Top Tales from a tough Fastnet Race

Our third feature on the Rolex Fastnet Race takes a look at some of the top (and my favourite) stories from the spectacular and gruelling 50th edition.
This was a race that started with the fleet in survival mode for the first 12-24 hours. After that, things settled down...for a while....before the next front came sweeping through.
By then, the big guns had finished their sandwiches after one night at sea and were heading to the finish line in Cherbourg to set a new course record. For many of the rest of the fleet that had battled through the horrendous conditions at the start there was more to come....
This was an edition of the race that will be talked about for some time to come and one that delivered plenty of stories. Here are a few of our favourites.
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[@snowbelton3253]

Ellie is a superstar. She is modest, confident and articulate and she will go a long way in sailing. Congratulations to her and her Father.

[@harbourdogNL]

This young woman impresses me more and more with every sentence, and then at 27:08 she says she was helming for SIX HOURS!!! In seas like that! Wow. She's brilliant, and someone to keep an eye on, she is going to have a brilliant future on the water.

[@markusvanryan7394]

Ellie is a star. She spoke so well and very very engaging.

[@rcpmac]

Excellent rece and excellent coverage by PlanetSail. Thank you

[@pourquoiunidentifiantdabord]

I was on this race and I can tell you that Ellie’s performance is not only on KZbin. She’s been through very tough conditions and her calm and analytical style is just amazing. Huge congrats from Miss Leading (my boat) to Chili Pepper, dad and daughter. A fantastic performance and the eve of a super lady (I am not talking only of sailing, it goes far beyond).

[@davidnichols147]

Ellie is marvelous, such a huge win for both her and Jim. Truly magnificent episode.

[@maxsothcott4484]

Excellent piece thank you! As I was watching this, Maluku finished as 1st IRC 4B in 6 days, 3 hrs, 40 mins and 47 secs! What a week of sailing!!

[@KenDavies-qv3fs]

Great race and super reporting.

[@davesavell7054]

been sailing for 30 years and feel like a beginner when I watch these sailors ! Cheers to the Sea

[@corvavw6447]

Zeilen leer je in een dag ( als je oplet)wedstrijd zeilen is een totaal ander verhaal .materiaal ,steeds het nieuwste dat kost bakken met geld.maar ga je niet mee dan win je ook niet.heeft voor mij geen sportieve waarde.

[@RobertFullStop]

What a race and what an incredible team dad and daughter make...so inspiring and beautiful.

[@danknox9986]

Enjoyed that interview. Wonderful young lady!

[@lowellthomas446]

One of the best mode of interview Ash'ent Mariner has ever Sea'n 😀

[@stefanschneider3681]

Great stuff, again BEAUTIFUL footage, I wonder where you find it all! And again I like to congratulate on your style of interviewing, so calm, interested and well prepared. Thanks!

[@paulcoverdale8312]

Great job everyone from all of us at Lymington Sailability.❤❤❤❤❤

[@stevenlarratt3638]

I sail solo from plymouth and it takes me 3 days to go 120 miles to the scilies comfortably...

[@christopherlynch4347]

cool interview in the second half

[@romainperrot9984]

Thanks !

[@stephenboyd1772]

Ellie is a superstar in a boat and thriving doing her MEng degree in Ship Science at the University of Southampton too. Charlie Dalin, also interviewed about his winning IMOCA race, also studied Ship Science. Mixing pleasure with profession! Go hard or go home 💪 #ShipScience

[@Yeaitstemp]

Got to be hard for him to cover the fastnet remember he lost his father in 79 fastnet

[@rickpyne]

congratulations Ellie and your Dad. Glad to see more girls on the water

[@1240enzo]

How about the classic ocean racing ketch Kialoa 11, having come all the way from Australia to race in this year’s race and finished, now that’s worth discussing and highlighting in such a report. Let alone how many production Sunfast yachts failed.

[@joeblow1942]

This is such a great channel!

[@kevinoshea9125]

Smart young lady! Impressive

[@tomgruitt6563]

Super!

[@martineyer5336]

I have to say the imocas are such a crazy looking monohull’s. Not sure if I like them or hate them. 😂 class 40 is the class for me. ❤

[@WojciechP915]

I want to sail in this one day.

[@hexsailing49]

Well done you smashed it .imp

[@SuperMcgenius]

Ditching the jib, smart move. Well done.👍

[@tuberjr]

jibs are rubbish.....i never use them

[@scomo532]

Zero comparison to the ‘79 Fastnet, now that was A RACE! Many didn’t finish because they died

[@corvavw6447]

Lekker het water op,wat zeilen na al dat gesleuteld aan die bootjes😂.

[@marklchapman2785]

How long does it take to drag this guy out of the hotel so that he can do a little speech from the promenade seriously?

[@marklchapman2785]

Happened next? You drop the ball And we saw nothing

[@jonstivers]

Just my two cents: I don't like hard rock music over sailing. Further, sailers are terrible at picking music, so they should just give up. Hard rock is not what heavy weather sailing sounds like, at least in my book. Thank God for mute. I am interested in the video, thank you.

[@MrRugbylane]

Agreed. Gotta be Beethoven. Or Rachmanimoff !

[@stevenlarratt3638]

Enya for me

[@Gottenhimfella]

Why does there have to be music at all?

[@brianboys9015]

excellent coverage

[@blueshark928]

All those IMOCA's. Nice. WIll that bode to having more than 5 entries in the next Ocean Race?

[@weatheranddarkness]

The top six IMOCAs beat Scorpios' record time from the previous edition!

[@sliekerstar]

Great interview!

[@thomaselliott573]

You really milked that last interview