Team triumph in charity race

SAILINGTWO Islanders who raced around the IW in their tiny RS400 raised £1,400 for the Hampshire and IW Air Ambulance.
James Downer and Paul Tyson set off from Gurnard with the quickest and biggest boats in the JPMorgan Asset Management Round-the-Island race, something they found incredibly exciting and hectic.
"The back of the Island was just the most amazing sailing," said James, 21.
"With the boat planeing down long seas and peaking with a top speed of 17.5 knots, along with the option to cheat the tide in the shallows, we were flying and making very good ground on all of the boats around, catching and overtaking boats three times our size.
"But unfortunately, off of St Catherine’s we buried the bow of the 400 and managed to sail through the Kite bringing the fun to an end.
"The rest of the run to Bembridge was a tedious two-sail run at speeds of about six knots, a lot less than the 12 knots we had been averaging.
"Still it gave us a good chance to practice our downwind wave technique, something you get very little chance to do in an asymmetric."
James and Paul, both of Solent View Road, Cowes, finished ten hours and ten minutes after starting, managing to beat an Open 60 by three minutes, which started at the same time.