Rolex Fastnet Race: Dmitry Rybolovlev’s Skorpios takes Line Honours

After crossing the finish line in Cherbourg, Dmitry Rybolovlev’s Skorpios took line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race. The team’s total elapsed time for completing the 695 nautical mile course from Cowes to Cherbourg was 2 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes and 55 seconds. This marks the first time that a sailboat from Monaco achieved such success in the Fastnet regatta in the almost 100-year history of this competition.

Competing in her first offshore race, the recently built Skorpios, named after a Greek island, came through the first 12 brutal hours of the race in good shape. As the breeze softened, Skorpios ploughed ahead of her chief rivals, including previous winner George David’s Rambler 88 and the strong IMOCA fleet, for line honours.

Having only started sailing a few years ago, this was Dmitry Rybolovlev’s first offshore race, which he experienced with his daughter Anna Rybolovleva, who shares her father’s passion for sailing and competes in regattas. The yacht is assigned to the Monaco Yacht Club, of which Dmitry Rybolovlev is a member. Rybolovlev was the helmsman, in charge of steering the ship, during the exhilarating race.

Innovative yacht designed for speed

The brand new Skorpios yacht was completed in July 2021. Dmitry Rybolovlev was deeply involved in all aspects of the boat’s construction, motivating the team to be innovative and think outside the box. Skorpios evolved from being a sailing yacht into a very fast racing boat. To achieve her light displacement, the hull, deck, and structural parts are made of carbon fibre pre-preg. The ship’s keel fin is made out of APX4 material, a new generation of aero rig used to reduce the drag. To create horizontal and vertical forces, a unique rotating C-foil with an asymmetrical profile was developed.

The yacht was hailed as “a milestone in the history of yachting,” by president of Nautor, the group entrusted to build the nimble vessel. The ship’s victory in its first offshore race demonstrates the success of the ship’s design as well as the skill of its crew.

A crew of champions…

Dmitry Rybolovlev’s international team is made up of 29 crew members. Nine of the members have participated in round-the-world races (Whitbread, Volvo, Barcelona). The Skorpios skipper is Fernando Echávarri, an Olympic gold medal winner. Fernando, who hails from Spain, won gold in the Olympic Tornado class during the 2008 Games in Beijing and was World Champion in 2005 and in 2007.

A lucky coincidence occurred for Dmitry Rybolovlev, who is President of Monaco’s football club AS Monaco, when his vessel crossed the finish line at almost the same time his football club FC Monaco won against Prague at the Louis II stadium as part of the Champions League qualification round.

The next big event for the Skorpios ClubSwan 125 will be the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October 2021. The race, organized by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, starts and finishes in Malta.