Caffari among Fastnet casualties

LONDON, England -- Gale force winds and huge seas have forced more than half the Fastnet Race fleet to retire to port, the organizers of the British event said on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman said that 149 of the 271 yachts which started the race have quit, but organizers insisted there was no chance the competition would be abandoned.

A notable retirement was record-breaking yachtswoman Dee Caffari, who suffered damage to the bottom of her mainsail onboard her 60ft boat Aviva.

Caffari, who became the first woman to sail non-stop and single handed around the world against the winds and currents last year, had Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent onboard, along with veteran sailor Mike Broughton.

This was Pinsent's first offshore race and spending a night in up to 38 knots of wind has shown the Olympian how tough offshore racing can be.

Caffari said: "It was a very dark night with visibility down to half a mile and the 38 knots of wind created huge holes in the sea that the boat slammed into time and time again.

"The fact that half the fleet have pulled out and that even Mike, a veteran of 13 Fastnet races, was finding this race tough, is testament to the severity of the conditions."

The start of the bi-annual 608-mile race from the Isle of Wight to the Fastnet Rock off southern Ireland and back to Plymouth had been delayed for 24 hours because of a bad weather.

It finally got under way on Monday from Cowes but 38-knot winds and short, steep seas close inshore have taken their toll on the fleet.

The weather conditions are echoing those of the tragic 1979 race which cost the lives of 15 sailors and saw dozens of boats damaged.

Organizers have been very aware of the dangers since then and so far there have been no major incidents.

A race spokesman said: "Boats have been streaming into Plymouth, the race finish, and other ports along the Devon and Cornwall coastline after they elected or were forced to retire and head for shelter.

"For some boats it was not so much the wind but the accompanying sea state that was proving exhausting for the crews."

Racing manager Janet Grosvenor said: "The boats are doing exactly what we expected given the conditions. They are going safely into nearby ports and the race office is in contact with local coastguards to monitor the boats and situation."

Conditions have tested sailors to the limit and one 36-year-old crew member is in hospital with a broken leg after the Salcombe lifeboat in Devon was launched to assist him to safety.

The leaders are due in Plymouth on Thursday. E-mail to a friend