Bermudian sailor Jay Kempe has endured a baptism of fire on his debut in the prestigious Rolex Fastnet Race.

The former Olympic sailor and his fellow colleagues on board the yacht Ambitious were confronted with strong gales off the Isle of Wight that forced 86 entries, among a record fleet of 430, to retire from the 50th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s offshore classic on the first night after setting sail from Cowes, England, on Saturday.

“The course can be very challenging,” Kempe told The Royal Gazette on the eve of the race. “The 1979 Fastnet Race was notorious and very rough.”

A severe thunderstorm during the 1979 Fastnet Race claimed the lives of 19 people, among them 15 sailors and four rescuers, while five yachts sank and another 75 capsized.

Organisers have confirmed that one boat sank and multiple sailors were injured in the 40 knot headwinds that battered the fleet in the English Channel on the first night of this year’s biennial race.

Kempe, who represented Bermuda in the Tornado class at the Olympics, is fulfilling a dream to compete in the 608-mile offshore race that also takes the fleet around the southwest coast of Ireland and on to the finish in Cherbourg, France.

“I have always wanted to take part in this iconic ocean race before I am too old and so now is the time,” he said. “Clipper events offer places to participate in this race, and so I signed up.

“The Fastnet Race is one of the three most prestigious blue water ocean races. The other two are the Newport Bermuda Race and the Sydney Hobart Race.”

Kempe is serving in the dual role as sail trimmer and helmsman aboard Englishman Nick Graham’s Clipper 68 yacht and comes with years of experience under his belt after competing in offshore racing for more than five decades.

During that time he has made eight appearances in the Newport to Bermuda Race and also competed in the Sydney Hobart Race, Middle Sea Race and Clipper Round the World Race.

He made his offshore racing debut in the 1972 Newport Bermuda Race and has never looked back.

“I got the opportunity to do the 1972 Bermuda Race with Eldon Trimingham on his 40 foot Morgan, Privateer, when I was 20 and loved it, even though the fleet was quite seriously dusted up by Tropical Storm Agnes,” he said. “Those were the days before satellite imaging.”

Kempe is no stranger to the crew of Ambitious after spending considerable time competing alongside them in this year’s 230 mile Myth of Malham Race and 151 mile St Malo Race in the English Channel in preparation for the Fastnet Race, which was first held in 1925.

Meanwhile, François Gabart and his crew aboard the trimaran, SVR-Lazartigue, capitalised on the conditions to secure line honours in this year’s Fastnet Race on Sunday in a record time of one day, eight hours 38 minutes and 27 seconds.

They beat the previous record set by Charles Caudrelier and America’s Cup helmsman Franck Cammas on board the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in 2021 by 36min 27sec.