Parker & Seal annual Round the Isle of Wight Race

It may have been the thought of the excellent cuisine awaiting the fleet at Ganders Restaurant, St Helens after the finish, it may even have been the encouragement of the more seasoned campaigners but notwithstanding the less than inviting weather, all entrants duly presented themselves at the start line off Cowes for this the thirty-first running of the Association’s event. The forecast of blustery F 4-5 southwest winds, poor visibility and the chance of rain, was however to make this race one of the faster ones.

In class one, Richard Tanner’s Seal 22 “Skylark” led Geoff Harwood’s Parker 21 “Cygnus” away from the line on the beat down to Bridge Buoy beyond the Needles, hotly pursued by Gary Parker in his Parker 235 “Nos Na Gaoithe” and the evergreen Seal 22 “Shiraz” of Royce & Freda Naylor. In class two, starting 60 minutes later, the faster Parker 27/31/325/335’s were accompanied by “Ard Righ” the sole Super Seal 26 of Walter Brown and the Bull 7000 “Stampede” sailed by the Pitt family.

The best of the second start having been made by “Tilikum” the 325 of Jonathan Houston, Nigel Walbank in “Ocean Wings” his Parker 31, and “Ard Righ” with all revelling in the boisterous, wind over tide, conditions in the western Solent,. Meanwhile ahead, “Cygnus” had established herself in usual position as early pacemaker to round Bridge first. Conditions had started to take their toll and amongst several other, class two leader and last year’s overall winner, “Ocean Wings” retired just a mile short of Bridge to allow “Ard Righ” to round the mark first of the second start.

The reach to St Catherine’s Point saw the fleets draw ever closer, though it was not until halfway across Sandown Bay with spinnakers now in evidence that “Ard Righ”, hotly pursued by “Stampede”, finally overhauled “Cygnus” to take both line honours and first on corrected time at the finish off Bembridge Tide Gauge. Next to cross the finish was “Tilikum” followed by “Shemar”, Martin Hopton’s new 335, John Coyle in his Parker 27, “Harlequin” and then “Skylark” who had hung on to earn a well deserved 3rd overall on handicap.

The Association’s thanks go to the committee boat, Hugh Caldwell’s “Mons Meg” and to the warm hospitality at Ganders after the finish.

Overall Results:

1st W Brown, Super Seal 26, Ard Righ, 6hrs 29mins 42secs
2nd G Harwood, Parker 21, Cygnus, 6hrs 43mins 19secs
3rd R Tanner, Seal 22, Skylark, 6hrs 52mins 12secs
4th J Coyle, Parker 27, Harlequin, 6hrs 54mins 03secs
5th J Houston, Parker 325, Tilikum, 6hrs 58mins 33secs
6th C Miller, Parker 275, Abacus, 7hrs 02mins 02secs