2008 Watersports Programme is available call or email for a copy or if you would like the pdf version click here.

Round the Island Race 2008

Six Island youngsters were celebrating on Saturday after completing this year’s challenging Round the Island Race aboard Paddiywack in 07:25:40hrs (corrected time), resulting in them finishing 12^th in Class (IRC division 2d) and 5^th in the IRC sailing schools class, out of 46 and 23 other boats respectively.

Mike said: “The conditions on Saturday were testing but not too extreme, allowing us to sail at full speed throughout the course leading to our quickest ever round the island time in ‘Paddiywack’. The youngsters onboard worked well together and all contributed fully in the handling of the boat and the sails throughout the race.

“The sail along the South of the Island was exciting, with the spinnaker up from the Needles to Bembridge Ledge buoy, surfing down the waves with speeds varying from 9 – 15 knots.

“Everyone onboard did a great job and the training we completed the week before certainly paid off.”

Crew member Emma Baker aged 14 from Newport was in foredeck position throughout the race and feels a huge sense of achievement at finishing the race when many other yachts were forced to retire. Emma said: “We got a good start from the Squadron line and tacked upwind from Cowes to the Needles passing a few other boats in our class on the way.

“When we got into the calmer waters of the Solent you could see the other boats behind us preparing to round the mark at Bembridge, it was like a huge forest of spinnakers. When the finish line was in sight we started tacking harder to improve our placing.

“We crossed the finish line at 14:24:46 which gave us a corrected time of 07:24hrs. It was great to feel that we had finished when 141 other boats in the race had retired. It was a really exciting race and everyone had a great time. We were really pleased with the result.”

Each boat to finish the Round the Island Race receives a commemorative tankard from the Island Sailing Club (the race organisers) and IYWAC has a tradition of awarding it to the young crew member who contributed most to the boat’s performance during the race. This year, the award went to Hannah Shields, 15 from Sandown, who did the mainsheet trimming to an extremely high standard throughout the race without a break.

Cllr Alan Wells, IW cabinet member for children’s services said: “The young crew onboard Paddiywack did extremely well on Saturday and should be very proud of their achievements.

“Sailing requires excellent teamwork and communication skills and is a great way of making new friends and keeping fit. The IW Council hopes more young people will be encouraged to take part in sailing and watersports activities after reading about this group’s experiences and success.”

Paddiywack’s next challenge will be taking part in a Junior Offshore Group (JOG) Cross-Channel Race to St Malo, with a cruise back via a French Port and then taking part in Skandia Cowes Week. There are still spaces available for young people on the Island to take part. Anyone interested in getting involved should contact IYWAC on 293073.

Charlie Ferguson, Hannah Shields, Emma Baker, Lorna Ferguson, Sophie Manley and Harry Fisher aboard Paddiywack just after the RTI race.