Much gin may have been spilled last December when the Royal Ocean Racing Club announced that the finish of its flagship event, the Rolex Fastnet Race, was moving from Plymouth, its home for the last 95 years, across the Channel to Cherbourg.
However, the best part of a year on, even the staunchest traditionalists are warming to the new finish venue and its benefits, such as actually being able to get a free berth alongside until the prizegiving, the potential for fine dining and the public interest that only yacht races taking in la Belle France seem able to create, especially when the fleet gets to moor in the heart of one of the country’s most historic ports. Read on.
