Fastnet Dozen For CEO of Cowes Week
Aug 8th, 2009 | By Citizen Media | Isle of Wight News From The Island Pulse
As Cowes Week draws to a close, Stuart Quarrie, CEO of Cowes Week, will be switching tack on Sunday to compete in his 12th Fastnet Race.
Stuart Quarrie will be on Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy’s Swan 53, Noonmark VI and although he would love to be sailing at Cowes Week, it is impossible to race and run the historic regatta at the same time.
He will be racing in this year’s Rolex Fastnet, as he has done for virtually every race since his first in 1979. Stuart Quarrie was on board Neal Graham’s Griffin for the 1979 Fastnet, a race that he will never forget.
“We abandoned Griffin, just before the boat sank and we had been in the life raft for two hours, with little hope of rescue, when we saw Alain Catherineau’s French yacht, Lorelei. By a stroke of luck, they were in the same wave trough as us and I am sure that is why I am here today.”
“There has always been a strong bond between the Fastnet race and Cowes Week,” commented Stuart. “Cowes Week fully supported the recent Memorial Service and all of the competitors and event team marked respect of those who were lost thirty years ago.”
Image Source RORC.
