Isle of Wight, Round the Island Yacht Race

Today was the annual Round the Island yacht race which is one of the largest yacht races in the world this year attracting 1,600 boats and around 16,000 sailors.

Competitors come from all over the world to follow the 50 mile course starting and finishing in Cowes. There are many vantage points around the island where spectators can get close to the action.

This year blustery weather created rough conditions and more than 70 boats were not allowed to start by the race organisers and several were forced to retire. There were a number of emergencies dealt with by lifeboat crews.

The fastest trimaran 'Actual' finished in just over 3 hours but the majority of the fleet take several hours to complete with the smaller yachts arriving at dusk.

The picture shows part of the fleet passing St. Catherine's Point the most Southerly lighthouse in the UK.
I have uploaded more pictures in my Blipfolio.