Prima 38s in the Round the Island Race

by Tom Hayhoe 23 Jun 2003 09:14 BST

21 June 2003

12 Prima 38s came to the line for the third event in their 2003 Inshore Championship series, raced as one designs within the Island Sailing Club's Round the Island Race.

With a downtide, downwind start and 200 other competitors getting in the way, Guy Spurr's Kylidh made a stunning start, with the Army Sailing Association's Longbow in hot pursuit, while the rest of the fleet were held up in the melee. By Hurst, Jon Perry's Firestorm had got through to second, only to lose the second place to Tom Hayhoe and Natalie Jobling's Mostly Harmless in Freshwater Bay.

Kylidh held her lead round the south of the island, but Firestorm recovered second when Mostly Harmless grounded on Brook Ledges, also briefly allowing through Reet Peetite, sailed by Dennis Southern. By Bembridge Ledge buoy Firestorm was on Kylidh's tail, setting up an exciting final couple of hours racing: Firestorm rounded No Man's Land fort outside Kylidh, broke through immediately afterwards, and the two sailed gybe for gybe past Ryde and Wooton until Kylidh broke clear reach the finish at Cowes a minute ahead.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Helm
1st	Kylidh	Guy Spurr
2nd	Firestorm	Jon Perry
3rd	Mostly Harmless	Tom Hayhoe
4th	Reet Petite	Dennis Southern
5th	Bounty Hunter	Rodney Emberson