Fastnet takes its toll

On 18 of the 233 starters in the Rolex Fastnet Race

It was a tough night of racing for the 233 competitors in The Rolex Fastnet Race, with headwinds gusting up to 27 knots at times.

Francis Joyon's 60-foot trimaran Tenez Bon Les Enfants, previously known as Eure et Loire, is leading the fleet round the 608 mile course. Francis Joyon, sailing with double gold and silver Olympic medallist Rodney Pattisson, was due to round Fastnet Rock this afternoon before heading back to Plymouth and the finish. Their battle with nearest rival Emma Richards on the Pindar trimaran was unfortunately brought to an early end when Richards was forced to retire from the race with gear failure.

Although none of the damage sustained by Richards would normally be enough to warrant a retirement, the boat's tight corporate schedule and future race plans provided enough of a reason to pull out. "We snapped the jib halyard twice, running it from a different halyard after the second time. This left us with a little less tension than we would have liked. When everything is repaired we have to head back up to Sweden for Sony corporate days."

Leading the monohulls is Gianni Agnelli's 90-footer Stealth. Slipping past the leading Volvo Ocean 60 Team News Corp shrouded in fog, skippered by Jez Fanstone, the black-hulled maxi went on to pass The Lizard at 1148 this morning. With the current breeze likely to hold at 15knots Stealth has an ETA of 1500 for rounding the Fastnet Rock to head home for Plymouth.

Fanstone's Team News Corporation has pulled out to a five mile advantage over second-placed illbruck Challenge skippered by John Kostecki. Kostecki, having briefly led the four VO60s away from the Royal Yacht Squadron startline, has been left to battle with third-placed Assa Abloy after losing touch with the leader when Fanstone opted for a more inshore route overnight.

The fourth and final VO60 in the race, Team SEB, has now dropped out of touch from the three leaders as they struggle to find pace and height in the lighter breeze. Three miles astern of Stealth, and just through the Volvo fleet ,is Ludde Ingvall's Nicorette.

After spending the first few hours of the race replacing two broken mainsail battens and extinguishing a small junction box fire the team are settled with their sights fixed firmly on winning the race. "We were hard on the wind all night," said journalist/navigator Bob Fisher onboard the Swedish maxi. With the lighter winds the team have been able to sail more freely with a greater sail area, passing the Lizard only 14 minutes after Stealth. The team expect to be bearing away for home by 0400 on Tuesday morning.

A further 30 minutes behind Nicorette, passing The Lizard at 1230, is third-placed Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory, which has been holding a steady 20 minute lead ahead of Mike Slade's Skandia Life Leopard since the early hours of this morning when the two boats passed Start Point.

Alex Bennett's Open 50, Ocean Challenger, formerly Pete Goss's Aqua Quorum, was one of the first of the 17 monohull retirements. The team were forced to pull out of the race due to a broken forestay. It happened at 0830 this morning when the boat was off Start Point. "It just went with a bang," said Bennett. "It is just one of the hazards of racing, when you push the boats occasionally things break. We are going into Dartmouth, where we hope to have a new forestay made so we can take part in the America's Cup Jubillee regatta in Cowes next week."