The 2014 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, started on August 11 after it was postponed to let the remnants of Hurricane Berth pass by the UK
All 28 yachts are now heading east along the Solent having now started the 1800 mile race around Britain and Ireland. A large crowd of spectators outside the Royal Yacht Squadron saw the fleet away. In bright sunshine, with a stiff southwesterly wind and a significant positive tide, it was a magnificent start with yachts flying through the surf under spinnakers.
At 1130 BST, all of the fleet are now past Selsey Bill, experiencing over 30 knots of breeze as they reach at top speed along the south coast of England. , skippered by Sidney Gavignet, has averaged 30 knots of boat speed since the start. If the MOD70 keeps that up the team will finish the course in two and a half days, smashing the course record.
“We could be very close to the record but I am not sure at this stage that we will break it,” commented Sidney Gavignet. “The computer says we can, but the reality is that the sea state will probably slow us down a bit – and we will still have 40 knots overnight, so for this we don’t want to rush as the quicker we go the more wind we will have.”