The 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race has crossed its defining threshold. The Fastnet Rock is behind the leading boats, and what remains is a complex, breeze-dependent run across the Celtic Sea and English Channel to Cherbourg. For the multihull leaders the tactical battle is already intense, monohull frontrunners are completing their roundings now, and in the Admiral's Cup competition the stakes could hardly be higher. Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand are all still in genuine contention, with triple points awaiting at the finish.
SVR-Lazartigue, skippered by Tom Laperche, was first around the Fastnet Rock at 15:22 BST on Sunday, completing the outward leg in 1 day, 4 hours, and 2 minutes. It was no record-breaking time, but the foiling Ultim trimaran holds a narrow advantage over Banque Populaire and Actual Ultim 4 as the three boats begin their push downwind toward Cherbourg.
Just behind the Ultim trio, MOD70s Zoulou and Argo are locked in a close fight, with Ocean Fifty Inter Invest pressing them hard. These multihull duels have been shaped by wildly inconsistent conditions. SVR-Lazartigue was recording 35 knots under foils shortly after rounding, while Zoulou reported "snakes and ladders" sailing, with speeds dropping below 10 knots in the patchy Celtic Sea air.
Among monohulls, SHK Scallywag currently leads on line honours, with Black Jack 100 and Leopard close behind. Pyewacket 70, Roy Disney's Volvo 70 competing in her final Fastnet, rounded the Rock fourth overall on line honours and is trading tacks with fellow Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 and the 100-footers Scallywag and Black Jack. On corrected time in IRC Zero, Whisper leads, with Imagine and Varuna 7 also prominent in the standings. The JPK and Swan fleets in IRC One and IRC Two remain tightly compressed.
The race began in light southwesterlies off Cowes, with a send-off that included the Princess Royal and the Red Arrows as the Admiral's Cup fleet powered out of the Solent. Monaco's Jolt 3 and Jolt 6 took early command in AC1 and AC2 respectively, while Zen from the CYCA, Beau Geste from the RHKYC, and Caro from the RNZYS tracked closely behind.
Tactical decisions began to diverge almost immediately. Zen committed to the inshore line at Portland Bill and was rewarded with a surge back toward the front of the pack. At Land's End, the majority of the fleet moved to the western side of the Traffic Separation Scheme, but Back 2 Black from the CYCA took the eastern option, a calculated gamble whose outcome is still unfolding. Further offshore, the bigger boats spread out, with Black Pearl going furthest north and Beau Geste pushing well away from the rhumb line.
Across the Celtic Sea the fleet encountered persistently light air. Some navigators elected to track north in search of better pressure and favourable tide, while others held to the direct route. Those choices are now being measured in gains and losses on the return leg. The IMOCA fleet, led by Association Petits Princes-Queguiner, Charal, and Initiatives Coeur, experienced a near-shutdown crossing with winds dropping below 12 knots, requiring constant sail changes to maintain any momentum at all.
The tidal gate at Portland and the intricate weather picture around the Scilly Isles have been the primary arbiters of fortune for the IRC and Admiral's Cup boats. The fast JPK 1180s competing in AC2, including Django, Garm, and Sunrise IV, struggled in the early going but have launched the kind of late charge the class is known for. In AC1 the battle between Jolt 3, Zen, Caro, and Beau Geste is being decided in minutes of corrected time, with nothing settled.
The fleet has largely escaped serious attrition, though Canada Ocean Racing withdrew just before midnight on Sunday after a hydraulic control failure. The IMOCA team, whose primary focus is The Ocean Race Europe, is now making its way to Cherbourg for repairs.
New Zealand's involvement spans both the Admiral's Cup standings and the broader fleet. Caro, sailing for the RNZYS, sits 30th in overall monohull line honours at the halfway point but holds second place in Admiral's Cup Class 1, behind Zen from the CYCA and ahead of Van Uden from Amsterdam. Callisto is 39th in Fastnet line honours and sixth in AC2, with Django, Abracadabra, Garm, Sunrise IV, and Jolt 6 ahead of her. Beau Ideal, which counts Kiwi sailors Nick Egnot-Johnson, Dave Sweet, and Ryan Houston among her crew, is seventh in AC2. Beau Geste, with Bex Gmuer Hornell aboard, holds fifth in AC1.
Everything now hinges on the conditions between here and Cherbourg. The breezes are light and their distribution uneven, meaning the leaderboard in every division remains genuinely open. For the Admiral's Cup contenders, the triple-points finish makes every mile critical. For every other crew, from the professional campaigns to the Corinthian entries, the Rock is behind them but the race is nowhere near over.
