Sailing Races | Boomers Daily

It wasn’t the fastest and a small boat didn’t win, but this year’s Round the Island race was one to remember as a being a classic blast around the Isle of Wight.

The annual Round the Island Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club, is a one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight, an island situated off the south coast of England. The race regularly attracts over 1,400 boats and around 15,000 sailors, making it one of the largests yacht races in the world and the fourth largest participation sporting event in the UK after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs.

Competitors come from all over the UK, other parts of Europe and as far away as the USA to follow the 50 nautical mile course round the Isle of Wight. Starting on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, the fleet races westabout, to The Needles, round St Catherine’s Point and Bembridge Ledge buoy, and back into the Solent to the finish line at Cowes.

Spectators can find many vantage points, both on the mainland and Isle of Wight, to watch the race progress. Those who cannot get to watch in person can always keep an eye on the race’s progress on the website, via our live text commentary and our boat tracking facility.

After the start of The Ocean Race was delayed until 2021, due to Covid-19, the 11th Hour Racing Team decided to relocate their new IMOCA 60 sailing vessel from France back to the team’s home base in Newport, RI. Outside TV rides along on their transatlantic voyage.

The Ocean Race, the world’s toughest, fully-crewed around the world sailing race, has enthralled and inspired a global audience since 1973.

At the same time it has provided new perspectives on the ocean that covers more than 70% of our blue planet, bringing some of the most remote corners of the Earth up close and personal for viewers around the world.

Recent years have seen a growing awareness of the challenges facing the ocean and an increasing appreciation of the fundamental role it plays in maintaining the health of the planet.