The fleet are mostly still south of the island in the mid afternoon spell of a Round the Island Race that has so far been marked by a series of incidents but no nasty accidents.

The 60ft trimaran Rexona Men retired after hitting Lepe Spit off the Beaulieu River entrance, whilst at the start line Stephen Bailey’s Arbitrator was hit by Alvine XII, the Clipper Reflex 38 Lion Clipper was substantially damaged in another collision and the IRC yachts Forward Thinking, Tresca and Menenes tangled themselves into retirement. Further on, close to Yarmouth, the Formula One yacht Spirit of Juno suffered mast failure. Inshore lifeboats were involved in at least two of the incidents but there are no reports of injuries.

Disappointment of another kind was Maiden II’s lot. The 110ft maxi catamaran, co-skippered by Brian Thompson and Helena Darvelid, missed out on Rodney Pattison’s race course record by 13 minutes, finishing in 3h 21m 16s. “The race was hard and fast, with the beat and conditions proving to be just too much on the day, although we’ll certainly be back for next year’s race to take the record,” said Maiden II’s co-skipper, Helena Darvelid.

Wind off of Bembridge has dropped to around 10 knots and still has some south in it. The BT Challenge fleet and several sportsboats are amongst the yachts entering the Eastern Solent as we write this report (1500) and more sails are now looming on the horizon towards St Catherine’s Point. The cruiser classes look as though they will be home for tea time or thereabouts.