winner of the first Fastnet Race of 2025, the French pilot cutter Jlie Brise, still sails the sea in the ownership of Dauntsey's School. Photo: Glandore Classic regatta
WEATHER PROSPECTS
It looks as though they'll be getting not too extreme Atlantic weather for this Centenary Fastnet Race, with mostly west to northwest winds. A fear of extensive calms seems to have receded, but at 695 miles with the Cherbourg finish, there's plenty of scope for interesting developments.
