Sunday 9 August 2009 Team Pindar embarks on historic Rolex Fastnet Race
Team Pindar today joined a 300 strong fleet on the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, to commence the prestigious 608-mile Rolex Fastnet Race. The powerful Pindar Open 60, making its final appearance before being sold, is being skippered by former ISAF World Sailor of the Year and TEAMORIGIN Team Director, Mike Sanderson.
In a spectacular display, the Open 60 class crossed the start line at 12.00 BST with 10 knots from the east propelling the fleet westwards down the Solent. Team Pindar started well, leading at the 14.30 GMT position report. The Open 60s were followed by the small IRC classes, the Class 40, the bigger yachts and finally the multihulls, as they embarked on the race that will take them from Cowes, around the Fastnet Rock off the coast of Ireland and back to the finish line in Plymouth.
Mike and his Team Pindar crew join a competitive fleet in the Open 60 class, including 2004-5 Vendee Globe winner Vincent Riou onboard Akena Verandas and Seb Josse onboard BT IMOCA 60, who together won the class in the 2007 Rolex Fastnet onboard PRB. Sam Davies, who was fourth in the 2008-09 Vendee Globe, is onboard Artemis Ocean Racing and Dee Caffari, the first woman to sail around the world singlehanded non-stop in both directions, is skippering Aviva, along with navigator Brian Thompson, who sailed the Pindar Open 60 to fifth place in this year’s Vendee Globe.
Speaking ahead of the start, skipper Mike Sanderson commented, ‘It should be an exciting and tactical final race for Team Pindar and we are excited about competing against a world class line-up in the Open 60 class. It has been a busy week for Team Pindar, but preparations for the race have gone well and our second place in the Artemis Challenge earlier this week was an encouraging result in light winds.'’
Mike, who was instrumental in the design and build of the Juan Kouyoumdjian Pindar Open 60, is joined onboard by experienced offshore sailors Nick Bice, Phil Harmer and navigator Simon Fisher along with 5 other members of the crew.
The biennial Rolex Fastnet Race has been an established offshore sailing event for over eighty years. Founded in 1925, the race is so popular that organisers, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, have enforced an entry limit of 300 boats. The race is a test of strategy and skill with challenging tidal currents and changeable weather.
The race record is held by Icap Leopard 3, who in 2007 set a time of 44 hours 18 min, taking almost 9 hours off the previous record in 1999.
To follow the race via the live race-tracker, please visit: www.teampindar.com -ends-
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