around the island yacht race

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• Round The Island Race 2025

Beginners or Experienced – No previous experience is necessarily required. We have race prepared yachts and also cruiser yachts that are less complicated. Talk to us so that we can match you, your experience and attitude with the right boat and crew! We have an experienced Skipper and First Mate on board each boat to help guide you through what is required on your Round the Island Yacht Race experience. They are there to help assist and mentor  / helm and co-ordinate the crew. With a 1st Mate we are in a position to fly spinnakers (either asymmetric / symmetrical) when conditions allow.  Rest assured you are not being ‘just sailed around’ (unless you want to) but will be encouraged to take part in all aspects / positions aboard the yacht. At night you can either stay on board, or if you would prefer you can take accommodation ashore and join the boat during the day. We offer packages aboard the yachts as below with either a ‘Buy a Berth or Cabin (for 2)’ or a ‘complete yacht charter’ price that includes a Skipper.  NEED A VOUCHER ? – RING US NOW!

Your Round the Island Yacht Race Event includes:

• Yacht (As per description -Spinnaker or Asymmetric)
• Professional Skipper (& First Mate where appropriate)
• From Gosport / Free Parking
• Accommodation Aboard (shared cabin)
• Cowes Mooring on Fri / Sat nights
• Safety Equipment
• Race Entry Fees
• Racing Insurance (Food on board during sailing – for ‘book a berth clients’ yachts.)

Round the Island Race – Complete Yacht Charter

Please enquire if you require a complete yacht charter. Beneteau First 40 Elan 434 Dufour 46 Jeanneau 43 Jeanneau 37

The 3-Day Round the Island Race Complete Yacht Charter allows for a useful practice day meeting on Friday morning 0930 hrs. Boats will berth in West Cowes  on a ‘walk-ashore’ mooring right in the heart of West Cowes for Friday / Saturday night to allow access to enjoy the shore-side ambience and festivities. Yachts depart and return to Hamble or Gosport. Ask for details applicable to each yacht. You self provision for sailing and eat ashore at own cost either at one of the many food stalls or in one of the restaurants in the evenings. Accommodation on board:   We will take the Skipper / Mate off at night to free up berths for you and your crew.

Jeanneau 43 – Cruiser with Spinnaker. – Up to 10 Clients / 3 Doubles / 1 Bunk Bed / Saloon for 2 / Heads x 2. Large spacious versatile accommodation cruiser yacht available for up to 10 clients plus Skipper & 1st Mate. Has 2 wheels and plenty of cockpit space. 11 berths in 4 cabins (3 x Doubles and a bunk bed cabin) plus a double and single in the main saloon. Comes with either symmetric or asymmetric spinnaker

Beneteau First 40 Race Cruiser with Spinnaker –  Up to 10 Clients / 3 Doubles / Saloon for 2 / Heads x 1 Lovely sporty yacht available for a Skippered Boat with 1st Mate included with full sail inventory, large spacious cockpit with German mainsheet system, deep draught and large wheel. 8 berths available on board in 3 x double cabins plus single berths either side in the saloon.

Jeanneau 37 – Cruiser with Spinnaker – Up to 8 Clients / 3 Doubles / Saloon for 2 / Heads x 1 Comfortable cruiser yacht available for a Skippered Boat with 1st Mate included with slab reefed main /

roller furling genoa, Total 9 berths available on board in 3 x double cabins plus single berths plus a double in the saloon.

3 – Day ‘Book a Berth’ Option for Individuals / Cabin Shares on 43ft Jeanneau (Friday Practice / Saturday Race / Sunday Chill-Out Sail / Food on board) Individual ‘Book a Berth’  £1595  2 Person Price of Double Cabin Share £850  Individual Price 

The 3 day ‘Book a berth on RTI Event’ format will be on a  Jeanneau 43 – Cruiser with Spinnaker or asymmetrical or symmetric spinnaker.  There is a practice day meeting on Friday morning 0930 hrs. Boats will berth in West Cowes  on a ‘walk-ashore’ mooring right in the heart of West Cowes for Friday / Saturday night to allow access to enjoy the shore-side ambience and festivities. Yachts depart and return to Gosport. The event has with food available on board during the sailing and you eat out at one of the many food stalls or in one of the restaurants in the evenings at own cost. You are allocated a berth (or cabin) and can stay on board Friday and Saturday nights on a ‘walk-ashore’ mooring in West Cowes.

