Round the Island Race Starts From Cowes With 800‑Plus Boats

Overview

• The race began on Saturday with more than 800 boats leaving the Royal Yacht Squadron line in ten‑minute waves to sail the 50‑nautical‑mile anti‑clockwise course around the Isle of Wight.
• Race director Dave Atkinson said the forecast showed some of the best winds in years, and organisers say those conditions create a realistic opportunity to beat existing course times.
• Spectators can use a larger Race Village on Cowes Parade and many coastal vantage points to watch the fleet, with published sightlines and timing windows from The Needles through St Catherine’s Point to the Cowes finish.
• The entry list mixes Olympians, professional race teams and family crews competing across multiple classes for more than 100 trophies under the race’s handicap system.
• The benchmarks to watch are the monohull record of 3h 43m 50s set by ICAP Leopard in 2013 and the multihull record of 2h 22m 23s set by Concise 10 in 2017, and any new fast times could raise the event’s competitive profile and boost local businesses hosting race‑day viewing.