The 71st edition of the IOM Copiers Round the Island Race went ahead in very challenging conditions on Saturday.

The honours were split fairly evenly between the only two finishers, who were both racing in Division One under 2023 IRC handicap ratings for the Ramsey Town Trophy.

Lillee won the Ramsey Courier Cup for first on elapsed time and the Golden Jubilee Trophy for overall winner on the RYA National Handicap (NHC) basis.

Seapie won the Ramsey Town Cup for first on handicap under IRC, the IoM Breweries Cup for Division One Class A and the Maddrell Trophy for second under NHC.

Of the six entrants, five made the Ramsey startline at 9.30am on Saturday in blustery and strong westerly winds, with boats sporting number two jibs and reefs in the main.

Lillee had a good start, as did Dr May-Shiu Chan in Nichola Jane, with Jerry Colman’s Seapie uncharacteristically one minute behind at the line after being hit by a strong gust on the approach from the Queen’s Pier.

On the east coast, or leeward side of the island, the sea state was fine and the boats all made rapid progress up to the Point of Ayre.

But once they got round the Point the situation changed: the west coast, or windward side, was altogether different. The wind speed was force six, gusting occasional seven, and big waves had built up, making progress difficult.

‘It was a hard day, long – proper rough off the Point of Ayre,’ said James Walker, skipper of Lillee. ‘The boat held together fairly well and the crew did brilliantly. We knew it was going to be tough and were a bit battered and bruised.

‘The west coast was hard going – we definitely saw 30 knots of wind. Once we got round the Calf and into calmer water it was good.’

Lillee then put its S3 kite up – its smallest, and one Walker had never had up before. Putting the spinnaker up in such conditions was brave and proved problematic and the boat shortly afterwards experienced a ‘Chinese jibe’ – potentially extremely dangerous – just south of Port St Mary.

‘In the swell, we hit a wave wrong and got a gust at the same time. The boat made it over to windward and we ran out of rudder.

‘I didn’t think it could happen on this boat – it’s too well ballasted.

‘A lot of people on the Chasms saw it and it took 10 minutes to sort out. I was trying to push for nine hours so it stopped that. I’d have been miffed if we’d lost the race due to that.

‘After that we put an asymmetric spinnaker up instead and flew, sailing a big angle on it. There was one jibe off Langness and then it was all the way up to Clay Head, when it got too tight for the spinnaker. It was really good fun – we only broke a few things!’

Colman, skipper of Seapie, also found it challenging on the west coast: ‘It was tough from the Point of Ayre to Jurby, hard on the wind, with lots of water over the side,’ he said.

‘We were struggling to keep up with Lillee, a little stick on the horizon, and saw the others dropping behind, but we managed to stick it out. Things got a bit easier with a slight change in the wind, and it was a fast reach down to the Chickens.

‘Once round there we made good speed up to Douglas under spinnaker. The wind then became a bit gusty and shifty, but we knew we were going to be home soon.

‘At Maughold it went calm but we finished in just over 10 hours.

‘I was pleased with the crew putting up with it and sailing the boat as well as they did. I was pretty much ready to go back at Blue Point but the crew said no.’

Seapie’s crew were Colman, Robin Bromley-Martin, Jade Leach, Roo Hyett, John Judge and Bruce Gimbert, the latter pair being trainees in the MS&CC dinghy sailing scheme.

Lillee finished about 6.45pm while Seapie got back to Ramsey just under an hour later at 7.36. Nichola Jane and Neville Desmond’s Tagus returned to Ramsey, while Ben Mitchell’s Skyfall retired at Peel.

Crewing for Walker in Lillee were James and Clare Allison, James Howitt, Tracy Broom, Dean Cooper and Chris Ray. ‘It was rough and ready and spicey most of the way round,’ said James Allison. ‘But a good laugh and we recovered well from our mistakes.’

Many thanks to Mark Corrin of IOM Copiers for sponsoring the race. Also to Niamh Poole for organising the food and an excellent barbecue on the Friday, and to the racing committee of Brian Quayle, Keith Poole and Andrew Dean.