Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon and his racing crew have celebrated sailing past the point in a classic yacht race that almost cost them their lives 20 years ago. The 1980s pop star reunited at Cowes, Isle of Wight, with 20 members of his original crew which competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race in 1985. His yacht, Drum, capsized in bad weather off the coast of Falmouth. It lost its keel sending the yacht upside-down, trapping the singer and other crew members inside the hull for 40 minutes. Afterwards Le Bon sold the yacht, now called The Arnold Clark Drum, but it is being loaned back to him this year by the current owner, Scottish entrepreneur, Sir Arnold Clark. The crew and Le Bon cracked opened the champagne as they sailed past the very same point that almost took their lives. Crew member Phil Wade compared the 1985 experience and yesterday's sailing to "chalk and cheese". He said: "It's a beautiful sunny day. We are sitting out here in shorts and shirts off. It's a complete contrast to the last time. "Then we had three reefs on the mainsail, a code 5 Genoa, it was driving rain and down to one mile visibility." Le Bon said earlier: "I'm not afraid but I do think when we pass the point where the keel fell off we will feel a bump inside us and feel vindicated about doing the whole thing again." The Fastnet spokesman said that The Arnold Clark Drum passed Land's End, Cornwall, at 3pm. "They are surrounded by a lot of smaller boats," added the spokesman. "They made a bad decision on the wind last night which hasn't paid off but I think they are just having a nice time, eating good food and drinking Champagne." Le Bon is hoping to raise awareness and funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution by participating. The Arnold Clark organisation will be donating a car to the RNLI as part of its charity fund-raising initiative. A total of 285 yachts set off from the Cowes Week festival on Sunday for the biennial race which heads into the Channel and along the south-west coast of England. The winner should complete the 608-mile course in between four and six days depending upon the weather. | 