The Jeanneau 43 is a large spacious cruiser yacht with versatile accommodation which allows us some flexibility in accommodating a ‘Buy a Berth’ crew of up to 9 sleeping aboard. Up to 11 berths are available – 3 doubles / 1 bunk bed cabin (for 2) / saloon (for 3) / heads x 2 .  Has 2 wheels and plenty of cockpit space. Instrument repeater below and a TV / DVD. The yacht has a cooker, microwave and large fridge. Comes with either symmetric or asymmetric spinnaker.

Please contact us to determine availability of book a berth and also complete yacht charter availability – this event always sells out but it is worth contacting us even late minute as occasionally we are able to put on an additional yacht at late notice!

Ages 14-80 Years Crew on Board – Read what the Keys family made of it!

Missed Out? Try our Cowes Week Regatta Options

James Fox – (he’s done RTI Race with Yachtforce six times now) said, ‘Please pass on my thanks and appreciation to Steve and Chris. Awesome guys, great fun and would love to sail with them again. So if you need numbers for next year then, as always, sign me up! Also – love the boat!’

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Experience and Poise Lift New York Yacht Club to Third Straight Hinman Masters Trophy

In the world of competitive sailing, where precision and poise often decide the outcome, 25 short-course races over three days in winds that barely reached 10 knots would test even the most seasoned sailors. Yet, when the stakes were highest on the final day of the Hinman Masters Team Race at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I., the key to victory lay not in brute strength or speed but in maintaining composure under pressure.

“When you’re in a situation like that, with everyone finishing at the same time in a crucial race, you really focus on staying calm,” said Brian Doyle, the skipper who led the New York Yacht Club to its third consecutive win. “You just try to keep your boat in the right position, stay within the rules, and cross the line ahead of your rivals. When it’s that close, and everyone’s sprinting to the finish, you never know how it’ll shake out. But we edged it by inches.”

Doyle’s reference points to a nail-biting race between Southern Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club earlier today. With the two teams tied atop the leaderboard after three grueling round robins and entering a mini round robin among the top four teams, every inch mattered. The race saw the lead shift back and forth, with all six boats converging on the finish line simultaneously. Ultimately, it was a battle for fifth place, decided mere feet from the finish, that tipped the scales in favor of New York. The club secured the overall win by splitting its final two races, while Southern Yacht Club, finishing second, stood on the podium for the fifth consecutive year. Eastport Yacht Club claimed third place, and Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club finished fourth.

Since its inception in 2000, the Hinman Masters Team Race has become a staple in the evolution of adult team racing, requiring skippers to be at least 45 years old and crew members over 40. This regatta, along with the Morgan Cup and the Grandmasters Team Race, forms the New York Yacht Club’s trio of prestigious team races, drawing top talent from the United States and Europe each August.

To an observer, team racing might seem chaotic, with the cacophony of starts, mark roundings, and finishes in close quarters. However, for the victorious New York Yacht Club team, the path to success was paved by familiarity and understated communication.

“Our team has been together for several years, and we’ve developed a strong bond,” said Doyle. “We anticipate each other’s moves, so there’s not a lot of chatter, just solid boat handling and teamwork that consistently puts us in the right spots. That’s what got us through in the end.”

Doyle’s squad, with six of its 13 sailors having raced together in the previous three Hinman Masters, leaned heavily on their shared experience, especially in the light and variable winds that defined this year’s regatta.

“No lead was safe because as soon as you headed downwind, anything could happen,” Doyle noted. “On the final day, the wind was coming over Goat Island, making it puffy and shifty all the way down. You could be leading at the top mark, but that didn’t guarantee a win.”

