Around the ragged rock

Peter Bentley went to the Bishop Rock by RIB to watch the Volvo fleet go round on the Rolex Fastnet Race

Watching the four Volvo Ocean 60s rounding the Bishop Rock it seemed as if each had found their natural place in the rankings based on the efficiency of the crews.
First around was illbruck Challenge. Powering down the Irish Sea in a long rolling swell towards the desolate granite outcrop at the very end of England, the crew looked relaxed atop the huge stack of sails on the weather deck. Looking alternately ahead at the impressive stone lighthouse ahead and News Corp behind, navigator, Juan Vila made the one mistake of the leg, calling a slight overstand in to the rock.

Working with the efficiency of a finely oiled machine, the crew seemed to have the 'stack' down to the leeward side with almost effortless ease. With hands spinning and drums whirring, the cockpit team reeled in the furling line on the code zero and as the clew rolled in, John Kostecki put the helm down. No sooner was the bow through the wind than the code zero exploded back out from the furler only to be sheeted in and send the big green boat on her way. Their job done on the handles, the 'stack' was rebuilt just as the water started to spurt out of the ballast tank vents.

Not far behind came Team NewsCorp. Focussed and pressing hard, Jez Fanstone and his crew judged the layline to perfection. The stack was moved and the code zero tacked. Not perhaps with the same precision as illbruck but without drama or delay. Hoisting the already prepared staysail almost as the lighthouse was passed, News Corp began the long slog to grind down illbruck

Some 30 minutes later looming out of the slowly rolling fog bank came Assa Abloy. With an equally big stack as illbruck, they too were powering down on the end of England as if they meant business. Peering out from behind the mountain of sails, navigator, Mark Rudiger could be seen endlessly looking at his on-deck computer timing the tack to the rock and the tactics on the way out. More code zero action and a well-timed tack saw them on their way

And finally some distance back, out of the fog, siloutted in the now setting sun came the distinctive green sails of SEB. Racing at the back of the fleet is always tough and SEB looked to have set themselves the task of proving the point. While the other three boats all laid the Bishop Rock in one, the slowly backing breeze saw a rapid change to a code one headsail and three tacks in the last two miles. The rich it seems were destined once again to get richer.