The Rolex Fastnet Race starting from Cowes on Sunday is set to feature some of the fastest and slickest boats in the racing world.

Many will finish Skandia Life Cowes Week on Saturday and head off for the Fastnet Rock and Plymouth the following day having had just hours to prepare.

Among them is Mike Slade's Skandia Life Leopard, Ludde Ingvalle's maxi Nicorette and the favourite to win Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory.

There is also the Lymington-built Stealth, built for Gianni Agnelli, which is now in the Solent preparing for the Fastnet and then the America's Cup Jubilee.

In addition, there are four Volvo Ocean Race 60s on the Royal Yacht Squadron Line off Cowes, warming up for the start of the race in September with a 608-mile course, which takes the fleet out of the Solent to the west and down the English Channel.

They then race across open sea to the south-west corner of Ireland, around the Fastnet Rock, back round the Isles of Scilly to port and return to the English mainland finishing in Plymouth.

For the first time, four brand new VO60s will be racing together: Assa Abloy Racing Team (SWE), Team SEB (SWE) Team News Corp (AUS), skippered by Lymington yachtsman Jez Fanstone and illbruck Challenge (GBR).

"There are several boats that are higher rated than ours so there is everything to play for," said Leopard navigator Hugh Agnew.

"Winning the Fastnet is about tactics and keeping the boats together because these are huge boats and it is very easy to blow things up so we will be in there trying to get the combination right.

"There is a lot of rivalry between us and Stealth because we are similar boats so it should be interesting," he said.