by Peta Stuart-Hunt
Photos by Barry James-Wilson
The makings of a perfect day
The 16,000 competitors – both amateurs and professionals – in this year’s J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race have been assembling in the early morning light to make their final preparations for this annual nautical extravaganza.
The first start, for the biggest and fastest monohulls, including Mike Slade’s multiple record breaking 100ft supermaxi Leopard and the stunning modern classic 160ft schooner Eleonora, got away on schedule at 0700 in a north-westerly breeze of 8-12 knots and bright sun.
A ridge of high pressure pushing in from the southwest should ensure it remains beautifully sunny for most of the day, with the breeze increasing through the morning to give a moderate to strong south westerly by midday. This will make for perfect conditions for the 1,584 boats taking part in this year’s race.
The next hour will see the main bulk of the fleet starting, with the density of yachts filling the western Solent gradually increasing until the waters are packed with yachts. However, by 0800 the front runners will need to be well past the Needles at the western extremity of the Isle of Wight if they are to have any hope of breaking the race records that were set two years ago.
A beat to the Needles
At 0710, the second start saw a further eight classes get away, including gaffers and a wide variety of multihulls. The latter ranged from the four professional teams in the ultra fast foiling GC32 class, to the giant MOD70 trimaran Concise 10. The latter is sailing with an all-star crew including French round the world racer Jean Pierre Dick and Paul Larsen, holder of the outright world sailing speed record at 65.45 knots.
The wind has swung more into the west for the early starters, giving a full beat to the Needles, which precludes the likelihood of records being broken – two years ago Sir Ben Ainslie rounded the Needles 38 minutes after the start on his record breaking race. The leader on the water currently appears to be Mike Slade’s 100ft monohull Leopard, who is just past Yarmouth.
The largest of the more cruising oriented yachts in ISC Rating System divisions have also now started. While these boats lack the sheer adrenaline and speed potential of some of those in the IRC divisions, they are more likely to be sailed by family crew, but the intensity of the competition is often just as intense as it is among the teams of professional sailors at the front of the fleet.
0900 update
All classes have now started on schedule and the front-runners, led by Leopard and the MOD70 trimaran rounded the Needles just before 0830, followed closely by the diminutive GC32 foiling catamarans.
They are now powering down the island’s south-west coast at speeds exceeding 15 knots and are predicted to reach St Catherine’s Point shortly after 0900. They will be led by the multihulls, which have already overtaken Leopard. The fleet is therefore stretching almost halfway around the Isle of Wight’s 50-mile coastline, making a stunning view from the many vantage points around the course.
While the biggest and fastest yachts, as well as those who achieve a good corrected time on handicap tend to get the bulk of the limelight, there’s no doubt that the some of the best fun – and sense of achievement – is to be found among the many hundreds of smaller and medium sized cruising oriented yachts that compete each year.
These are still in the Solent, where the wind has already increased to a perfect 15-16 knots. Cloud is already building over the mainland shore, indicating we can expect thermal enhancement of the wind during the day. This is expected to peak at around 23 knots, while competitors will enjoy the best of the day’s sun, which will be over the water.
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