Sailing-French trimaran takes line honours in 100th anniversary Fastnet Race
Skippered by 28-year-old Tom Laperche and packed with ocean-racing royalty — Franck Cammas, Peter Burling and Amelie Grassi among them — the 32-metre foiling Ultim completed the 695-nautical mile course in one day, 17 hours and 18 minutes. That was short of her own record of one day, 8 hours, 38 minutes from 2023, but still more than enough to comfortably seal victory.
In offshore racing, line honours go to the first boat to finish the course — typically the fastest, most technologically advanced yacht in the fleet. But the overall winner of the Fastnet Race is awarded the Fastnet Challenge Cup, based on corrected time under the International Rating Certificate (IRC) handicap system.
The IRC system levels the playing field across different boat sizes and designs, meaning a well-sailed 12-metre yacht can beat a 30-metre racing machine once handicaps are applied.
SVR Lazartigue crossed the line just before 0538 CET (0338 GMT) on Monday, more than 50 minutes ahead of Banque Populaire.
Actual Ultim 4 came home third among the Ultim class, nearly three and a half hours behind the winner.
With two Ultims still racing and the bulk of the monohull fleet spread across the Channel, the battle again showcased the blistering speed and cutting-edge design of offshore trimarans.
Monohull line honours, awarded to the first monohull to finish regardless of rating, are still to be decided.
The Rolex Fastnet Race has tested sailors' skill and endurance for a century.
First held in 1925 with seven boats, the biennial contest now draws hundreds of yachts from around the globe, setting off from Cowes on England's Isle of Wight and tracing a 695-nautical mile course around the famous Fastnet Rock off Ireland's south coast before finishing in Cherbourg.
(Reporting by Ossian Shine, editing by Ed Osmond)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 minutes ago
- The Star
Swimming-Final day haul lifts Russia's neutral athletes to fifth at world championships
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Men 50m Backstroke Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - August 3, 2025 Gold medallist Neutral Athletes B's Kliment Kolesnikov celebrates on the podium REUTERS/Hollie Adams (Reuters) -Kliment Kolesnikov's gold in the men's 50m backstroke and a victory in the men's 4x100 medley relay on Sunday saw Russia's neutral athletes take fifth place in the medals tally on their return to the swimming world championships in Singapore. The Russian Olympic Committee was banned for violating the Olympic Charter in relation to Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but sports such as swimming have gradually welcomed more Russians back into the fold as neutrals. Some Russian athletes also competed as neutrals at last year's Paris Olympics, with California-based Evgenii Somov the only swimmer to do so. Kolesnikov, the world record holder in the 50 backstroke, was competing in his first long course world championships since the 2019 edition held in Gwangju, South Korea. No Russian athletes competed at last year's world championships in Doha. "It's been a tough (time) since my first world championships," Kolesnikov said. The 25-year-old stormed to the 50 backstroke title ahead of compatriot Pavel Samusenko and South African Pieter Coetze with a time of 23.68, just 0.13 off his world record. He was annoyed at not bettering the record, saying: "I was expecting my timing 23.9, or 23.8, and then you realise that you did 23.68 or something? "I was like 'come on, 12 thousandths of a second to my personal best', and it was like why couldn't I go faster?" Russian swimmers then combined to win a shock gold in the men's 4x100 medley in the penultimate event of the championships, giving the world record (3:26.78) a huge shake with a time of 3:26.93. "This win particularly means a step forward towards our goal, towards 2028 (Los Angeles Olympics) and this is another milestone," swimmer Andrei Minakov said. "We're happy to win. Unfortunately we missed the world record by just a tiny bit but, you know, I'm happy with our group and where we're at. I'm sure that we'll grow." Earlier this week, Dmitry Mazepin, President of the Russian Aquatic Sports Federation and Vice President of the ROC, told Reuters he hoped that Russian swimmers' participation in the world championships would pave the way towards ending the country's sporting neutrality. (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
United States set world record in women's 4x100 medley relay
LONDON: The United States set the world record in the women's 4x100 metres medley relay at the world championships in Singapore on Sunday. Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske's time of 3:49.34 eclipsed the previous mark of 3:49.63 set by the U.S. team at the Paris Olympics last year.--REUTERS
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Rallying-Rovanpera wins in Finland as Toyota sweep top five
(Reuters) -Kalle Rovanpera won his home Rally Finland in record time on Sunday as Toyota swept the top five places and Elfyn Evans went top of the overall standings. The rally was the fastest in world championship history, with Rovanpera winning for the first time in Finland at an average speed of 129.95kph over the four days and beating teammate Takamoto Katsuta by 39.2 seconds. Sebastien Ogier completed the podium, ahead of Evans and Finland's Sami Pajari. Double world champion Rovanpera is now second overall, just three points behind Evans, and back in title contention after nine of 14 rounds. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Clare Fallon)
