AGE OLD speed and time records were given a sound thrashing in the 1999 Fastnet Race with credit going to the weather and the remarkable advances made in yacht racing technology.

Kingfisher's Ellen Macarthur became the first British helm to finish, though she failed to break the multi-hull record coming in eight hours after the French maxi-trimaran Fujicolour who knocked an incredible four hours off the Fastnet time record, achieving an average speed of 15 knots.

The mono-hulls also created history with Frenchwoman Catherine Chabaud - solo round-the-world racer in the Vendee Globe - the winner on corrected time in her Open 60 Whirlpool Europe 2.

Despite her success, Ross Field, in RF yachting - one of the Adecco World Championship 80-footers, set the fastest time on the water. He shaved eight hours and 47 minutes from his own best and seven hours and 15 minutes off the famous record set by Nirvana in 1985.

But the record can only be taken by a non-water ballasted boat and, although it was Boomerang, the ILC 70 that arrived in Plymouth in two days six hours and 48 minutes, it was Chabaud who eventually sported the garland on handicap Like 1999 Skandia Life Cowes Week, the racing was dominated by the maxis and although the Kiwi Field won the Fastnet, giving him the final honours in the Adecco World Championships, it was Ludde Ingvalle who took the title, despite, by his standards, having an average race.

He said: "The winning and losing was at the start. We had a good start but it might have paid to be bad," implying that speed off the Royal Yacht Squadron start line in Cowes may not have been as important as the position on the line, as boats sticking to the shore found the strongest current.

Of the Solent-based contenders, it was the Swan 86, Swan Nokia Hamilton with a crew of 25, that made the best use of the changing conditions. Skippered by Charles Duntstone, she finished ninth overall among the IRC yachts.

Mike Golding made a satisfactory start to his renewed Vendee Globe campaign.

In Team Group 4, last seen on the sand just 100 miles outside of Auckland in the Around Alone last December, Golding will have gained useful knowledge of his newly refitted Open 60 in the mixed weather race.

The Southampton yachtsman intended to use the Fastnet as a testing ground for the £80,000 changes and will have been satisfied with his 18th place overall.

By Wednesday evening most of the fleet had rounded Land's End, in winds varying in direction and strength. Variable winds and calms on the approach into Plymouth were threatening to prolong the event, giving a handful of the 216 starters eight long days at sea.

Prize-giving takes place tonight in Plymouth with Sir Edward Heath, a RORC member and former Fastnet sailor, awarding the main trophies.

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