Duet, the 1912 built, gaff-rigged yawl, which is a familiar site on the east coast, has just arrived at Fox’s Marina & Boatyard for some general maintenance and essential electronics work, including fitting a Garmin GPS Plotter and AIS system, ahead of competing in this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race. Duet is a regular visitor to Fox’s Boatyard, which has maintained the yacht for a number of years, along with her sisterships, Queen Galadriel and the wooden Bermudan ketch, Faramir, which was built here at Fox’s Marina.
Duet is owned by the Courtald family and loaned to the Cirdan Sailing Trust, which operates her to provide disadvantaged young people with the opportunity for self-development from the experience of living and working on large sailing yachts. She is believed to be Britain’s longest serving sail training vessel and has sailed over 250,000 miles with over 8000 young people on board.
MCA Marine Surveyor and Naval Architect, David Cannell, has chartered Duet to take part in the Fastnet Race, with the intention of raising the Cirdan Sailing Trust’s profile and supporting the Trust’s work with young people. David has selected most of his crew for the event but may still be on the lookout for keen sailors to undertake the challenge with him. For more information contact David Cannell on Tel: 01206 823337 or email: david@dmcmarine.com
The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s blue riband event, the biennial 608-nautical mile Fastnet Race, which starts on Sunday 11 August, will see a record entry of 380 boats take part from around the world and is considered one of the toughest challenges in offshore yacht racing.
For more information about the Cirdan Sailing Trust see: http://www.cirdantrust.org/
For more information about the RORC Rolex Fastnet Race see: http://fastnet.rorc.org/