This weekend I was sailing with Ned Collier Wakefield on Tony Lawson’s Class 40 ‘Concise’ in the Royal Southampton Island Double, a two-handed race around the Isle of Wight. With a strong westerly breeze forecast, we always knew that there was a possibility of breaking the existing race record, set in 2004 by Chris Little and Mike Richards.

After a tricky and frustrating beat from Cowes to the Needles, we turned downwind for a quick trip around the back of the island. Winds gusted to 28 knots at times and steep waves combined for some great surfing conditions with boat speed topping out just short of 20 knots. This was a wet and wild ride, however, with constant water pouring across the deck, and Ned and I constantly working the sails to maximise the speed and, at times, to keep the boat under control. After dropping the spinnaker at Bembridge Ledge, we had a reach back to the eastern Solent followed by a long port tack beat to the finish.  We felt we were well within the record but heading pressure and building tide kept us working hard. I made a mess of the last tack into the finish, but we had just done enough to set a new Island Double race record of 5 hours 58 minutes and 38 seconds, beating the previous record by just 13 seconds!

Full results and report on the Royal Southampton Yacht Club website: www.rsyc.org.uk/racing.

Just for good measure, I then did 3 hours walking in the middle of the night with friends taking part in the Oxfam Trailwalker event along the South Downs. Congratulations to the team of H Draper, Rach Howe, Melissa Tiller and Helen Willis who completed the 100km trek in just under 26 hours, raising nearly £3000 for Oxfam. To sponsor them click here: www.justgiving.com/ladytrek