Pioneers of Speed, Breaking the Boundaries: Multihulls and the RORC Fastnet Race.
One of the true multihull pioneers in terms of RORC Multihull Racing history.
To the casual onlooker Peter Lillywhite is a fine example of an enthusiastic multihull owner. He spends his winters maintaining his beauty ‘Adonnante’, an Azuli F40 designed by Erik Lerouge in 1986 and built by Soubise in France in 1987, and these days he spends the season doing as much cruising as possible.
A conversation might reveal he’s a retired teacher and a motorbike enthusiast. But it would take a much longer chat to uncover the full story: Peter is in fact one of the quiet pioneers of multihull racing in the RORC Fastnet Race.
The multihull bug happened by chance,
His journey into multihulls began by accident, after a chance dinner conversation seated next to a group of multihull sailors. Soon afterwards his Super Seal monohull was up for sale, and Peter was on his way to Plymouth to trial a Woods Banchee. Woods were being built not far from the Multihull Centre in Millbrook, this visit marked the true start of a long-standing passion.
Multihulls were still not generally welcomed.
Peter eventually purchased a Woods Banchee called ‘Hasty Lady’, which he co-owned with Andy Walker, also a previous monohull sailor. At the time the premier UK race for multihulls was the Crystal Trophy, an annual race which started in 1967 racing from Cowes to CH1 off Cherbourg, Wolf Rock, Plymouth. It is the ‘Crystal Trophy’ that is now presented to winners of the Fastnet under 50ft MOCRA Multihulls. Is this just a coincidence or is it some sort of nod towards multihull history? More likely perhaps that when the Crystal Trophy race ceased to exist there was a spare trophy in need of a new home…
Multihulls were still not generally welcomed in more traditional racing. Though the RORC History page does give mention to MOCRA rated multihulls being allowed to join RORC Racing from 1996, with Myth of Malham being the first, it makes no further mention of the significance of allowing multihulls to race.
The First Multihulls To Race In The RORC Fastnet Race
It’s 1997 and in that first Fastnet Race featuring multihulls, several standout boats stole the spotlight, and several of these were linked to the Multihull Centre. There were two Millbrook-built Banchees: Hasty Lady sailed by Peter, and Backlash, skippered by the legendary Tony Purser. Another unforgettable entry was Mike Butterfield’s Dragonfly 1000 Dragonflyer. Mike, a fierce advocate for multihulls, had worked tirelessly with MOCRA members including Simon Forbes to open the door to events like the Fastnet. As Simon wrote:
“Throughout his sailing career, Butterfield completed 14 Fastnet races, only four of them in monohulls. He was dismayed when he tried to sign up his first multihull and found that there was no class for them, which likely motivated his involvement in promoting multihull participation.”
Mike would go on to become the most prolific Dazcat owner, three in total, but more on that in the upcoming Dazcat Fastnet Focus.
Victory in that historic race went to Spirit of England, a 40ft Owen trimaran sailed by Peter Clutterbuck and none other than offshore legend Brian Thompson. It was good to see Brian recently on the pontoons at Port Pendennis Marina, welcoming the MOCRA fleet at the finish of the National Championships’ first coastal leg to Falmouth in April. You can read Peter’s excellent write-up of Spirit of England’s 1997 Fastnet campaign here, it truly is a fascinating insight.
Peter Lillywhite recalls that on board Hasty Lady, they weren’t thinking about making history – just grateful to finally be part of such an iconic race. Light headwinds made for a slow slog to Land’s End, but spirits were lifted when they found themselves alongside Tony Purser’s Backlash entering the Irish Sea – a bit of boat-on-boat micro racing is always one of the best parts of being in amongst a big fleet.
The remainder of the race was a cold, wet push of “reefs in, reefs out” sailing. Morale on board dipped – until they saw the Russian crew huddled miserable and sodden on the rail in oilskins. Suddenly, the Hasty Lady team felt like royalty – and there, right next to the speeds they achieve, he nails the true reason for multihull sailing!
