CHRUSTOPHER ISON
another few minutes of the record.”
Others to watch out for on the
racecourse this year include Sir Ben
Ainslie who is joining some of his
INEOS Team UK race team members
aboard Tony Langley’s TP52, Gladiator
(2016 Roman Gold Bowl winners),
and the Farr 52 BOB with Cloudy Bay
brand ambassador Ben Fogle on board.
here is no doubt that such high
proile boats create excitement and
ofer fellow competitors and spectators
a chance to observe professional
race teams in action. Who wouldn’t,
aterall, be impressed to witness
the likes of Team Concise at full tilt
doing 35 knots+ heading towards the
line for a record-breaking inish?PICK OF THE ENTRIES
While there are and always will be plenty
of speed machines at this event with
professional sailors going for records
and major class wins, the majority of the
Round the Island Race leet is made up
of club sailors who generally race for fun.
Classes like the Sigma 33 leet, which
ofer fantastic club racing, are strongevent supporters; last year’s class winner
aboard Workout was Jef Worboys and
his team are back this year once again
with the aim to defend their title.
Anothergoodcluball-rounderthat
ofers low cost, competitive racing is the
Hunter Sonata. Although at 22t it’s one
of the smallest classes at this event, it
isgenerallyagoodseaworthyboatthat
oten ields a strong leet. Among those
signed up so far is last year’s class winner
Wasp,sailedbySteveBrownandteam.
Othersmakingacomebackwithin
the popular J Boat leet, include Simon
Spraggs and team sailing his three year
old J/70 Jackal that inished third in
class in 2017, and Simon Perry’s J/109
Jirafe that took second overall in class
lastyear.PolishsailorKubaSzymanski
who club races from the Isle of Man, has
competed in this race for the last 20 years
and, sailing Boo, a J/109, his aim is to
improveonhis16thplacefromlastyear.
Among the irst timers to the event
are dinghy sailors Eddie Waring and
team from Bolton Sailing Club on their
relatively small Beneteau First 211. his
team which has raced regularly on LakeThe anti-clockwise course is simple
enough, but to get the best from your race
invest a bit of time on nav research
fair tide. Be aware of what the tide is doing
at diferent stages of the race and, on the
inal stretch to the inish, stay alert and
watch out for ‘demons’ like Ryde Sands.
his year’s entry list is brimming with
talent including a healthy international
contingent from as far of as the USA. here
will be plenty of teams making a comeback
ater last year’s classic, including Tony
Lawson’s MOD70 trimaran Team Concise
that broke the multihull race record.
With Ned Collier Wakeield on the helm
once again, and the super-it and talented
team primed for action, there is little to stop
Team Concise smashing its own record.
Collier Wakeield commenting on the team’s
preparation said: “Round the Island Race has
always been a Team Concise favourite. With
our base in the Hamble, training/sail testing
tends to take place in the Solent so the area
really feels like home waters. We must have
done 20+ laps of the island over the last few
years, with lap times varying from 2 hours,
3 mins to 4 hours, so to have race record
conditions on the day last year was fantastic.
he race is always a real spectacle and we
can’t wait to be back on the startline this year.
Let’s hope the weather allows us to shaveJuly 2018 Yachts & Yachting 35PREVIEW ROUND THE ISLAND RACE