With this victory—its ninth in the 25-year history of the event—the New York Yacht Club extended its lead in the regatta’s all-time standings. Southern Yacht Club remains a strong second, with four wins, but this year’s razor-thin margins underscore the growing competitiveness in adult team racing.

“Adult team racing has really blossomed over the 25 years of the Hinman Masters,” Doyle said. “It’s exciting to see more clubs getting involved, especially with fleets of Sonars, which are ideal for team racing. We’ve heard that more clubs are investing in fleets this year, so the future of adult team racing looks bright.”

The New York Yacht Club’s 2024 team racing season will culminate with the Grandmasters Team Race from August 23 to 25, featuring ten teams competing under the leadership of skippers aged 60 and older.

Final Results:

• New York Yacht Club – Doyle, 19 wins
• Southern Yacht Club, 18 wins
• Eastport Yacht Club, 16 wins
• Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, 16 wins
• New York Yacht Club – Singsen, 9 wins
• Annapolis Yacht Club, 7 wins
• Riverside Yacht Club, 7 wins
• St. Petersburg Yacht Club, 4 wins

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54th Shaw Island Classic Yacht Race Sails Through Varied Conditions

Sunshine, variable winds and channel fog set the stage for the 54th annual Shaw Island Classic yacht race, hosted by the San Juan Island Yacht Club (SJIYC) on August 10. This race is unique in that Shaw Island is the only mark and can be rounded in either direction. It is only a 13-mile course, but shifting winds, variable currents, narrow, rocky channels, and ferry traffic often turn it into a nautical chess game.

“It was a drag race to Wasp Passage,” said Ken Machtley, skipper of Treachery, a Martin 242, and first-place winner in the PHRF-C division and first overall. “Four Orcas Island boats (a Soling 27 and three Martin 242s) and the venerable Wild Rumpus , a Santa Cruz 27, were in a dead heat up San Juan Channel. Wasp Passage provided its normal ‘wind from every direction’ challenges, though the ebb helped to push us along and make quicker work of this tricky section than [in] most years.”

Two-thirds of the fleet of 39 boats took a clockwise course, betting there was enough wind at the start to overcome an ebb current in the San Juan Channel. This course would allow riding the ebb through the notoriously narrow and windless Wasp Passage. That bet paid off with all but one clockwise boat finishing the race. While clockwise dominated, most of the counterclockwise racers also finished, with 36 boats crossing the line before the 6:00 p.m. cutoff.

“It was one of the best sails in recent memory!” said Nigel Oswald, singlehanded skipper of Makika , an F25C trimaran, placing first in the multihull division and first to finish on elapsed time in 2:28:36.

“More wind than expected and we had a close battle with Mist (a Transpac 52) all the way around. The holes were much shorter than normal, just a couple of dead spots for a couple of minutes and the rest of the time we were always moving.”

The clockwise boats made short work of reaching the midway point in Cayou Channel on the northeast side of Shaw Island , where the winds usually turn light and fluky. Still riding the ebb, racers floating past Hankin Point met up with the unusual combination of channel fog and 9- to 12-knot winds.

“We didn’t have the modern navigation aids,” said Michael Durland, skipper of Challenge , a 6-Meter and first-place finisher in the PHRF-B division, “so had to pick a boat ahead of us in the fog who looked like they were headed home and then once we passed them find someone else to tail until the fog lifted and the finish line was in sight. Always a treat to pass up these modern go-fast boats with a 90-year-old classic.”

Thank you to the Washington State Ferry captains of the Samish , Tillikum , Chelan , and Yakima who carefully maneuvered through the racing fleet. A particular shout-out goes to the captain of the Samish , who edged north through the narrow waterway between Flat Point and Canoe Island in Upright Channel, in a bank of fog with the racing fleet beating to windward south.

Spirits were high and spirits were enjoyed as racers once again gathered at the lovely SJIYC clubhouse overlooking the harbor for post-race banter and a hearty lasagna dinner served by the first mates.

