A DAY TO SAVOUR
The best thing about the day? The fact that, given everything else, retiring didn’t matter. Yes, we delayed the call until we really, really thought all vestige of breeze had deserted us, and checked again to see if there was any wind up ahead at Bembridge, and recalculated our time to Cowes at 1.7 knots under sail – and even then, you could see our skipper Dan didn’t want to tell the crew. But did it mar the experience of taking part in the 2019 Round the Island Race? Wandering back through Cowes later that evening and considering our 13 hours on the water, I looked back on a truly great day afloat. Retiring really didn’t matter.
LEISURELY START
We weren’t, admittedly, the most competitive of crews. For the real racers out there, after weeks or months of preparation, the 2019 Round the Island Race turned out to be a frustrating one.
Our preparation, on the other hand, was a barbecue at East Cowes the evening before – cooked by Trust CEO Frank Fletcher – followed by ice creams all round.
After fried eggs and strong coffee the next morning, we were
