Some sailing days stay with you forever. This year's Round the Island Race will certainly be one of them. The alarm clock sounded at 5.00am, far earlier than most sensible people would consider getting out of bed on a Saturday morning, but there was never going to be a second thought. The reward would be a front-row seat at one of Britain's greatest sailing spectacles. With the River Medina still quiet and the tide carrying me gently downstream, I climbed aboard my RIB and headed for the Island Sailing Club, arriving shortly before 6.15am as the eastern sky was beginning to glow. Waiting there were Matt White and Justin Cooper, who welcomed the media team before assigning us to one of the three official press boats covering the event. By 6.30am we were slipping our lines and heading towards the famous Royal Yacht Squadron starting line. What unfolded over the next two hours reminded me exactly why this race has become such an institution.
Nearly 800 Boats. One Start Line. One Remarkable Sight. No matter how many times you have watched the Round the Island Race begin, nothing quite prepares you for the scale of it. Everywhere you looked there were yachts. Large racing machines with towering carbon rigs. Beautiful classic yachts. Family cruisers. Quarter Tonners. Folkboats. Sportsboats. Multihulls. Crews making final adjustments. Spinnakers being checked. Coffee mugs balanced carefully in cockpits. Nervous smiles. Confident smiles. The occasional skipper pretending not to be nervous at all.
By race day, almost 800 boats had gathered beneath clear blue skies, creating a scene that could only belong to Cowes. The Solent looked magnificent. The sea sparkled in the early morning sunshine. There was barely a cloud in the sky. It was already becoming one of those glorious summer days sailors dream about during the long winter months.
The Royal Yacht Squadron Cannon Never Loses Its Magic The genius of the Round the Island Race lies in its staggered starts. Rather than releasing hundreds of yachts together, the fleet is divided into nine separate starting sequences, each ten minutes apart, beginning at 7.00am and continuing until 8.20am. Each group includes compatible racing classes, from IRC racers and cruiser-racers to Sportsboats, J/109s, XODs, Folkboats, Sonatas, Quarter Tonners, Squibs, Gaffers and many more. It creates order from what could easily become chaos. Our press boat positioned itself just ahead of each starting line. Then we waited. Finally, the unmistakable boom of the Royal Yacht Squadron cannon echoed across the Solent. Within seconds hundreds of sails accelerated towards us. There is something wonderfully dramatic about watching an entire fleet charge directly towards your boat before spreading across the western Solent in search of clean air and favourable tide. As each start swept past, our skipper wasted no time. Engines engaged. The press boat leapt forward. We accelerated alongside the fleet towards Gurnard, cameras clicking constantly as crews settled into race mode. Then it was back to the Squadron Line. Position ourselves again. Wait for the next cannon. Do it all over again. We repeated the sequence for almost an hour and a half, capturing every start from one of the finest vantage points imaginable. It was impossible not to appreciate just how much organisation goes into staging a race of this size. From the race committee to the safety boats, photographers, volunteers and officials, everything worked with impressive precision.
Fastest Doesn't Always Mean Winner If you stood beside the Squadron Line simply watching the starts, you would probably assume the largest carbon racing yachts were destined to dominate the results. That has always been one of the great misconceptions of the Round the Island Race. Yes, Pace, Johnny Vincent's spectacular Volvo Open 70, blasted around the island to claim line honours, demonstrating exactly why these ocean racing thoroughbreds remain among the fastest monohulls afloat. Close behind came Tony Langley's TP52 Gladiator, another yacht with an enviable reputation both in the Solent and on the international racing circuit. Both boats were magnificent to watch. Both sailed superbly. Yet neither currently tops the race that really matters.
However the current IRC Overall is Tattarat The provisional IRC Overall leaderboard produced one of those wonderfully British sailing stories that reminds us why handicap racing continues to thrive. Leading Britain's biggest yacht race... ...was not a carbon flyer. Not a million-pound grand prix racer. Not a professional campaign. Instead, sitting proudly at the top of the provisional standings was Tattarat, Simon Moss's beautifully sailed Nordic Folkboat. Even more remarkable, three Nordic Folkboats occupied places within the provisional top four. The leading ten currently reads:
1. Tattarat Simon Moss Nordic Folkboat
2. Timoa Andrew Gilmour Stella MOD
3. If Only Ray Mitchell & David Ayling Nordic Folkboat
4. Madelaine Mike Stoner & Dan Rigden Nordic Folkboat
5. Marmite Andrew Rushworth Limbo 6.6
6. Olivia Anne VI Jan Thirkettle Quarter Ton
8. Marmalade Jo Richards Hurley 18 Mk2
7. Encounter Charles Lucas-Clements First 285
9. Bullet Louise Morton Quarter Ton
10. Sonic Robin Leather Sonata One Design
These are, of course, provisional results and remain subject to confirmation by the race committee. Nevertheless, they tell a fascinating story.
This Is Why We Love This Race There is something rather satisfying about watching modest yachts outperform vastly more expensive machines. Not because the bigger boats have failed. Far from it. Pace and Gladiator delivered exactly what everyone expected. They were breathtaking. The Folkboats simply reminded us that yacht racing has never been decided by cheque books alone. The Round the Island Race has always rewarded preparation. Good helming. Sound navigation. Understanding the tide. Choosing the correct sail. Keeping the boat moving through difficult patches. Those skills matter every bit as much today as they did when the race first began almost a century ago. Watching Tattarat and her fellow Folkboats sitting proudly at the top of the leaderboard felt entirely appropriate. Sometimes sailing still gets it exactly right.
A Day to Remember As we headed back towards Cowes, the Solent was still alive with colourful sails stretching from horizon to horizon. Some crews were still battling their way around the island.
The Round the Island Race has never simply been about who finishes first. It is about spending a day on one of the world's finest stretches of water alongside hundreds of fellow sailors who all share the same passion. Standing aboard the Island Sailing Club press boat, camera in hand beneath cloudless skies, it was impossible not to feel privileged. Days like this remind you why sailing captures the imagination in a way few other sports can.
Long may it continue.