Rolex Fastnet Race - Intense competition predicted in IRC Three
by Rupert Holmes / RORC 12 Jul 02:12 AEST
26 July 2025
Andrew Tseng's classic Nicholson 55, Quailo III battles the brutal conditions at the start of the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race © Paul Wyeth
IRC Three may consist of smaller, slower and in some cases older boats than those that will garner headlines in the first couple of days of the Rolex Fastnet Race.
However, it's always an intensely competitive class and has produced the overall winner of two of the last six editions.
This year an impressive 93 boats, across 29 different yacht designs, many of them racing two handed, are entered in the class. The fleet ranges from small offshore raceboats, including the Dehler 30 and Sun Fast 30 one designs, through Sun Fasts, J Boats and JPKs, up to past RORC commodore Steven Anderson's 50ft cutter Gemervescence and Andrew Tseng's classic Nicholson 55, Quailo III.
Picking out potential class winners at this stage is an almost impossible task. Competition so far this year in IRC Three has been exceptionally close, with 12 boats from four different countries scoring top-four places in the first five races of this year's RORC domestic series. At the same time, Gautier Normand Archambault A35 Locmalo that took fifth place in IRC Three in 2023, is the only top five finisher in this class from the last edition of the race to return this year (with the exception of Cora, which is racing in IRC Four this year).
An example of the many challenges competitors face in the Rolex Fastnet Race is that in the last edition Quailo III's liferaft inflated unexpectedly in strong winds not long after the start, forcing her retirement. Owner Andrew Tseng, who also serves as a RORC Rear Commodore, says "the boat was fine, but with no liferaft we couldn't continue."
At the other end of the spectrum Mzungu!, the JPK1080 sailed double-handed by Sam White and Sam North, has long been a fixture at the head of this class, with a string of podium results in RORC races. In the last edition of Fastnet they were second in the two-handed division at the Fastnet Rock, before becoming becalmed for five frustrating hours and slipping down the standings.
White, an airline pilot and property developer, will be racing his seventh Fastnet, while North will be competing in his fourth, representing a wealth of offshore experience for a two-handed team. To exorcise the demons of 2023, White says "we'll be looking for podium places in class and double-handed, plus more if conditions go our way." He emphasises that "tidal strategy - particularly for the Cornish coast, Isles of Scilly, and the final 50 miles will be key. The strength of the Fastnet is the depth of competition and every single place is hard fought."
Gérard Quenot and Luc Fourichon will be competing in their fifth Fastnet race together on the La Rochelle based JPK 1030 Blue Skies, one of 16 boats of this design entered. The pair first teamed up to win the 2011-12 Transquadra trans-Atlantic race and are both well known on the French sailing scene. Fourichon was president of the famed Les Glénans sea school, while Quenot was recently elected president of La Rochelle Nautique.
Following a class victory in the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race, they finished the brutal 2023 edition unscathed but "it was not so pleasant," Fourichon says, and they're hoping for milder conditions this time. He particularly enjoys the spectacle of the fleet passing the Needles: "it's a beautiful vision with all those quite different boats together," and counts "playing along the English shore" and choosing "the right time to switch to an offshore mode" among his favourite strategic moments.
Noël Racine is sure to be another formidable competitor and is racing his JPK 1030 Foggy Dew in his 10th Fastnet. Racine has been one of the most consistently successful competitors for at least the past decade and a half, twice winning his class and taking second overall in 2013. None of his crew of four are professional sailors, and three are retired, but collectively they have huge experience, including the Whitbread round the world race and America's Cup training.
Bellino, one of 16 Sun Fast 3600s entered, has been long campaigned two handed by Rob Cragie and RORC Commodore Deb Fish and won last year's overall RORC season's points championship. They are currently leading IRC Three in this season's points championship, ahead of a trio of Sun Fast 3300s that are also entered in the Fastnet: Simon Toms' Zephyr, Simon Bamford's Kestrel and Dan Fellows' Orbit.
However, Bellino has switched to a four-person roster this season, adding two very experienced Australian sailors for the Rolex Fastnet Race. Mark Hipgrave tackled the super-tough 2017 OSTAR single-handed trans-Atlantic in his own Sun Fast 3600, Mister Lucky, before taking the boat home. He then competed in the 5,500 mile Melbourne to Osaka race with Rohan Wood as co-skipper, who will also be on board for the RFR, finishing fifth overall.
Nick Martin is racing his well travelled and successful Sun Fast 3600 Diablo double-handed with former adversary Jim Driver, who raced for four seasons double-handed with his daughter Ellie, before she moved on to the Figaro 3 class in France. Martin and Driver have decades of shared experience in RORC racing, including 10 Fastnets, multiple Sydney-Hobarts, five Middle Sea Races, and a victory in the 2012 Round Ireland race.
The Sun Fast 3600 Griffin is owned by RORC and sailed by a team of young members aged 18 to 30 who are participating in the heavily subsidised Griffin Youth Program, with Nicole Hemeryck as skipper.
Sovereign - Sail Navy is also a Sun Fast 3600 and is skippered by Fiona Cook with a seven-strong crew of full time and reserve Sailors and Marines. Many have competed in previous Rolex Fastnet Races, however growing new sailors is also a key goal for the programme, which recognises competitive sailing as "an ideal vehicle for improving personal skills and military efficiency."
Similarly, the British Army's Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier is also a regular on the RORC circuit and has competed in the past two editions of the RFR, as well as the 2022 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland race and will be skippered by Philip Caswell.
Cap Regatta's charter fleet of Sun Fast 30 One Designs have all been fitted with new rudders ahead of this year's Fastnet, which will allow them to be pushed harder downwind in boisterous condition. Recently in training, for instance, last year's double-handed world championship winners, Maggie Adamson and Calanach Finlayson (Solan Ocean Racing), hit speeds of up to 19.4 knots.
Alwena for Pure Ocean, represents the Massilia Sailing Academy's mission to make offshore racing more accessible. The young team of Charles Hénon and Clara Bayol only began racing together in September 2024. As Hénon explains, "our biggest challenge will probably be the weather routing, especially considering the currents and rocky obstacles along the coast." Their goals include qualifying for September 2025's Double Handed Offshore World Championship in Cowes.
Karavel, a French JPK 1080, returns for her second Fastnet after a strong debut with a third in class in 2023. Owner Frédéric Nouel is backed by a Corinthian crew and aims "to be in the top 10 in our class" and is "looking forward to a fantastic race, after three marvellous days in Cowes." Past victories include the 2023 ArMen Race and the 2024 French IRC 2 championship.
Old Mother Gun, a distinctive and well-known custom Humphreys 40 from 1989, aims to "be the first wooden boat and in the top third of our class," says skipper Tim Penfold. "The most challenging part will be to make sure we finish with the boat and crew in one piece! "The History of the race means this 100-year anniversary edition is going to be very special and the highlights will be crossing the Celtic Sea and rounding the Rock" he adds. Tim Penfold.
Another vintage icon is Hiroshi Nakajima's timeless 49ft aluminium Sparkman & Stephens sloop Hiro Maru. Originally named Scaramouche, she has storied legacy, including a class win in the 1972 SORC and 1977 Transpac, plus a class win and second overall in the 2019 West-East Transatlantic Race (IRC-3). Few boats can claim victories 42 years apart in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans!
Event website: rolexfastnetrace.com
IRC Three entry list