Ellen will not race Fastnet

RORC enforce 60ft maximum length limit for multihulls

The Royal Ocean Racing Club, organisers of the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race starting on Sunday 7 August from Cowes, UK, have decided to enforce a 60ft maximum length for multihull entries in this classic race, even though monohulls up to 100 feet are competing in the race.

As such, the 75ft trimaran B&Q/Castorama skippered by Ellen MacArthur will be denied the opportunity to race and more importantly denied the chance to put the trimaran through her final paces under race conditions before MacArthur's planned solo transatlantic record attempt this coming September.

"Whilst we respect the final decision of the RORC, we are very disappointed of course. B&Q, designed as she is for short-handed long distance ocean passages, is slower than both the privately-owned maxi-monohulls as well as the smaller 60ft grand prix trimarans, both who are allowed to enter, so it's hard for us to accept the logic used in denying Ellen a chance to race," commented Mark Turner from the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team.

Ellen competed in the race in 1999 on a 60ft trimaran, ex- Primagaz. The trimaran B&Q/Castorama will now go direct to New York departing on Monday, 8 August. MacArthur plans to go on standby from the begining of September through to the end of October - giving a two month window to wait for the best weather system to propel B&Q/Castorama across the North Atlantic in record time. The 11-year-old solo transatlantic record was smashed by Francis Joyon who set a new time of 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds in July this year.

"We have changed our plans accordingly but both myself and the crew were really looking forward to the Fastnet. It was our chance to push her hard in a race environment and to test some of our modifications and systems on board," said MacArthur. "We are hoping the RORC may revise their position for the next Fastnet race in 2007 but we will have to wait and see."