Sea sailing Round the Island

June 19, 2025

The International Yacht Race round the Isle of Wight starting from Cowes

At last Saturday dawned and all the preparation was over.

In the grey morning murk sailing ships began to leave their moorings in Cowes – out into the Solent and past the committee boat start. First the really big catamarans and large sailing ships with crews of up to 35.

Then came the others – thick and fast. At least that’s what it looked like positioned where I was.

I felt the smaller the boats the less room they left for each other. At times it looked a bit chaotic and at times it was a bit chaotic.

Don’t be too fooled by some of the photographs which seems to show boats almost on top of each other. With a lens, slightly larger than 500mm distances appear to shrink.

It is not difficult to spot the really experienced crews, all working together, and those who are visiting the waters round the Isle of Wight for the first time.

This year no pictures of boats rounding the Needles. The aerial shots come from the south east side of the island just above Culver Down.

The weather was a little disappointing after the sunshine of the day before. The low cloud so obvious in the start pictures never cleared and from time to time there was gentle but persistent showers.