To start, it was hardly distinguishable from any Round the Island race. Our beat down the Solent among so many Ton Cup series yachts and sailing round the buoys in…
Fastnet Race 1979
In 11 August, 303 yachts left the Solent at the start of the 1979 Fastnet Race, the biggest fleet ever in what at the time was still considered one of the greatest ocean race challenges. They left with a forecast of light to moderate
west-north-westerly winds and no gale warnings.
Just three days later, after an extreme storm had swept the Irish Sea, 15 crew, as well as four from a trimaran shadowing the race and two from a cruising yacht, had died. Only 85 boats finished, 194 retired, 24 boats were abandoned, of which 19 were recovered, still afloat, after the storm. This was, and still is, the greatest disaster in ocean racing history.
From the Yachting World archives…
Fastnet 79: Could sailing’s biggest disaster ever happen again?
Back in 1979, Ted Turner’s Tenacious won the Fastnet Race, with a corrected time of 3 days 8 hours. Over the last 30 years the average speed across the 605-mile…
Fastnet Race 1979: Restored survivor Assent heads back to the Rock
It’s a gloomy, grey afternoon on the Solent and I’m in a camera boat taking pictures of a yacht sailing off Lymington. There’s a light breeze blowing and a moody,…
Fastnet Race 1979: Why was the storm so devastating?
There was nothing in the forecast at the start of the 1979 Fastnet Race to indicate a storm, but a storm came with devastating effect. How and why did it…
Fastnet Race 1979: Life and death decision – Matthew Sheahan’s story
At 0830 Tuesday 14 August 1979, aged 17, five minutes changed my life. Five minutes that, despite the stress of the previous six hours, would encapsulate the most extreme emotional…