By Isle of Wight Observer
The Round the Island race has been hailed as one of the best in years, with more than 800 boats gathering at the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes on Saturday, for the 95th edition of the iconic race.
The race’s top prize, the Gold Roman Bowl, was won by Tattarat skipper and owner, Simon Moss, in his Nordic Folkboat, after the yachts battled it out over the 50-nautical mile course.
Tattarat recorded a corrected time of 7h 38m 52s to claim victory – finishing less than four minutes ahead of Andrew Gilmour’s Timoa. The rest of the Tattarat crew comprised Cy Grisley, Matt Wright, and Sally Moss.
Among the other winners was 17-year-old Will Reeve, who only bought his boat, Innuendo, this month, and claimed the Round the Island race Young Sailor trophy.
Afterwards, Dave Atkinson, race director, said: “It was an amazing day and a terrific race. We’ve been wishing for good weather for years, and Saturday really delivered for us, as we had fantastic sunshine and a good breeze.
“The sight of all the spinnakers up for the start was one to behold, and really showed the race in all its glory.”
Pace, owned by Jonny Vincent, was the first boat to finish, in an elapsed time of 6h 32m 39s, and Jonny said: “What a great day and a great race.
“It was hard work going down the mainland shore at the start, and there was a really funky bit around The Needles, which was a bit tricky. We stayed pretty close to the Island shore but so nice to head back into the sunshine.”
