The Fastnet Race is one of amateur yachting’s greatest challenges. Always daring. Always demanding. Always dangerous. Yet nothing prepared crews and rescuers for the historic storm of 13 August 1979.

And now the Shipping Forecast ...

1.55pm: ‘Sole, Lundy, Fastnet – south-westerly 4 to 6, increasing 6 or 7 for a time, veering westerly later. Occasional rain or showers. Moderate, locally poor, becoming good later.’
The morning of 13 August dawned fair with smooth seas. Even the Shipping Forecast gave little indication of what was to come.

Unknown to the fleet of 303 yachts hurtling furiously toward Fastnet Rock, a mesoscale surface jet of hurricane speed was racing to meet them.

Data from the storm of 1979 reveals that an extraordinary event occurred. As the weather system ‘low Y’ passed over the Western Approaches, a column of cold air crashed down from the stratosphere, splitting it into many smaller systems and turbocharging the wind.

Radio silence

4.05pm: ‘Sole, Fastnet, Shannon – south-westerly gale force 8 imminent.’
Few competitors were listening to BBC Radio 4 at 4pm when the first gale warning was broadcast and only 8% reported becoming aware of the severity of the storm between 2pm and 4pm.

6.30pm: ‘Finisterre, Sole, Fastnet – south-westerly gale force 8, increasing severe gale force 9 imminent.’ 11pm: ‘Fastnet – south-westerly severe gales force 9, increasing storm force 10 imminent.’

Surmising the tragedy in his Yachting World article published later that year, Alan Watts wrote: ‘This time the boats did not have a chance. No amount of seamanship would have prevented many of those which rolled, or were knocked down repeatedly, from succumbing to their fate. The cruel sea saw to that.’

Only 86 of over 300 starting boats finished. There were 194 retirements and 25 yachts were sunk or otherwise disabled and abandoned, with 75 turned upside down in the crashing waves. Five boats were ‘lost, believed sunk’ and 15 sailors drowned.

Courage was by no means limited to the sailors. Thirteen RNLI lifeboats went out into that storm, served nearly 170 hours, and towed or escorted 18 yachts with more than 100 people back to safe haven.