Worthing sailors win Round the Island Winter Fundraising Challenge

 A team from Worthing Sailing Club has won the Round the Island Winter Fundraising Challenge, supporting Tall Ships Youth Trust.

Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are set to benefit from the challenge, which saw three sailing crews compete in a race around the Isle of Wight.

Around £10,000 has been raised for the Portsmouth-based charity, the UK’s oldest and largest youth development sail training organisation, providing young people aged 12 to 25 from across the UK with life-changing experiences.

Team Worthing on Challenger 4 was competing against Tide in Knots, a group of like-minded sailors led by Henry and Helen Scutt, on Challenger 2 and Team Excalibur, a crew of individuals who started out as strangers, on Challenger 3 on Saturday, February 12.

The TSYT’s Challenger yachts have famously raced several times round the world but the aim for these three teams was to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight, leaving the Needles, Ventnor, St Catherine’s lighthouse, Bembridge and the rest of the Island to port before finishing near Cowes.

Bob Hewitt from Team Worthing said: “What an event! Team Worthing set a high bar by completing the race in under six-and-a-half hours, hitting boat speeds of 10.5 knots. The average time a cruiser takes is eight-and-a-half hours.

“Thanks to the commodore Dan England and committee at Worthing Sailing Club for their help and support and for believing in us, and to all who have donated to Tall Ships Youth Trust.

“Special thanks to our skipper Ian Buchele, mate Amy Ferrier and our watch leader Sharon South for keeping us safe and the Island Sailing Club for hosting the prize-giving evening - a truly memorable event.”

Conditions were a bit flat for the training day in the Solent on February 11 but on race day, the sun shone and the wind picked up, giving the yachts more speed.

Team Worthing was first to cross the finish line and all crews celebrated their efforts with staff from TSYT’s fundraising team at a prize-giving dinner at Island Sailing Club in Cowes.