Almost 2,000 vessels registered to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight in this year’s Round the Island Race on 25 June. Force 6–7 winds and swells of up to 3m meant a busy day for five lifeboat crews, with 23 incidents in all. Cowes’s B class lifeboat Tabbycat was on duty for more than 12 hours. In one of the most serious incidents, Yarmouth crew aided a yachtsman who was hit on the head by a spinnaker pole. He was airlifted to hospital. There were four calls for Lymington, including a dismasted yacht (pictured), eight for Bembridge, and six for Calshot.