The Round the Island Yacht Race (RTI) last Sunday was won overall for the first time in two years by James Walker’s Corby 33, Lilee.

The boat was racing in the performance-based NHC handicap division of the IOM Copiers-sponsored event.

With the 2020 race cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions, it was gratifying that of the nine yachts that started the race at Ramsey all but two managed to finish.

What was a perfect summer’s day on land was not ideal sailing weather for those at sea, although in the earlier part of the race - up to the Point of Ayre and then down the west coast - Force 3 or 4 southerly breezes were enough to keep the yachts going at a decent clip.

First to the Point was Ralph Kee’s 22ft e-boat Eliza Bee, the smallest in the race. Kee had a great day, using all the skills developed as a Laser dinghy sailor in light airs to come second overall on corrected time.

He had a couple of experienced sailors crewing for him in James Bishop and Andy Done.

Soon after the Point the biggest yacht, Game Changer, a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Shaun Douglas from Northern Ireland and racing in the IRC measurement-based handicap division, went into the lead on the water, and held this all the way down the west coast.

But this vessel suffered when the wind died after rounding the Calf of Man and the smaller, lighter yachts, Walker’s Lilee and Keith Lord’s AC35 A-Crewed Interest, began to catch up. Jerry Colman’s Sigma 33 Sea-Pie of Cultra, the only other yacht in the IRC division, also took advantage with a good spinnaker run up the east coast.

Game Changer went close to land and was caught in a lull, enabling Lilee and later A-Crewed Interest to overtake her around Port Soderick. Lilee got back to Ramsey around 8.30pm, with the other two yachts arriving half an hour or so later.

’We just got lucky really,’ admitted Paul Carine, who was crewing in Lilee. ’It was a beat for 75 percent of the time.’

Fellow crew member James Allison agreed: ’We did well in light winds - we just kept the boat moving all the time.

’The boat has been fitted out by a racer to race, so it went well.’

A third member of the seven-crewed Lilee, Lance Humphrey, added: ’We did a lot of peeling of the headsail. There was a good fleet out there and it was nice to have a bit of competition.’

Lilee has only been sailing for a short while after being rebuilt by Chris Machin and owner Walker - this was only the fifth time she had raced.

Sea-Pie of Cultra crossed the finish line at 10.20pm to beat Game Changer on IRC by about 20 minutes and take the Ramsey Town Trophy.

Bayonet, a Beneteau 36.7 skippered by Colonel Andy Hadfield of the British Army with a crew of soldiers, including sailing novices, Kee’s Eliza Bee and Brian Quayle’s GK24 Nice One crossed the line after dusk had fallen.

The finishing order on NHC corrected time was Lilee, Eliza Bee, A-Crewed Interest, Sea-Pie, Nice One, Game Changer and Bayonet. With the winds light and tidal gates tough to meet, Steve Bee’s Nexus retired at Douglas, and May Shiu Chan’s Nicola Jane at Jurby.

Walker picked up the Coronation Cup for the winner of the non-IRC class. He also won the Golden Jubilee Trophy for overall monohull on NHC, the Bancroft Trophy for Class A boats, and the Ramsey Courier Cup for winner on elapsed time.

Kee picked up the Shelagh Williams Trophy for winner of the non-IRC Class B, and the Maddrell Trophy for second in overall monohull.

Colman won the Ramsey Town Trophy for IRC-handicapped boats.

The Copeland Trophy for Endeavour was awarded to Bayonet, which had sailed to the event from Conwy in North Wales, anchored overnight off Ramsey because of Covid restrictions, completed the race and then sailed straight back to Conwy, a good 200 miles of yachting without stepping ashore.

For Game Changer’s crew there was a slight sense of disappointment given it had led for over half the race but that’s yacht racing.

’There was a decent breeze at the start and we got up to the Point of Ayre in double quick time,’ said David Craine, who was one of the nine crew. ’It was a good breeze going down the west side of the island but a bit shifty. Once we got down to the bottom it became a bit of a lottery.

’Towards the end it was tough - the last 100 yards took us longer than the stretch from Maughold to the Queen’s Pier. The wind just died.’

Many thanks to Mark Corrin of IoM Copiers for sponsoring the race and providing a barbecue dinner the night before.

Also to race officers, Andrew Dean and Neil Boyes, Niamh Poole, the women’s committee and Carl Buck for the catering.

by James Penn