St Peter Port race report from Jetpack’s eyes…

26th August 2025

Our Class 2 race was always going to be fun with a down tide and a downwind start. We timed it perfectly and were right by Gurnard, but we had slight technical issues getting the kite up, allowing Hot Pursuit to roll over us for the best start in the class. An enjoyable run to the forts ensued, with the added challenge of a tanker being where our fleet wanted to be. After dodging that, we were the first to reach the forts, but it was all very tight at this stage.

We then deployed the zero, which initially wine-glassed, but once we got going, we gained a few boat lengths on the fleet by Bembridge. We decided to tack inshore to escape the east-going tide. This worked for a while, but we outstayed our welcome in Sandown Bay, and the fleet that headed south early seemed to gain the initiative.

The wind was pretty constant; we cracked off very slightly and felt we were making good gains on those ahead. It was now just a question of when the wind would die and if we could tuck in near Alderney before the spring tide turned east. Bellino did, but the rest of us were out in the channel, drifting backwards!

We had brought plenty of old lines for this purpose. We anchored in 77 meters of water with around 140 meters of rope, hoping to watch everyone drift backwards a few miles, along with RORC Griffin, who had anchored about a mile south of us. Yachts did drift past us, but they also figured out that drifting north with the little wind there was meant they would only need one tack into Casquets. So, while we gained, the time taken to get the anchor up and Casquets being directly upwind meant we rounded with the same yachts we had been with four hours earlier, with minimal gain. We think RORC Griffin must have hoisted her anchor slightly before us, as her gains were impressive, and she quickly disappeared from sight.

The race was not over; the tide was about to turn against us, and Purple Mist, who had been our nemesis for the last 12 hours, was a couple of hundred meters ahead, so we had some catching up to do. As we entered the Little Russell, we saw our chance and ferry-glided inshore on the Guernsey side, getting out of the tide just enough to edge out Purple Mist at the finish line. Given the forecast, we would not have dreamed of finishing in daylight with a bar open to land in true JOG style! Well done to Spectrum, With Alacrity, and Markova for finishing in the class below; with the tide building against them, I’m sure they were rock hopping more than we were! 

Mark Brown, JETPACK