Joining Peter and co-owner Andy were Peter’s late wife Helen and multihull-experienced sailor Colin Thompson, whose expertise proved invaluable during a rapid downwind leg from the Scillies back to Plymouth.
Some of Peter’s best stories are destined to remain untold – true to the sailor’s code of “what happens on the boat, stays on the boat.”
It is, however, well worth noting that Peter and the team on Hasty Lady were also the first ever MOCRA win on a RORC Race – the 1996 Morgan Cup…Another story, another time but I can only encourage you to talk, really talk, with the people you encounter day to day – their hidden stories are pearls and you never know what new ideas they’ll open up for you.
We’ll leave you with some classic Butterfield moments: Mike, who was a fierce defender of multihulls and an adversary to be feared, also had a devilish sense of humour and a somewhat staggering disregard of the things most people would view as important. Boat preparation for example.
Two of Peter’s crew helped deliver Dragonflyer back to the Solent following the race, and arrived back feeling a little like shipwreck survivors. They recounted that somewhere along the way, the propeller had simply fallen off. Dazcat Media has a special interest in this detail – we experienced the same issue (twice!) racing with Mike nearly two decades later.
And then there was the provisioning: all the water bottles looked the same, but half contained gin. Making a cup of tea was a 50/50 gamble. Promised food stores turned out to be two very stale pork pies…
Who knows quite where MOCRA and multihull racing would be right now if it hadn’t been for Mike Butterfield, but we do know for sure there would have been fewer belly laughs (and belly aches!) without him!
2025 Fastnet: The Multihull Centre Legacy Lives On
This year’s centenary edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race will feature a significant multihull presence, including Ultimes and MOCRA multihulls
19 are competing under the MOCRA rule – and notably, more than half of them have ties to the Multihull Centre. Ten of the entered multihulls were either built, refitted, or are homeported at the Yard in Millbrook, making it once again a vital hub in the world of offshore multihull racing. From classic racing trimarans to cutting-edge performance cruisers, the Multihull Centre continues to shape and support the fleet pushing the boundaries of offshore sailing.
What Do The Classes Mean?
Ultimes:
These are giant 32m long by 23m wide flying multihulls capable of very fast speeds, according to the Rolex Fastnet Race.
MOCRA Class:
This class features various racing multihulls, including our cruiser-racer Dazcats and the huge machines that are MOD70s, reports the Rolex Fastnet Race.
Is 2025 a Record Sized Multihull Fleet?
In essence, while a specific record for the largest multihull fleet isn’t explicitly stated, the trend is towards increasing entries, with the 2025 race expected to break records again, especially with the inclusion of Ultimes and other fast multihulls.
Find out all about the 2025 centennial Fastnet Race and some of the history behind it on the RORC website.
The inclusion of multihulls in offshore racing under RORC and ORC rules marks a significant shift in attitudes that, until the mid-1990s, were largely resistant to anything outside the traditional monohull format. Despite their proven speed and seaworthiness, multihulls were often viewed with suspicion – excluded from major races and lacking an official class. It took decades of persistence from committed sailors, boatbuilders, and advocates like Mike Butterfield and Simon Forbes to push for change.
Since the first multihull entries were formally accepted in the 1996-1997 season, the fleet has grown steadily.
Today, multihulls are not only welcomed but celebrated in the majority of offshore sailing’s most prestigious events,culminating in a strong, diverse multihull presence in the Fastnet Race’s centenary year. Still, they continue to face a degree of scepticism in certain circles. Races such as the Rolex Sydney Hobart, for example, have yet to open their entry lists to multihulls, reminding us that full acceptance across the global offshore racing scene is still a work in progress.
With very many thanks to Peter Lillywhite for taking the time to share his memories of being part of that first official multihull fleet in the 1997 Fastnet Race – a turning point in offshore sailing history.
Watch This Space!
We will be bringing you news and profiles of the Multihull Centre boats competing in the 2025 RORC Centenary Rolex Fastnet Race as the countdown begins…
