The 81st Round the Island Race took place on Saturday, 30 June, with an entry of 1,647 boats enjoying very windy conditions.

A total of 1,198 boats crossed the finish line within the 10pm deadline. 247 retired, giving a 73% finish rate.

Strong winds caused incidents early on with crew suffering head and spinal injuries. A Gemini 105Mc catamaran capsized and all the eight crew were taken to shore with no reported serious injuries.

There were collisions near the start. Read up on our Scuttlebutt forum for first-hand accounts.

The winner of the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl for first boat overall on IRC handicap was Tony Langley’s TP52 Manroland Sheetfed. Competing in IRC 0, Manroland Sheetfed (aka Weapon of Choice) was the second monohull to complete the course, finishing in 4hrs, 42mins and 12secs to win on corrected time by just 3 minutes.

As the first monohull to finish, the Observer Trophy went to Mike Slade and ICAP Leopard whilst the Silver Roman Bowl was won by last year’s Gold Roman Bowl winner, Jo Hutchinson, on Sundowner.

For more details and full list of results visit the Round the Island Race website. Yachting Monthly will report on the race in our August issue.

Photo: Copyright Patrick Eden