ON THE WATER
John Dudley with Sir Ben Ainsley
John must sit out 'Island' epic
By Peter White
J
ohn Dudley has just one slight regret
about serving his second term as
Commodore of the Cowes-based
Island Sailing Club this year. The
prestigious role means he will not be
able to compete in the JP Morgan Asset
Management Round the Island race on
June 21.
The race is organised by the Island
Sailing Club, and John, a keen and
vastly experienced yachtsman, will
be far too busy helping to ensure the
smooth running of the event that is
the fourth highest in participation
numbers of any sporting fixture in the
country.
John and Island Sailing Club
manager Lea Bennett are among the
Round the Island Race steering group,
who organise the race, which is a
year-long operation. Indeed, plans
for next year’s race will be underway
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almost before the last boats cross the
line this year. And on race day itself the
200 or so volunteers can expect to be
working for anything up to 18 hours.
With around 16,000 participants, the
David Dimbleby, the BBC TV commentator
and presenter of the long-running
programme 'Question Time', will start this
year’s Round the Island race.
David will fire the 6.30am first start gun
from the Royal Yacht Squadron Platform
and then compete in the race. David will also
attend the pre-race press conference on Friday
June 20 in Cowes Yacht Haven to officially
launch the Race weekend.
only three UK events to eclipse the Round
the Island Race in terms of competitor
numbers are the London Marathon; the
Great North Run and the Great South
Run. The first Round the Island Race took
place in 1931, when just 25 boats set
out to complete the 55 nautical miles,
travelling anti-clockwise around the
Island. Since that first adventure, which
was won by a local fishing boat, the
event has grown beyond recognition in
numbers and stature, especially over
the last few years.
Now there are usually around 1,600
boats competing, and the record
number stands at 1,908 boats in 2011.
Some people even try to sneak in under
the radar and take part even though
they have not officially entered the race
- something that cannot be prevented,
but is not highly thought of by the
organisers.
John said: “We could just about
handle 2,000 boats, but that would be