Flavia Bateson's sailing round-up

The 67th Round the Island Race was won by brothers Simon, Kit and David Rogers, sailing their father Jeremy's 26-foot Contessa Rosina of Beaulieu. They take away the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl, and for the second time running the award will return to the family home in Lymington. Small boats took two other major prizes. Edward Donald's Folkboat Madelaine won the Silver Roman Bowl as runner-up. Edward, from Winchester, sailed with a crew who met through their children attending Western Primary School. Martyn Wheatley took third place in his H-Boat Cloud Nine, another Lymington-based yacht. The day had started at 6.30am and spectators who got up early were treated to an array of spinnakers hoisted on the start line in the light north-easterly. Once round the Needles, conditions freshened to 17 knots and the breeze held so most competitors finished within the time limit. Mike Randall, sailing the Hunter Pilot 27 Shenghan, was the last to squeeze past the finish line, just two minutes before 10pm. As always, the event not only attracted top international sailors including Ben Ainslie, Emma Richards, and Shirley Robertson but also a wealth of keen competitors sailing with work colleagues, chartering with friends, enjoying a birthday treat or a family outing. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and his brother Chris relished taking Suhaili round the 55-mile course; a somewhat shorter race than that in which Sir Robin competed in 1969, when he became the first to sail single-handed non-stop around the world!