On the Fastnet fast lane

235 boats set sail yesterday on the Rolex Fastnet Race

Blustery conditions and low cloud made for a bumpy start to the Rolex Fastnet Race. At 1600 BST the four Volvo Ocean 60s were the first of the 235 boats taking part to head off.

John Kostecki's illbruck Challenge port tacked the start line to lead the four challengers across the Royal Yacht Squadron line in to the tail end of a flooding tide and 20-23 knots of westerly breeze.

Team News Corp, skippered by Jez Fanstone, held the inside line along the Isle of Wight coastline while illbruck Challenge stuck to the central Solent. Shortly after passing Gurnard illbruck was forced to duck the starboard tack News Corporation. Fanstone soon switched to defensive, tacking to cover Kostecki's every move.

At the Needles Team News Corpled illbruck Challengeby 45 seconds. as the two boats cleared the Needles.

Assa Abloy, down from the start having struggled to find a lane clear through her competitors, trailed illbruck Challenge by only seven seconds as she left the Solent. The three VO60s look set to remain locked in battle for the remainder of the race. Gunnar Krantz' SEB, already a spectator of the three way match race, had fallen several minutes behind the leaders after only an hour of racing.

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