The Island Sailing Club put on a spectacular 90th anniversary party for the 2021 Round the Island Race. The huge fleet of over 1200 boats showed how much people love taking part in this event. On the water there was everything from flat calm to 25 knot gusts, fog and sun, and as with every Round the Island Race, nothing compares to the sight of the fleet stretched out around the stunning Isle of Wight coast.
Local Cowes boat Eeyore, an Alacrity 18 Bilge Keel, secured back-to-back overall victories and retained the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl which she has held since the 2019 race.
Owner and skipper of Eeyore, Jo Richards said: “The thing with Round the Island Race is that it’s like buses; you wait years and years and then two come along consecutively. Interesting race yesterday; we had a shocking first leg down to the Needles and luckily there was a little bit of a lull under the cliffs and we got back into our class, and from then on it was really tight. When we got to Bembridge Ledge, having got the rating list out we knew we had to finish a minute and a half ahead of one boat and three minutes ahead of another boat. It was pretty tense the whole way back, and being the smallest boat in the fleet, you’ve got no control if a 55ft boat sits on top of you. It was only when we got back to shore and people starting texting that we thought we might have won. A great day out.”
Meanwhile, the Alan Buchanan designed Cherete won the Silver Gilt Roman Bowl, awarded to the first boat overall in the ISCRS divisions.
Owner and skipper of Cherete, Brian Haugh said: “We had a totally unexpected result and we were late getting to the start line. This was our tenth Round the Island Race, we had a great day and it felt like normality had resumed.”
Peter Cunningham’s multihull MOD70 PowerPlay was the first to finish the race with a time of 4hrs 11mins 01secs. A light start to the race prevented any chance of beating the race record, which was set by PowerPlay, as Concise 10, in 2017 (2hrs 22mins and 23 secs). PowerPlay finished this year’s race ahead of the ULTIM Actual and the 32m trimaran IDEC. Tala, owned by David Collins, was the first monohull to finish the race, with a time of 6hrs 11mins 36secs.
The Island Sailing Club would like to thank their race partners for their support: Haven Knox-Johnston, Helly Hansen, Marlin Leisure Marine, Raymarine, Chelsea Magazines and Cowes Harbour Commission. There are openings for new partners in 2022 and beyond; email sponsorship@islandsc.org.uk sponsorship@islandsc.org.uk to start the conversation.
The race in 2022 will be on Saturday 25 June.
Photos by Barry James Wilson
