ROUND THE ISLAND RACE 2021 : Sailing Melody SPECIAL Bonus Episode

Welcome to this BONUS Episode of Sailing Melody In this special feature Andy takes part in the historic and famous ROUND THE ISLAND RACE, around the Isle of Whight in the Solent, probably the most famous sailing ground in the world. As part of the crew of Lady Hope, a Beneteau 27.7, Andy joins Alan Robbinson from Performance Sails Ltd in Evesham, Richard, Adam and Andy (a different Andy) to complete the circuit in 4h 47m and finish in 12th place in class. The Island Sailing Club put on a spectacular 90th anniversary party for the 2021 Round the Island Race. The huge fleet of over 1200 boats showed how much people love taking part in this event. On the water there was everything from flat calm to 25 knot gusts, fog and sun, and as with every Round the Island Race, nothing compares to the sight of the fleet stretched out around the stunning Isle of Wight coast. Local Cowes boat Eeyore, an Alacrity 18 Bilge Keel, secured back-to-back overall victories and retained the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl which she has held since the 2019 race. Owner and skipper of Eeyore, Jo Richards said: “The thing with Round the Island Race is that it’s like buses; you wait years and years and then two come along consecutively. Interesting race yesterday; we had a shocking first leg down to the Needles and luckily there was a little bit of a lull under the cliffs and we got back into our class, and from then on it was really tight. When we got to Bembridge Ledge, having got the rating list out we knew we had to finish a minute and a half ahead of one boat and three minutes ahead of another boat. It was pretty tense the whole way back, and being the smallest boat in the fleet, you’ve got no control if a 55ft boat sits on top of you. It was only when we got back to shore and people starting texting that we thought we might have won. A great day out.” Meanwhile, the Alan Buchanan designed Cherete won the Silver Gilt Roman Bowl, awarded to the first boat overall in the ISCRS divisions. Owner and skipper of Cherete, Brian Haugh said: “We had a totally unexpected result and we were late getting to the start line. This was our tenth Round the Island Race, we had a great day and it felt like normality had resumed.” Peter Cunningham’s multihull MOD70 PowerPlay was the first to finish the race with a time of 4hrs 11mins 01secs. A light start to the race prevented any chance of beating the race record, which was set by PowerPlay, as Concise 10, in 2017 (2hrs 22mins and 23 secs). PowerPlay finished this year's race ahead of the ULTIM Actual and the 32m trimaran IDEC. Tala, owned by David Collins, was the first monohull to finish the race, with a time of 6hrs 11mins 36secs. The Island Sailing Club would like to thank their race partners for their support: Haven Knox-Johnston, Helly Hansen, Marlin Leisure Marine, Raymarine, Chelsea Magazines and Cowes Harbour Commission. There are openings for new partners in 2022 and beyond; email sponsorship@islandsc.org.uk to start the conversation. The race in 2022 will be on Saturday 25 June. Remember we're doing all of this so we can go full time cruising as a sailing family in a few years time. We're hoping eventually to get the boat set up for single handed sailing so we can relax knowing she is an easy boat to sail in any conditions from light winds to rough seas. Making sure our mast is in perfect condition along with our rigging is super important and we will be spending a lot of time getting it perfect! This is obviously a huge refit and refurbishment of this big, old, abandoned steel yacht and it's not only time consuming, it's complicated and quite expensive so we really do value any help we can get, whether it's helpful advice and comments on the video or gifts through our Amazon Wishlist or actual contributions through Patreon, Paypal and Ko-Fi. We want to say a HUUUUUUUGE thank you to eveyone who has contributed in any way and here are the links if you'd like to help us out at all on this amazing journey. Our links Support is on Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/sailingmelody Check us out on Instagram : https://instagram.com/sailingmelody Come talk to us on facebook : https://facebook.com/melodysailing Or make a one time contribution via PayPal or Ko-Fi using these links Paypal.me/sailingmelody https://ko-fi.com/sailingmelody Our friends and supporters Website https://www.promarinestore.co.uk Gift Card https://www.promarinestore.co.uk/sailing-melody-youtube-channel-gift-card Wish List https://www.promarinestore.co.uk/blog/pro-marine-store-and-sailing-melody We also have an Amazon wishlist. https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/B5C3SADTF7LQ?ref_=wl_share Our Gear Sony a6400 Feiyutech a1000 gimbal GoPro 7 Hero GoPro 3 Hero Rode Studiomic pro Rode Studiomic mini