The monohull record for the Island Double race was well broken on Saturday, having stood for 11 years.

The 23rd annual race, run by the Royal Southampton Yacht Club, takes the traditional anti-clockwise course around the Isle of Wight. The best time for a monohull was reduced by over 13 minutes to 6 hours 4 minutes 51 seconds.

The new record-breaker was Noonmark VI, a Swan 56 - a very large handful for just two men to sail -the boat's normal racing crew is 20 people! All credit to Geoff Mulcahy and Mike Gilburt for pulling it off - Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy well known as the former chief executive of Kingfisher plc, Ellen Macarthur's sponsor.

The record nearly didn't fall to them. Coming back through the forts off Portsmouth, the clear leader was the J125 Wings of the Wind, Robert Andrews and Andrew McIrvine, and they were looking set to reduce the old record by an even greater margin. But as many have done before them and no doubt will again, they dodged too far out of the tide by Ryde Sands. They grounded and had to retire from the race after vain efforts to get off under sail.

138 yachts entered the Island Double race in four classes and enjoyed a south to south westerly breeze of up to 20 knots, much in sparkling sunshine but with a grey spell south of the Island.

The 44 boats in IRC Class 1 included 14 J-Boats and six X-yachts. Although Noonmark VI was home a quarter of an hour ahead of the next to finish, her high rating told against her in the handicap results. It was Clemency Williams and Dom Akers-Douglas on the J/105 Jos of Hamble which won on corrected time by two minutes from Rob Boulter and Donald Wilks on the Mills 37 Thunder 2, with Martin Gee and Pete O'Neal on the Elan 40 Deuce third and Ed Holton's J110 Shades of Blue fourth.

In rough water off St Catherine's Point, the J80 Blues in J had rather more excitement than they would have wished, as it appeared their keel was coming loose. After a call to the Coastguard, the boat and crew were assisted safely and thankfully into Bembridge by the lifeboat.

The 38 boats in IRC Class 2 ranged from a Starlight 39 to a First 211, and saw William Tremlett's Furia 37 Cruella de Vil take line honours. On corrected time, as so often in round-the-Island races sailed mainly with the tide, it was the smaller boats that came to the fore.

The winner was Edward Donald (a previous winner in 2000) in his Folkboat Madelaine, ahead of Martyn and Magnus Wheatley's H-Boat Cloud Nine (winner in 2002 and 2001) - both boats having taken podium places in the Island sailing Club's recent fully-crewed Round The Island race. Stuart Paton and Steve McWatters' Contessa 32 South Haze was third and the Scampi Olivia Anne VI fourth for Chris Flewitt and Chris Phillips.

The 43 Club-rated boats in Class 3, varied from a First 47.7 to three Laser SB3s. First to finish was Bill and Jean West's J46 Jessica Jay, back from a trans-Atlantic trip. On corrected time the winner another Nordic Folkboat So! sailed by Simon Osgood and Stewart Becker.

Second was the classic Adlard Coles Cohoe IV, the Nicholson 36 of James Osborn and Alex Davey and third Sebastian Gardner and Paul Ticehurst sailing Contessa 32 Polar Star. Hecuba the First 47.7 came fourth for Ralphe Denne.

The 13 boats in the Multihull Class included a Woods Banshee 35 catamaran and a Nic Bailey 45ft trimaran. Mollymawk sailed by Ross Hobson was first to finish in a time of 5 hours 18 minutes. David McLeman's Zoum! won on corrected time with Ben Goodland's Strider 24 cat Tigger second, Simon Forbes's Dragonfly 800 Scooby III third, and the Woods Banshee Backlash fourth.

The Double Handed Series continues with the RSYC Torquay Double on Friday 22nd August.