Light winds delayed the starts by an hour but a light breeze came through by 0830 which grew into a Westerly of around force 2 for the ISC group C start at 0940. As the fleet moved towards Newtown and Yarmouth this became more variable and finally died leaving the large fleet drifting on the west-going tide. Finally at around 1100 the sea-breeze kicked from the south-west and got the boats moving again.

By the time most of the GK's were off St Catherine's point the wind had moved around to the West and increased to the top end of a F3 to F4. There was a brief spell of light-air between St Cats and Bembridge but this came back just as the crew of Genghis Khan finally spotted Chuckles Too. The two boats matched each other for speed until the Ledge Buoy. At this point Spinnakers went up and it was a drag-race to the finish.

With so many larger boats on the water it is easy for GK24 to be blanketed and Genghis worked hard to keep in clear air by moving to the more-shallow Island side of the course. Genghis finally crossed the line at 20:18:58, with Chuckles Too only five minutes behind.

Overall the weather was fantastic, hot and sunny for the whole day. It was great to see so many GK24's out for the race and if any of the owners would like to add a race report or Photo's then please send it in. Some Photo's (and a video) will be added to the gallery shortly.

For 2006 we have requested that Island Sailing Club move the GK24 Cup to ISC as the general consensus is that this would give more owners a better crack at the prize.

GK24 and 29 Results