(Reuters) -SVR Lazartigue surged to line honours in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race on Monday, the sleek blue trimaran slicing through the darkness to become the first of a record-breaking 444-strong fleet to reach Cherbourg, France.
Skippered by 28-year-old Tom Laperche and packed with ocean-racing royalty — Franck Cammas, Peter Burling and Amelie Grassi among them — the 32-metre foiling Ultim completed the 695-nautical mile course in one day, 17 hours and 18 minutes. That was short of her own record of one day, 8 hours, 38 minutes from 2023, but still more than enough to comfortably seal victory.
In offshore racing, line honours go to the first boat to finish the course — typically the fastest, most technologically advanced yacht in the fleet. But the overall winner of the Fastnet Race is awarded the Fastnet Challenge Cup, based on corrected time under the International Rating Certificate (IRC) handicap system.
The IRC system levels the playing field across different boat sizes and designs, meaning a well-sailed 12-metre yacht can beat a 30-metre racing machine once handicaps are applied.
SVR Lazartigue crossed the line just before 0538 CET (0338 GMT) on Monday, more than 50 minutes ahead of Banque Populaire.
Actual Ultim 4 came home third among the Ultim class, nearly three and a half hours behind the winner.
With two Ultims still racing and the bulk of the monohull fleet spread across the Channel, the battle again showcased the blistering speed and cutting-edge design of offshore trimarans.
Monohull line honours, awarded to the first monohull to finish regardless of rating, are still to be decided.
The Rolex Fastnet Race has tested sailors’ skill and endurance for a century.
First held in 1925 with seven boats, the biennial contest now draws hundreds of yachts from around the globe, setting off from Cowes on England’s Isle of Wight and tracing a 695-nautical mile course around the famous Fastnet Rock off Ireland’s south coast before finishing in Cherbourg.
(Reporting by Ossian Shine, editing by Ed Osmond)
