I had a thrilling day crewing on the Round the Island Race this year. 8 hours 55 minutes of tricky sailing in unpredictable conditions was made all the more of an experience by our skipper, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail single handed round the world non stop. An amazing man, he regaled us with stories and his sense of the wind and tide was supernatural. A Hampshire and Isle of Wight institution since 1931, RTIR has now become the largest sailing event in the world, with around 1,000 boats competing. I have to say it was quite a sight to round the Needles, and see behind us dozens of boats breaking out their spinnakers in unison.
We came second, in a class of two!