Yachts & Yachting - July 2018

Above

Keep a careful eye

out – the southern

side of the island

presents plenty of

snakes and ladders

Don’t miss...

Raymarine Weather Briefing

Head to Cowes Yacht Haven

Event Centre at 6pm on Friday

6 July for the Raymarine Live

Weather Briefing presented by

Simon Rowell, British Sailing team

meteorologist. Attendees could

be in with a chance to win a new

Raymarine Axiom 9 inch MFD

and the new AIS700 – total value

£2,390; the winner of the draw

will be announced at ISC at 9pm.

Alternatively watch the briefing

live at raymarine.eu/rtir-weather.

Get on track for a safe rounding

To celebrate its 15th consecutive

year as ocial technical partner,

and to endorse the Island Sailing

Club’s continued commitment to

race safety, Raymarine has been

appointed ocial Tracking Partner.

All boats must now register

one mobile phone per team as a

minimum safety requirement.

It is also strongly recommended

that participants transmit an AIS

signal. In support of this, Raymarine

is ofering all competitors who

purchase a new Raymarine AIS700

£150 cashback. See raymarine.

eu/rtir-weather for details.

It’s your race

Boats using AIS will be able to

engage in a ‘race within the race’

against fellow competitors.

#ItsYourRace is an exciting

new initiative this year. Dave

Atkinson, commodore of Island

Sailing Club, says the idea is

to give more opportunity for

competitive racing through AIS.

“Using the tracker, competitors can

create their own ‘race within the

race’. They can select individual

boats to follow and race against,

increasing the competitive

element within the fleet.”

is Keith Lovett, senior underwriter
for speciality yacht (MS Amlin’s
insurance partners). As a Round the
Island Race veteran with over 30 races
to his name and numerous Bavaria
Trophy wins aboard his Match 35, he
is looking forward to competing in
IRC 3 this year on MS Amlin QT, a
45-year-old reitted Ecume de Mer.
With plenty of experience under his
belt, Lovett ofers his thoughts on how

to get safely around - without putting

in a claim! According to Lovett, nearly

all incidents are resultant from either

poor preparation or hitting something,

namely the ground or another boat.

“Because this race is a long haul,

vigilance is prudent. Ask your crew

to constantly keep a look out, keep

talking about what they are seeing

and be thankful even when they tell

you about someone or something

that you have already seen.

“he early morning pre-start can

be frenetic with boats sailing in

unpredictable directions, hoisting sails

and perhaps in awe of the environment.

It is wise, therefore to ofer some

courtesy and leave plenty of space in

pre-start manoevres. he start, the

irst leg west out the Solent and as the

leet merges at the Needles, will see the

highest concentration of boats. Look for

clear tracks and avoid traic as much

as possible because this will not only

give you a chance to seek clear wind

but also avoid any unneeded conlict.

“At the Needles; Goose Rock, the

Varvassi wreck, the ledge around

the lighthouse and numerous rocks

should all be navigated with caution.

Some of the best have been caught

out, far better not to be one of them!

“In particular, if windy, leave room to

windward and leeward; when a gust hits,

the boat rounding up below you may be

at fault but if it brings your day to an end,

that knowledge is small consolation.”

Finally, Lovett advises that, “if

tide-cheating and staying inshore,

consider having a crew member

constantly monitoring the depth. he

skipper and navigator may be busy,

complacence leads to groundings

oten well around the course.

“Awareness by all on board until back

into Cowes is a worthwhile investment.”

Essential information

Race date: Saturday 7 July 2018

Host club: Island Sailing Club, Cowes

Event charity: Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust - to

donate text RTIR18 and your amount to 70070

Race Partners: Cloudy Bay, Raymarine, Helly Hansen,

MS Amlin, Chelsea Magazines

Weather briefing: Friday 6 July at 1800,

Cowes Yacht Haven Event Centre

First start: 0630 (Open 60, IRC 0, Class40, Clipper 68, 70)

Number of starts: 11

Course description: 50.1nm west (anti-clockwise)

2017 overall winner: JPK 10.80 YES! (Adam Gosling)

RECORDS TO BEAT:

Monohull course record: 3h 43m 50s – Supermaxi,

ICAP Leopard (Mike Slade), set in 2013

Multihull course record: 2h 22m 23s – MOD70, Team

Concise 10 (Ned Collier Wakefield), set in 2017

July 2018 Yachts & Yachting 37

PREVIEW ROUND THE ISLAND RACE