47th Carey Olsen Inter Island Yacht Race - Channel Islands
by Chris Chilton 29 Jun 2010 11:07 BST
26 June 2010
White Rabbit wins the 47th Inter Island Yacht Race © Sam Field / samfieldphotography.ifp3.com
Guernsey yacht White Rabbit, skippered by Laurie Watson, made the best of difficult conditions to win the 47th Inter Island Yacht Race, sponsored by Carey Olsen, finishing the race in a time of four hours and 29 minutes.
The Melges 24 led the fleet from the start and took advantage of the inconsistent wind conditions to take line honours at the finish in St Helier, and also the overall trophy on corrected time by over 40 minutes.
The win capped a good day for Guernsey, which saw the top five positions filled by Sarnian yachts.
The first Jersey yacht, after handicaps were taken into account, was 2009 winner Tom Bombadil, skippered by Dave Williams finishing sixth on corrected time.
GYC Commodore Gordon Wilson, who skippered Tomahawk to fourth place overall, said: “To have 42 yachts finishing the race was a fantastic result given the conditions. The light winds, particularly at the start, were a real test for the crews. This is a special race and it was obvious that everyone was determined to get to the finish line in Jersey today.”
Carey Olsen Chairman, John Kelleher said, "Beautiful weather, stunning scenery, friendly competition between the islands: I cannot think of a more fitting illustration of all that is good about the Channel Islands. It has been an honour for Cary Olsen to sponsor this event. We look forward to next year with eager anticipation."
St Helier Yacht Club rear commodore Julian Barber said: “The light airs made for a challenging race so it was good to see so many competitors enjoying themselves out there on the water. The prize-giving reception on Saturday evening lived up to expectations, where our Jersey sailors made amends for losing out in the race itself to win most of the party games. We look forward to working with Carey Olsen again next year, when hopefully we might get a winner from our Jersey fleet.”
The trophy for the first young skipper went to Jerseyman Tom Vallois, skipper of Super Q, who finished 13th overall.
The family crew trophy was won by the Horton family, aboard catamaran Sunbeam, finishing 35th overall. Sunbeam also collected the trophy for first multihull.
Jersey’s ‘The Assas’ won the Carey Olsen team trophy, with yachts Abracadabra, Jai Ho and Jackana winning with a combined score of 43.
Despite the light winds a total of 42 yachts completed the race.