Carey Olsen Inter Island Yacht Race

Jackana - winner of the 2011 Carey Olsen Inter Island Yacht Race © Sam Field

Jackana - winner of the 2011 Carey Olsen Inter Island Yacht Race © Sam Field

Jackana has won the 2011 Carey Olsen Inter Island Yacht Race. Despite challenging conditions that tested the determination and skills of 67 participating yachts, the Jersey boat, skippered by David Jones, completed the crossing between the islands in a corrected time of four hours and 54 minutes.

Skipper David Jones was thrilled to have won the race. “It was a dream race, the northerly breeze made for perfect conditions, although the sea state meant that we had to work hard to keep Jackana moving fast. A general recall at the first start allowed us to change our game plan for the second start, and we got away well, which proved to be crucial.

“We kept our focus on boat speed and the wind conditions and felt it best to play all the wind shifts, which took us west of the rhumb-line. It was definitely a day for putting the ‘kitchen table’ navigation plan to one side and really go with the conditions on the day. I’ve been taking part for many years and have come 2nd and 3rd before. My late father won the race in 2004 so it is fantastic to follow in his footsteps, my whole family is delighted,” said Mr Jones.

Two Guernsey yachts completed the top three, with Martin Ozard’s X-Celerator and Aden Clark’s Blue J’Ade finishing second and third respectively.

Alectrona came home in fourth, also taking the award for first family crewed yacht for the Knowles family.

The other twenty prizes were evenly shared between sailors from both islands. Jersey’s Arrasy won first prize amongst the bilge keel boats while Dino Castro in Dark Horse took first long keel for Guernsey. Best young skipper went to Matt Perkins in the A35 Abracadabra which came in 15th overall. First Melges and first Swan both went to Guernsey yachts as Simon Henning in White Rabbit and John Falla in Banjaard picked up the awards, whilst Jersey came out on top in the Carey Olsen team trophy, as Jai Ho, Tom Bombadil and Abracadabra recorded the best combined results.

The first non-Channel Island yacht was Wavedancer skippered by Philip Bush. The bilge keeled boat had made the trip from Littlehampton and was rewarded with 39th overall, first non-CI boat and second bilge keel yacht overall.

Guernsey Yacht Club commodore Aden Clark said: “It was a fantastic race. The fresh wind conditions and varied sea conditions made it challenging, and all the yachts had to work hard to get to the finish. Winning a race like this is a big achievement so many congratulations to David and the crew of Jackana.”

Carey Olsen managing partner Alex Ohlsson came fifth in the race in Jai Ho and congratulated the winning crew and all who took part.

“This year’s race was as competitive as ever and the wind and sea conditions certainly tested all the crews. As sponsor of the most prestigious race in the Channel Islands’ yachting calendar we would like to congratulate everyone who competed in the race and to those who have won one of the prize categories.”

The event website has full results (PDF) for each class.