Winner in 2003 but missing from the 2005 race, Alfa Romeo will be aiming both to both win outright and to beat the speed record (53 hours and 8 minutes) when the 608 mile Rolex Fastnet Race gets underway tomorrow.

When the cannon shot is given at the historical home of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes tomorrow, the Rolex Fastnet Race will be underway. This race more than any other has reflected the constant progress and evolution of international yachting, from the craft themselves through to their crew, from design to technology. Top yachtsmen from every corner of the globe have come together for more than 80 years for this unmissable event, one of the world's toughest races. The sophisticated technological developments that have come with the growth of sailing as a sport have taken nothing from the fascination of this event; indeed, if anything, new ingredients and challenges have been brought to the race, with the craft being pushed to higher and higher speeds.

The race is run over a 608-mile coursefrom Cowes, on the Isle of Wight (UK), through the Solent and across the unforgiving Irish Sea, around the legendary Fastnet Rock off the coast of Ireland, and then home along the same route to Plymouth. This is a race which is rightly regarded as one of the most fascinating and challenging events of all, due in part to changeable weather conditions over the course and in part to the potential wind speeds which are often so high as to make sailing manoeuvres over various stretches of this striking course very difficult: this is where equipment, sails, design, crew and the speed of the craft are really put to the test.

A really challenging race is looming this year. The Royal Ocean Racing Club Met Office issued a weather warning yesterday: starting from Tuesday winds of 50 knots could hit 300 yachts due to take part in the Rolex Fastnet Race. Crews are checking all safety equipments to race at the best and without risks. Among the 300 craft entered for the race, maxi yacht Alfa Romeo sailed by New Zealand owner and skipper Neville Crichton will be making her “big come-back”, after missing out on the 2005 event, as the real time winner in 2003, when the first Alfa Romeo notched up a time of 57 hours and 2 minutes, only 3 hours and 52 minutes outside the record set in 1999 and 12 hours and 51 minutes faster than Maximus's 2005 time. As of this year and on the orders of the RORC (Royal Ocean Racing Club), every yacht entered for the race will carry aboard an OC Tracker system which will allow the 300 craft in the race to be monitored with information on position, speed and course.

The prestigious two-yearly Fastnet Challenge Cup will bring together some of the giants of ocean racing, among which Alfa Romeo must surely stand as the “defender” among maxi yachts for the 2007 sailing season, arriving in English waters on the back of wins at Palmavela, the Giraglia Rolex Cup and Palma de Mallorca's Millennium Cup, where she showed herself once again to be the fastest yacht as well as the one to beat.

The 2007 event is bound to be particularly close-fought, thanks both to the presence of  the very fast Leopard 3, and the return of Neville Crichton, owner and skipper of Alfa Romeo: “It's not enough to take part: we want to win, but this year it's going to be very hard. It's a tough and unpredictable race, one of the toughest tests for both yacht and crew. We've made important changes to Alfa Romeo for the 2007 season, including new and bigger sails.
 

"But I don't want to make any predictions because the weather conditions for the Fastnet Race are extremely changeable, even over the course, which is basically what makes the race so hard and fascinating. We're definitely aiming to win and both craft and crew are in perfect shape to compete at the highest level to make this an exciting race. We have three very big challenges ahead of us: to be first across the line in Plymouth, to beat our own time and to set a new record. In 2003 Alfa Romeo was a slower craft but we still only missed the ’99 record by a couple of hours. Now we have more sail area, an innovative canting keel system and a twin forward rudder which allows us to undertake manoeuvres we couldn't have dreamt of previously. Add to this a crew made up of some of the best yachtsmen in the world, and I would say you have all the ingredients, weather conditions allowing, for a great performance over the 608 miles of the Fastnet Race.”

Alfa Romeo will be the only Italian brand name present on the sails of entrants for the most important of international ocean races: carried by the 44 m mast this must surely be one of the most visible logos in the world of sport.98 feet overall (30 metres), Alfa Romeo is also one of the most imposing yachts. New Zealand owner and skipper Neville Crichton will sail this silver-hulled craft with her crew of 24, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, picked from among the very best yachtsmen in the world, with important wins to their names in events such as the America's Cup. To cross the line first Alfa Romeo, built entirely out of carbon fibre, will be counting on the push of her numerous sails, including 314 sq. m. of mainsail, a genoa of 208 sq. m and an asymmetric spinnaker measuring 805 sq. m. once again bearing the largest Alfa Romeo logo ever displayed.

Alfa Romeo: “defender” among maxi yachts in the 2007 European sailing season

After the successes of 2006, Alfa Romeo returns to Europe once again as the boat to beat, the maxi yacht defender. Five regattas are scheduled for Alfa Romeo in 2007 (the Hublot Palmavela; the Giraglia Rolex Cup; the SuperYacht Cup, limited to craft of 30 and over; the Rolex Fastnet Race; and the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup), including some of the most prestigious events on the Mediterranean circuit. Alfa Romeo has already crossed the line ahead of the fleet in four of these and established speed records: the Giraglia Rolex Cup was won in real time in 2003, 2004 and 2006 and Crichton’s maxi yacht still holds the speed record of 22 hours, 13 minutes set in 2003; the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo was won last year, as was the Hublot Palmavela, and the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2003.

Alfa Romeo – Technical details

Skipper: Neville Crichton; Club: Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron; Sail No: NZL 80; Designers: Reichel/Pugh, USA; Builders: McConaghy Boats, Sydney,  Australia; Construction: Carbon fibre hull, steel keel, carbon fibre rudder and mast; Mast: Southern Spars, Auckland, New Zealand; Sails: North Sails, Sydney, Australia; LOA: 30 m (98 ft); Beam: 5.2m (17.3 ft); Draft: 5.2m (17.3 ft); Mast: 44 m.