The 42.62 metre long carbon racer covered the 695 nautical miles from Cowes via southern Ireland to Cherbourg in two days, eight hours and 33 minutes. On board "Scorpios" were Dmitry Rybolovlev and his daughter Anna Rybolovleva, who is also the namesake of his 110-metre Feadship. The Russian, who lives in Monaco, only started sailing a few years ago and regularly takes part in ClubSwan regattas. He is the reigning ClubSwan 50 world champion - the owner himself steers in this class - and his daughter sails a ClubSwan 36.
He was also supported in the Rolex Fastnet Race by his Spanish skipper Fernando Echavarri, gold medallist in the Tornado. After crossing the finish line, Dmitry Rybolovlev described his impressions: "We are very happy with the boat, the team was great. We would like to thank the whole team for their great efforts. We tried to sail conservatively, especially with the strong wind at the start, but we are excited to see what the boat can do in future races. Rounding the Fastnet Rock was kind of magical, it felt like a very special moment."
The offshore classic, which is held every two years, began under rough conditions: The 300 boats and yachts had to battle against westerly winds of up to eight Beaufort and steep waves in the English Channel. It was clear from the start that this was not going to be a Fastnet where records would be broken. As expected, "Skorpios" - her closest rival "Rambler 88" measures 15 metres less in length - was also the first monohull to round the Fastnet Rock. The Fastnet organiser, Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), has only been allowing 100-foot-long formats to take to the starting line off Cowes since 2017.
The challenging ocean race has been held since 1925, not always with a favourable outcome. "Rambler 100" sank in 2011 and a devastating storm hit the field in 1979. Jens Kellinghusen's Kerr 56 "Varuna" was the first German ocean-going yacht to arrive in Cherbourg. What the ride of "Skorpios" is worth will become clear after the finish and everyone's calculated times. The Rolex Fastnet Race 2023 is also set to finish off Normandy again instead of Plymouth - a good sign in turbulent European political times.
