Round The Island Race 2023
The Round The Island Race is a world-renowned annual yacht race around the Isle of Wight. It starts and finishes in Cowes, and is organised by the Island Sailing Club. This famous 64-mile lap of the Isle of Wight off the south of England is an excellent test of navigation skills and character!
Britain's favourite and much-loved yacht race took place at the beginning of this month July 1, 2023. The iconic 1-day race around the Isle of Wight was plighted with testing weather, both rain and 20-25 knot winds remained persistent throughout the course. The challenging conditions proved tricky for the 1,100-strong boat fleet departing the squadron line in Cowes.
A Volvo Tschuss 2 took the honours of winning, completing the course in an impressive 4 hours, 11 minutes, and 18 seconds and taking the much sought-after Gold Roman Bowl. Sadly however the wild conditions resulted in multiple incidents, particularly on the Southern side of the Island, where two reported multihull capsizes and several were dismasted during the race.
We had a number of staff members taking part in the race this year who did manage to return unscathed, Steph W our Admin Assistant joined the crew of Galahad of Cowes. Alex. our Office and Reservations Manager joined Andy our Fleet Engineer onboard with Boracic Sailing Team.
‘It was a little full on this year, just a couple of Chinese gybes, broaches we lost count of, and some awesome helming downwind. There were some quite wet moments!’
Boracic Sailing Team
Hamble Point Yacht Charters had Gaelforce (Beneteau 40.7), Nota Bene (Oceanis Clipper 473), Abraxas (Beneteau 40.7) Petruchio (Beneteau 40.7), Jukebox (Beneteau First 32) Amandla Kulu (Hanse 505), Reunion (Bavaria 46 Cruiser), Aphrodite Spirit (Oceanis 323) and Loxley B (Sun Odyssey 37) on charter.
Race Results:
View the full list of race positions here.
WHAT CLIENTS SAY
This is truly a 5 * service. The team really looked after us both ashore on arrival and also while at sea. We were a relatively inexperienced crew but always felt the team ashore had our backs. Thoroughly recommended.
I just wanted to say Thank-you very much for the weekend charter. It was exactly what we were after (albeit cold!) plus Andy was an awesome teacher and great company. We’ll definitely be keen to book again soon!
We had a fabulous four days. Marina is ideally placed for the Solent, boat was in great condition, well equipped and a joy to sail. We were well briefed and the shore side team including the dog very friendly.
We charted one of the sailing yachts for a fantastic weekend cruise in the Solent. The boat was in superb condition and well equipped, the staff was very helpful explaining how things work on the yacht and there was also a video available with all the important information. 10/10 would recommend!
Had a fantastic week chartering Blue Otter, Alex was incredibly helpful and sent loads of information and date checking prior to booking. There was a handover video and both the handover and return were really smooth. The boat was lovely and well maintained and Lee was really helpful in recommending places to visit (and helping identify the steering issue as an autopilot takeover - doh!). Definitely will be back and would fully recommend!
Just back from a lovely week in the Solent. Great service from HPYC from first inquiry through to return handover. Very straightforward to deal with, and the yacht was in excellent condition. We've chartered from many companies in the UK and abroad and the attention to detail (and flawless inventory!) was second to none. Everything about the yacht and equipment had clearly been well looked after and was in immaculate condition. Great service, will use again.
Always very friendly service, and well-maintained yachts. Easy check-in and checkout. Will be back...
We had a great time and were very happy with everything. Your team were genuinely friendly and were very helpful when we needed it. Is a big contrast to many charter companies I have dealt with in the past.
Watching the sun go down with a glass of bubbly on the deck of a sparkling yacht was unbelievable. What a treat, and a much needed change of scenery in these troubled times. We will be back for sure
Fab service, nothing too much trouble, including my daft questions. I'll be a repeat customer for sure!
We had a great time sailing with Lee for a few days at the beginning of September. Hamble Point Yacht Charters supplied us an impeccable 45 ft Hanse yacht, which was handled with complete mastery by Captain Lee. It was a privilege to sail with Lee, who is clearly a highly skilled professional taking great pride in his work ... but who is also a fantastic character with a great sense of humour and plenty of fun stories to keep the whole family entertained. He balances the serious side of safety and learning about sailing with a whopping dose of amusement and good cheer. We sailed the Solent in some decent seas, visited Bucklers Hard on the banks of the Beaulieu River and learned lots about British nautical history. Our boys started somewhat of a fishing trend catching bass off the back of the boat in Portsmouth and we would love to sail with Lee again in the future. The man truly knows his stuff, maintained the boat impeccably and went to every effort to ensure that we had a great time. Many thanks to “Shippers” and Hamble Point Charters. We’ll be back.
Chartered bareboats with HPYC on numerous occasions most recently in Sept 2020. Always helpful and accommodating. Highly recommend.
We had a fantastic weekend sailing on Loxley B. Boat in super condition and spotlessly clean, Alex. and the team very thorough and always on hand to answer any questions. A great experience. We will be back. Thank you!
Lots of information from office with a friendly service. We selected a one of the cheaper yachts and was please with find everything work and was cleaned and tidy. We will definitely be back
This was the first time we had tried chartering and as experienced racing sailors we didn't know what to expect. Covid has closed down all our events this year so this was a chance to get afloat at least once in 2020. What a great experience and Alex and all the Hamble staff could not have been more friendly or helpful. We had a great three days and we will be back !! We would have no hesitation is recommending Hamble Point Yacht Charters.