Wasp on Round The Island Race 2025

Published 01:00 on 10 Jun 2025

Round the Island Race 2025

This year's Round the Island Race was certainly one to remember. We began the week keeping a close eye on the forecast, and early predictions weren't encouraging! Strong winds and the potential for a large swell around the back of the Isle of Wight made it look unlikely that small boats and certainly Sonata's would be able to complete the course. The initial entry list was encouraging with 9 boats entered, but with such a bad forecast, all the visitors stayed away sadly.

Mid-week, our preparation began; we rigged a secondary reef line and stowed the storm sail just in case.

By Friday, the forecast had eased slightly, and confidence grew that we'd have a fair chance of completing the race.

Race Day

Starting on the legendary Royal Yacht Squadron Start line we opted to keep inshore on the Island side as the adverse tide changed onshore at Cowes to initially assist us, short tacking close to the island in unstable wind conditions, but around 30 minutes into the race the ebbing tide became stronger in the channel, as we made our way into deeper waters.

By the time we reached The Needles, the wind had built, as forecast, to a solid 20 knots. We took the 'Inside route', navigating between the Varvassi wreck and Goose Rock, then reached inshore toward St. Catherine's Point, where we hoisted the kite. The sea state was rough but manageable, and it made for some exhilarating downwind sailing.

We took a direct line across Sandown Bay and rounded Bembridge Ledge.

This is where things got interesting.

We reefed the main and battled on in 30-knot gusts against the tide. Pushing inshore once more, we had a brief encounter with Ryde Sands Then, the heavens opened.

A huge northerly wind shift hit us, and the wind dropped to around 5 knots. What followed was a slow and painfully tactical crawl against the tide, back up the Eastern Solent to the finish line.

Luke Goodall, 'Wasp'

The 2026 Round the Island Race has been scheduled for Saturday 11th July, 2026 - it would be great to see lots of Sonata's on the start line vying for the Sonata Salver in 2026 - for visiting teams sensibly priced launching is possible in Southampton at Drivers Wharf allowing easy access to the Solent from the M3.

Related

• 2025 Round The Isle of Wight Race (7 June)

Last updated 09:57 on 4 July 2025