Maiden II cleared the Needles at 0950 after an 0830 start but Yvan Bourgnon’s tri made rather too spectacular a start on the Round The Island race.

Last year windy conditions enabled French trimaran, Dexia Eure et Loir, helmed by Olympic triple medal winner Rodney Pattisson of Poole, to take almost an hour off Pattisson’s own 15-year-old record. Dexia completed the course in just 3hr 8min 29sec at an average speed of 15.9 knots. Rexona Men looked like a valid threat to that time, flying two hulls across the Western Solent, but pushd the boundaries tow hard on the northern shore and hit East Lepe Ledge for her endeavour, which caused her to retire.

Back at Cowes, despite calm weather conditions on the Squadron Line, a general recall was issued for the IRC 1 class start, as many boats were over the line on the gun. Given that the organisers are managing over 1600 yachts today such decisions must cause a certain level of anxiety for the race officers.

We are currently located off the Needles where most of the fleet can be seen in the distance far along the Solent. Wind is currently only around F3 SW with a light tide, making for easy conditions in the Needles Channel for early arrivals.