August can be a much more stormy month than many people realise. On Sunday morning the start of the Fastnet yacht race was postponed for the first time in its 83-year history – the race organisers are especially sensitive to bad weather conditions since the disaster of the race of 1979.

The Fastnet is an extremely challenging race over a 978km (608mile) course, from Cowes to the Fastnet Rock, off Co Cork, southwest Ireland, and back to Plymouth. In 1979 it began in perfect weather conditions but within 48 hours the deadliest storm in the history of modern sailing devastated the fleet of 303 competing boats. The storm blew up so rapidly that it exploded in what meteorologists call a “bomb”, when pressure dropped 40 millibars in only 24 hours, something expected more in autumn than mid-August. Poor weather forecasts failed to give warning of hurricane-force winds that gusted to 133km/h (83mph) and mountainous waves. Many of the boats had poor safety equipment and 25 were sunk or badly damaged. The biggest peacetime sea rescue effort was launched and 136 sailors were picked up, but 15 drowned. Only 85 boats finished the race.

As a result of that disaster, safety standards of competing boats were tightened up, and weather forecasts improved.