Editing Fastnet Race (section)

===1979 Fastnet Race===
{{main|1979 Fastnet race}}
A severe [[European windstorm]] during the [[1979 Fastnet race|1979 race]] resulted in the deaths of 21 people (15 competing yachtsmen and 6 observers)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.southernstar.ie/news/cape-memorial-service-recalls-fastnet-tragedy-4093766 |title=Cape memorial service recalls Fastnet tragedy |work=Southern Star |date=3 September 2015 |access-date=6 February 2025}}</ref> and the involvement of some 4,000 others in what became the largest-ever rescue operation in peacetime. The disaster led to a major overhaul of the rules and the equipment required for the competition.<ref name = "fastnet_inquiry">{{cite web| title = 1979 Fastnet Race Inquiry| url = http://www.blur.se/images/fastnet-race-inquiry.pdf | publisher = [[Royal Yachting Association]], [[Royal Ocean Racing Club]] | first1 = Sir Hugh | last1 = Forbes | first2 = Sir Maurice | last2 = Laing | first3 = Lt. Col. James | last3 = Myatt | year = 1979 | access-date = 23 November 2013}}</ref><ref name="lessons"/> Several books have since been written about the 1979 race, which remains notorious in the yachting world for its loss of life.<ref name="fastnet_inquiry"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rousmaniere |first1=John |author-link1=John Rousmaniere |year=1980 |title=Fastnet, Force 10: The Deadliest Storm in the History of Modern Sailing |type=Paperback |page=304 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] (17 April 2000) |isbn=978-0-393-30865-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.yachtingworld.com/yw/fastnet/ |title=Fastnet 79: The Disaster that Changed Sailing (Eye witness accounts) |newspaper=[[Yachting World]] |access-date=24 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223095135/http://www.yachtingworld.com/yw/fastnet |archive-date=23 December 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In the 1979 race, "15 sailors died, five boats sank, and at least 75 boats flipped upside down".<ref name="lessons">{{cite web |url=http://www.sailnet.com/forums/racing-articles/20646-revisiting-lessons-fastnet.html |first1=John |last1=Rousmaniere |date=January 2000 |title=Revisiting Lessons from the Fastnet |publisher=SailNet.com |access-date=25 November 2013}}</ref>