Round the Island Race

Once again the brochure for the Round the Island Race has plonked through the letterbox.  I have competed in the RTIR twice before and  I look back with mixed emotions to the event.

In 2006 it was a pleasant experience sailed out on a very calm day on which a great number of boats were frustrated and didn't make it past the needles lighthouse. I had only had Watanga for about two months, so was not used to her size or her characteristics. The light winds gave me lots of time to think about the course and how to sail it. The finish was a tight squeeze through the line with strong tide causing major problems for most yachts. Overall we had a lot of fun and sailed back to Swanage the same day arriving tired but contentedly around midnight.

2007 however was a different beast.  We had collected more than £1500 for the MacMillan Charity so lots of people were interested in seeing how we did.  The day was windier and the start was way more crowded. With about 15knots blowing I decided to go with the Screecher which would be at it's top limit of safety, and off we went.  Now the only trouble with the screecher is it's a devil to tack and the wind was right on the nose. After a couple of bad tacks and lengthy tangles, we were being overhauled by all sorts of sporty boats. About 2 hours into the race,  on a Starboard tack, I was caught out by an indecisive skipper on Port. The result was £3500 of damage to us and we had to retire from the race.  I vowed at that time never to compete again, but 3 years on I've gained a lot more experience, I know my boat a lot better and it's starting to look attractive again!  I wonder what my insurers would say.   On the bright side I won the protest and the other boat was disqualified