“Overall, we had an exceptional day on the water, with enough wind to make it a fast race, spotty fog to add an interesting twist to navigation at times, and a nice-size fleet of exceptional competitors to sail against,” added Ken Machtley.

The Perseverance Award, in honor of Wally Lum, who skippered his Seabird yawl Marquita in the first Shaw and has competed in every race since, goes to the last boat to cross the finish before the deadline. This year’s winner was Nisku , a Crealock 34 skippered by Luis Zappelli. Most winners get a brag flag and an inscription on a perpetual trophy, but the lucky winner of this award gets a bottle of champagne!

Complete results and photos are posted at the club’s website at http://sjiyc.com/shaw .

Thanks to Peg Gerlock for sharing this fun report on the Shaw Island Classic. If you have a sailing story or photos to share, email us at [email protected] .

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Six people missing and one dead after tornado sinks luxury yacht off Sicily

Emergency crews search the coast off the Italian port of Porticello, on August 19, after a tornado sank a luxury yacht nearby. (Igor Petyx/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

(CNN) —  Rescuers were on Monday searching for six people – including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch – who went missing after a luxury yacht was hit by a tornado and sank off the coast of Sicily, killing one of the 22 people on board.

The vessel was hit by the tornado at around 5 a.m. Monday, according to a spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard. The yacht was anchored about a half a mile from the port of Porticello on the Mediterranean island.

Four Britons and two Americans are among those missing, the spokesperson said.

A source told CNN that Lynch, the founder of software giant Autonomy, was a passenger on the yacht. His wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued. The source spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Fifteen others were rescued from the scene and one child was airlifted to the children’s hospital in Palermo. Eight people were hospitalized in total, according to the mayor’s office. One body was found on the hull of the yacht, the Coast Guard said.

A small waterspout – one of several types of tornadoes – developed over the area Monday morning, according to a report from the European Severe Weather Database. Other strong storms across Sicily brought torrential rainfall late Sunday, dumping more than 4 inches (100 mm) of rain in less than four hours in Brolo, east of Palermo.

The weather forecast had warned of potential strong winds, with storms across the entire southern region of Italy Sunday, the Coast Guard spokesperson added.

One survivor, Charlotte, 35, described how she battled to hold onto her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, reported Italian news agency ANSA, as a barrage of waves sank the yacht.

“In two seconds I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amidst the fury of the waves. I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy,” she told journalists. “Many were screaming.”

The captain is among the survivors, the spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard said.

The 56-meter yacht called the “Bayesian,” which flies under a British flag, had mostly British passengers and crew, in addition to two Anglo-French, one New Zealander, one Irish and one Sri Lankan, the spokesperson told CNN.

The Italian fire brigade said its divers had reached the yacht’s hull 49 meters (160 feet) below sea level, according to a press statement. The brigade also dispatched helicopters to bolster the search operation.

The captain of a nearby boat said he turned on his engine to avoid crashing into the Bayesian, Reuters reported, as fierce gales swept the area.

“This morning we got this strong gust and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position,” he told reporters on Monday. “After the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone.”

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is deploying a team of four inspectors to Palermo to conduct a preliminary assessment of the yacht, a source familiar with the operations told CNN. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not say when the team is expected to arrive in Sicily.

British tycoon among those missing

Lynch, the British entrepreneur missing from the yacht, had been plagued by legal woes since 2011, when he sold his company to tech firm Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11 billion.

In June, he was acquitted of fraud by a jury in San Francisco, after prosecutors accused him of trying to inflate Autonomy’s revenue in the latest chapter of the legal saga.

He turned ground-breaking research at Cambridge University into the foundation of Autonomy, which became Britain’s biggest software company and a member of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index.

Lynch was lauded by academics and scientists and asked to advise the British government on technology and innovation.

Ownership records held by maritime information service Equasis show that the yacht is owned by the Isle of Man-registered Revtom Limited company. Revtom Limited’s latest annual return from April lists Bacares as its owner.

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