Overall winner set for 2023 Fastnet Race

(July 26, 2023) – Max Klink’s Botin 52 Caro has been crowned overall winner of the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race. After being confirmed as winner of IRC Zero yesterday, no other boat still racing on the 695 nautical mile course can catch the Swiss boat for overall honors in the 50th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s offshore classic.

It had been a record setting edition as François Gabart and his team on the 100-foot SVR Lazartigue established a new elapsed time of 1 day 8 hours 38 minutes 27 seconds, breaking the time set by Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Groupe Edmond de Rothschild two years ago by 36 minutes 27 seconds.

Additionally, Charlie Dalin and Pascal Bidegorry on MACIF Santé Prévoyance won monohull line honors, the first time an IMOCA has ever done so. Her elapsed time of 2 days 7 hours 16 minutes 26 seconds also established a new race record to Cherbourg, beating the ClubSwan 125 Skorpios’ 2021 time of 2 days 8 hours 33 minutes 55 seconds, an improvement of 1 hour 17 minutes 29 seconds.

For the overall winner, the fact that the opening 12 hours of the race were so bruising, with winds gusting close to 40 knots and boat-breaking seas off the south coast of England, made victory all the sweeter for Klink and his crew of professional sailors.

“This is a legendary group of sailors who I have been fortunate to sail with for a few years now,” said the Swiss owner, “but when we set out on this race I never expected that we could win. It’s a dream come true, and all the more special that this is the 50th edition of such an iconic race.

“The first 12 hours we were just in survival mode, trying not to break anything, trying to keep the boat at 100 percent. I wasn’t thinking about any title or trophy, it was just about getting through the conditions.”

Klink used to race a 65-footer but is very happy to have taken a step down in the size range, and arguably a step up in the level of competition.

“The 50-footers are so competitive now and the racing is so close,” said Klink, mindful of how close they might have been to suffering a similar fate as Rán 8, former Fastnet winner Niklas Zennström’s CF520 which pulled out of the first race due to structural problems.

“The line [between success and failure], it’s very close. But boats like Caro and Rán are built for the tough conditions. You just have to remember there are times to slow the boat down, not do anything stupid, and that’s where the experience of these guys comes in.

“At one point we just had everyone in the cockpit, no one was hiking. And keeping the boat speed to no more than six knots and trying to just get through this really bad sea state.”

Tactician Adrian Stead, twice a winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race with Zennström and past Rán campaigns, hadn’t competed in the race for 10 years. So the British professional was delighted to have come back with another victory.

Working with young Australian navigator Andy Green, competing in his first Rolex Fastnet Race, the extensive homework Stead had undertaken in researching the nooks and crannies of the Dorset, Devon, and Cornish coastlines more than 20 years earlier for the Admiral’s Cup had come back into play in Caro’s bid to make every second and every inch of the race course count in their favor.

“Things like being in under the Lizard in the back-eddy that might save you five minutes further up the track, we worked hard on those details,” said Stead, who paid tribute to Green’s ability to master the tricky race course at his first attempt. “Andy did great work around the course, particularly through the big current on the final run into the finish.

“Also I think the practice run we did on the Wednesday (July 19) before the race, out in the Solent in 25 knots of breeze, that was a useful preparation for everyone on the team to get our heads in the game. Practicing the starting, and then a full circuit of the Isle of Wight, a good seven-hour shakedown for all of us and the boat.

“We had all our rivals under control out of the start and it’s always good for the team spirit when you’re leading out of the Solent. But then we lost the wand off the top of the mast in the Portland tidal race and we lost all our wind instruments, so we were running blind.”

Then, when the bowman went up the rig to replace the wand, he discovered the cable had been mashed due to the earlier breakage, so the crew had to complete the rest of the race sailing by the seat of their pants, without critical instruments and mostly data-free. However, Stead admits they had the dream run back from the Isles of Scilly.

“We pretty much straightlined it all the way and we realized we had a very good shot at winning IRC Zero so pulled out all the stops, got out some extra chocolate bars and had everyone hiking hard on the rail for the last few hours into the finish. We were fortunate how the weather worked out for us, but I think we did a great job of preparation and keeping ourselves in the game for as long as possible and we are so pleased how it all paid off.”

The winning crew on Caro are: William Parker, Wade Morgan, Ryan Godfrey, Justin Ferris, Jono Swain, James Paterson, Harry Hall, Cian Guilfoyle, Andrew McCorquodale, Andy Green, Adrian Stead, and owner Max Klink.

Event information – Results – Tracking – Facebook

A record-sized fleet of 430 yachts got underway for the 50th edition of Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Rolex Fastnet Race from Cowes on July 22, 2023. For a second consecutive occasion, the course departed from the UK but has a French finish in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin via a 695 nautical mile course via the Fastnet Rock.