What was the name of Simon Le Bon's maxi yacht, that lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race off Falmouth, on the southern coast of Cornwall, in 1985?
Simon Le Bon Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht, "Drum", lost its keel and capsized during the Fastnet race, just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped under the boat, inside the hull, for forty minutes. They were all rescued by the Royal Navy, using a Search and Rescue helicopter from 771 Naval Air Squadron based near Helston. The rescue earned the Rescue Diver, POACMN L Slater, a George Medal. Despite the accident, Le Bon and "Drum" went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race,
Fastnet Race "Icap Leopard 3", launched in June 2007, set a new record of 44 hours 18 min, taking almost 9 hours off the previous record set in 1999. Ger O'Rourke's "Chieftain" was the overall winner on corrected time. A record number of 320 boats entered the 2011 race – the largest total since the ill-fated 1979 race (303 entries). A total of nineteen nations were represented, with the bulk of entries still from Britain and France. In 2011, the 100-foot maxi yacht "Rambler 100" turtled after her keel broke off between Fastnet Rock and the Pantaenius Buoy (a temporary race mark