As
dawn broke over the Solent, a weak weather front was clearing away to
the east, leaving clear skies and a northerly airflow in its wake. The
wind strength peaked at 17-22 knots as the front passed over, reducing
to 13-17 knots for the first starters. It was clear it was going to be a
day to break records for all kinds of boats, especially with flat water
and a good wind angle on every leg of the course. A critical turning
point in the race, St Catherine's Point, had a comfortable 15 kts with
occasional gusts to 20-25 kts to make for fast surfing or planing for
the lighter boats. It was nearly idyllic sailing conditions for the
massive 1,500 boat fleet. However, by the time the leading sportsboats were approaching Bembridge Ledge at
1030 hrs there were holes appearing in the breeze, with just 5-6 knots
reported in places. Otherwise, conditions remain glorious on the water,
with almost unbroken sun now warming the 15,000 sailors after a cold
start to the day. The fourteen boat IRC Sportsboat class saw very, very fast sailing. A string of Royal Yacht Squadron/ Royal Thames YC J/80 one-designs sailed with ROYAL 1 taking 4th, ROYAL 5 in 6th, ROYAL 2 in 7th and ROYAL 3 in 9th.
The eleven boat J/80 one-design class was a closely fought affair with the top five finishing within four minutes of each other on elapsed time after 50nm of sailing! The winner by 30 seconds was J.A.T, followed by SURF & TURF in 2nd, WILD WALLY in 3rd, ROCK & ROLL in 4th and JASMINE in 5th. Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth @ PWPictures.com. For more Round The Island Race sailing information
