Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club Rossborough Round the Island Race - Preview
by Bill Harris 10 Aug 2018 06:38 PDT
19 August 2018
Wandering Star off Noirmont point during the Rossborough Round the Island Race 2017 © Bill Harris
The Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club's annual Round the Island Race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 19th August. This will be the third year running that Jersey's leading insurance broker, Rossborough, has sponsored this very popular race for sportsboat, cruiser/racer and sport catamaran classes.
James Anderson, Group Managing Director of Rossborough, said 'We are very proud to be sponsoring this long-standing and prestigious event for the third consecutive year. The well-established heritage of the race resonates with us at Rossborough as we have also been serving the Island's community for more than 80 years. It is a great community event enjoyed by all whether you're racing or simply spectating.
A sizeable fleet, likely to include a strong off-Island entry, is expected to compete in this forty-mile anticlockwise circumnavigation of the Island. The race starts in St Aubin's Bay at 10.00 a.m. with the course taking boats eastwards to the Violet Channel buoy, some four miles southeast of the Island, thence northwards past St Catherine and Rozel for the passage around Jersey providing a great opportunity to enjoy the Island's truly beautiful and ever-changing coastal scenery.
Club Commodore Ian Flambard said: 'This race is among the most renowned and long-standing in the Island's racing calendar; it is fantastic to have the support of such a respected Island business with equally considerable heritage. Such support truly adds to the prestige, attraction and excitement of the event.'
Sailing in fresh to strong southwesterly conditions that kept the sport catamarans at home, last year, Jeff Chinn's J105, Jewel, won the much-coveted Jesse Boot Trophy in a little over five hours. (This magnificent trophy was presented to the Club in the 1931 by Jesse Boot, the founder of Boots the Chemist). Racing two-handed in Class 2, Micheal and Carina Foreman's Starlight 35, Wandering Star, won the no less ancient Cabot Memorial Trophy in a little under six hours. That was most certainly a boisterous sail particularly as boats met the ebb tide off Noirmont Point before heading for the finish line in St Aubin's Bay.
The race is open to sportsboats and cruiser/racers and sport catamarans. The Notice of Race and entry form are available in the Club and on www.rciycjersey.com. Registration closes on Wednesday, 15th August.
Further information may be obtained by contacting the RCIYC Administrator on 00 44 (0)1534 745783 or by email at .