Round the Island Race

[schmalex]

Anyone else doing it? It's my least favourite race of the year due to the number of numpties out there, but for some strange reason, I always look forward to it in the hope of a good blast with the A-sail up from Needles Fairway to the Forts.

Unfortunately, the forecast looks pretty light, but hopefully, it'll be sunny!!!

[Huntsman]

Five early on easing to a four I heard, maybe a few showers in the morning?

I'll be on a green Nic 55, first time I've done it for over a decade since a very fast lap on a J120.

[Dougal]

Will be on a 1720, hopefully on the plane with the foils humming most of the way round , rather than broaching every 5 mins like last year

[Hard-Drive]

Due to a slight error in holiday planning, I will be spectating from a Boeing 777 this year. Grrrr. Mind you, with the numpty count high, and 2 weeks planned on the boat for the end of the month, perhaps no bad thing...

Enjoy!

[schmalex]

We did the 2 handed RTI about 6 weeks ago & it was pretty blowy. We clocked 21kts boat speed on the log & GPS going past St Cats, at which point we thought it'd be prudent to change from the big kite to the reacher. Whilst we were planing, the big kite drags the bow down into waves - planing hard and submarining at the same time is a most interesting / sphincter tightening experience when you're only 2 up!

[GBGaffer]

I will be hovering in Scratchells bay on the orange and blue boat running a book on the number of competitors to hit the Varvassi!

[Kneetrembler]

GBGaffer said:

I will be hovering in Scratchells bay on the orange and blue boat running a book on the number of competitors to hit the Varvassi!

I'll be sitting off Ryde middle waiting for the unwary on Ryde Sands

[Huntsman]

We're all set. 7.40 start.

[Huntsman]

Huntsman said:

We're all set. 7.40 start.

7 hours 45 mins, mid field result, could do better, but all things considered ok and great day out with chums.

[GBGaffer]

We left the harbour at 07:30,
got back at 17:00, then got another call, and finally got home at 20:00

[schmalex]

We had great race. Leaving Lymington at 0500 for the start was a little harsh, but we got to Cowes in plenty of time for our 0715 start. Had a good beat out of the Solent & then a fun blast reach from Needles to St Cats, where we popped the kite. We absolutely took off and sat on the plane for close to 90 minutes from St Cats to Bemberidge, with an average speed on that leg of 14.2 kts, hitting (and holding or 30 seconds or so) a top speed of 17.9 kts (not bad in a 30 footer!!).

We ended up coming 6th in IRC 1C and 22nd overall in IRC Group 1. Most of that was due to the sleigh ride with the kite up!!!! Great day out and feeling a little battered today, as A 30's aren't known as "submarines" without good reason!!

Edited by schmalex on Sunday 1st July 18:15

[Kneetrembler]

There were certainly lots of kites up and a splendid sight,with lots of rooster tails.

The race seemed to pass without any real incidents

There was a helicopter up covering the race, but not sure of what if any T.V coverage will be.( BBC I Player Solent Special ) perhaps.














9

[schmalex]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

21 knots ?

Yep. 30' planing sports boat, with the biggest A-sail you've ever seen. It carries an IRC of nearly 1.1, though, so we race head to head with 42 - 45 footers. We can out sail the handicap if we can get sufficient time with the kite up, as it planes so damned easily. However, we tend to struggle upwind, as we just don't have the waterline length to keep both speed and height (to hold 8kts upwind, we need to sail around 5 degrees or so lower than the big boats and try to get the foils to give us lift).

Still, it's worth it purely for when we pop the kite in a decent breeze and start jumping from wave to wave