LEADING Isle of Wight sailor Jeremy Waitt has won the famous Solo Offshore Sailing Club's Round the Island Race — retaining class honours for a third successive year.

Always a keenly contested marathon, with the vagaries of the wind and tides adding to the already significant challenge of racing solo, Jeremy won the race in 7hrs 24mins 7secs on corrected time — beating his nearest rival, Nigel Colley's Sapristi, by a margin of more than seven minutes.

Isle of Wight County Press: Cowes sailor Jeremy Waitt in Isle of Wight yacht, Jangada, owned by Richard Palmer. FILECowes sailor Jeremy Waitt in Isle of Wight yacht, Jangada, owned by Richard Palmer. FILE

His victory came in the JPK 10.10 Jangada, which is owned by Islander Richard Palmer, who loaned him use of the boat for the race, as he has done many times before, with huge success.

The race itself got underway from Cowes at 6.30am yesterday (Saturday) and Jeremy, of Cowes, was over the finish line at precisely 2.04pm.

Isle of Wight County Press: Cowes sailor, Jeremy Waitt, who won the Solo Round the Island Race — which included a hat-trick of Class 1 category titles in the competition.Cowes sailor, Jeremy Waitt, who won the Solo Round the Island Race — which included a hat-trick of Class 1 category titles in the competition.

With being the overall winner, Jeremy won the coveted Anticipation Cup, as well as the Watermark Trophy for being the first IRC boat home on elapsed time.

He also won the highly competitive Class 1 fleet category, his third in successive year.

Afterwards, Jeremy told the County Press: "Yacht racing depends on wind, tide and an element of luck, which is why regattas have a lot of races.

"I really wanted to prove Jangada and I could win again.

"And while it’s a single-handed event, it takes a full team to have consistent success.

"Personally, it feels great to win for a third time in challenging conditions, with some very exciting sailing under spinnaker down the back of the Island, with gusts of up to 28 knots."