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The Fastnet Race - that doesn't look too bad! Setting the scene   Emma is a cruising boat,   twenty glorious tonnes of gleaming aluminium with all the creature comforts - air-conditioning, microwave, freezer - that one would expect on well-appointed cruising yacht. She was loaded up with a tonne of spares, lots of warm clothes, cockpit cushions, cosy bedding and a galley filled to the gunwales with tasty food. VERY few race boats would choose to compete this heavy.   Emma's sail wardrobe consists of a main, a furling headsail, a furling staysail, an asymmetrical spinnaker and the mandatory storm sails. This is quite a lean selection, and a slight disadvantage, compared to other competitors who race with far more sail options. For the non-racing sailors, furling sails do not allow trimming the sail to an optimum shape - they are designed for ease and convenience.  The relatively sparse selection of sails would cause most racing aficionados to shake thei...

Woo hoo, we qualified!  And now the work begins to be ready for the start of The Fastnet Race! Wow, we are racing The Fastnet. So, what's the big deal?? The Fastnet Race is one of the legendary ocean races along with The Sydney to Hobart and the Newport-Bermuda Race.  It has been running every two years since 1925 and is just under 700nm.  The 1979 Fastnet Race has gone down in history as a disaster that resulted in major changes to how the race is run and how its risks are managed.  Eighteen people died, 75 boats capsized and five sank. This, and the learnings from the disastrous 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race, is the reason for the strict qualifying criteria we had to meet.  This is not a race for the faint-hearted! A very calm English Channel! In calm conditions, we sailed (well, motored really) back across the English Channel to Cherbourg. In our absence, things had really ramped up.  A tent village of bars, restaurants, vendors and stages had popped ...