Yacht designer Jeremy Rogers helmed his Contessa 26 Rosina of Beaulieu to win the Gold Roman Bowl in the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race today.

The team was very much a family affair with his two sons, Simon looking after the sail trim and Kit on the bow. Rosina of Beaulieu has previously won the coveted top trophy in 2002 and 2003 but the family was surprised to come out on top this time. Simon commented: “In the light conditions, it was a very testing race. You had to concentrate on boat speed the whole time and really didn’t know where anyone else was. We were fortunate to be one of the last boats to get through The Needles. Had there been a keeper in the lighthouse we hope he might have been impressed, as we missed Goose Rock by only a couple of feet.”

“Rosina of Beaulieu” was bought by Jeremy Rogers in 1999 and has been lovingly restored. Jeremy is a former successful Admiral’s Cup and One Ton Cup skipper as well as Yachtsman of the Year in 1974. The family all live in Lymington where Kit, teaches science at the local secondary school.

In the light conditions which prevailed for much of the race, the smaller, lower-rated boats came off best. Second overall was the Folkboat “Madelaine” (Edward Donald and Liesa Jones) followed by no fewer than seven quarter tonners including “Purple Haze” (Tony Dodd) winner last year and placed fourth this time.

As darkness falls, the results of the ISC Rating System division are still uncertain. Many of the boats out on the racecourse are motoring in, but some are still racing and hope to beat the 10.00 pm time limit.