OSTAR 2009 entry closed, 43 skippers entered.

The 31st of January was the deadline to enter the 2009 edition of the OSTAR, the legendary single-handed transatlantic race from Plymouth UK to Newport RI in the United States. The Royal Western has published a the list of confirmed entrants who have dished out the £500 deposit to secure a place at the start line on May 25th from Plymouth Sound. Any further entry will be subject to late entry fees.

43 in total are the skippers entered, 42 men and 1 brave girl.

Katie Miller, rising star and future hope of British solo sailing, at 23 is the youngest female ever to enter. After winning the bluQube solo 1000 open results she did not get cold feet, determined as ever she will race on her Figaro 2 Hot Socks.

Oscar Mead aged 18 will be the youngest ever competitor on his J105 Juneau, he will be allowed a glass of dutch courage before the tough crossing but the arrival in the US will be a sober one as he still is under the legal drinking age there!

19 of the entrants are British, including the ultimate veteran Peter Crowther at his 8th participation, Mervyn Wheatley on Tamarind winner of the 2005 handicap prize and Jerry Freeman who is secretly planning to swim across as he stubbornly refuses to get a boat. Many are AZAB and RBI veterans such as Paul Brant on his Jod 35 Ninjod and one very fast Rob Craigie on his J122 Jbellino. Many of the Brits will take their small cruisers across, like Will Sayer on his Sigma 33C and Micheal Collins on a Westerly 33 but Mike West and Stuart Dodd are hoping to flash across the line on their Class 40.

6 are Dutch. Bart Boosman returns to attend some unfinished business after being forced to retire on day 7 in the last edition due to rig failure. Huib Swets completed the race in 2005 on the same boat Vijaya in just over 32 days and certainly many eyes will be for Jan Kees Lampe on the very fast Open 40 La Promesse.

5 are Italian, Gianfranco Tortolani is hoping to be third time lucky, twice he was forced to retire on his 30ft Open Citta' di Salerno in 2000 and 2005. Roberto Westermann was among the starters in 2000 but was forced to retire in the strong winds that battered the fleet during week one. Then, in 2005, he suffered a collision on his brand new open 40 Spinning Wheel on the way to the start when still on the delivery trip off the coast of Portugal. Luca Zoccoli is a first timer and has entered with the Open 35 raced by Gardossi in the 2000 edition, forced to retire due to auto pilot problems. Luca Trentini has entered a very slick and aggressive Open 35 that looks fast even in a picture but which will have to prove it can take the battering of an upwind race such as the OSTAR.

4 are American. Steve Black returns aboard Caribbean on which he completed a 21 days crossing in 1992 to take 5 place in class.

3 are French although i suspect Sandro Quaglia is effectively Italian, he races another Open 35 Diavolo Porco which did well in the med when still raced by Luca Zoccoli. Curiously the Royal Western refuses to put the full name of the boat on the entry list as Diavolo Porco translates into Devil Pig, so his boat is referred to only as Diavolo P... More interestingly, among the French, Jacques Boucharcourt returns on Okami, his Futura 50 which he took across the finish line in Newport in 20 days and 23 seconds in 1996 and would be a line honours favourite for monohulls.

Finally there are 2 Germans, 1 Austrian and surprisingly only 1 Irish, the rest have all sailed across long ago and Barry Hurley has not failed to see the significance of his trip, he is planning to carry on after the race and sail from Newport to Ellis Island where so many of his country man arrived in late 1800s and early 1900s.

I'm sure I've failed to mention many facts, results, and entrants... this is just the beginning, the skippers are busy preparing their boats and studying the endless list of documents they have to produce to be given the green light to start the race. Most importantly many still have to qualify, only 25 of the skippers have completed the mandatory 500 miles solo passage, the rest will have to negotiate horrible wintry condition to complete their qualifier, surely in the coldest winter in many years an extension should be granted to allow them to comply safely with this requirement?