Actor, television producer and competitor Michael Kitchen fired the starting cannon from the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes at 07:30 this morning (Saturday) to mark the start of the 88th Round the Island Race.
Kitchen, known particularly for his role as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in the ITV drama series Foyle’s War, joined the race start team on the RYS starting platform before heading back to his yacht to prepare for his own start.
The forecast with scorching sun and no more than 15kts of wind is unlikely to create record breaking conditions for the 1,253 entries but with an ebbing tide and early morning east-south-easterly breeze, for a downwind spinnaker start, the first leg to the Needles should be fairly swift..
To follow the race in detail, go to Race Coverage Live and the Race Tracker.
Overall nearly 200 prizes will be won at the event, which has a reputation for being a ‘race for all’ that includes boats ofevery shape and size.
