ABOARD the very same boat and crew with which they won 25 years ago, Jersey’s ‘The Dog’s……!’ with Allen Brown at the helm, claimed a remarkable sixth Savills Inter-Island Yacht Race.
The premier sailing event in the Channel Islands calendar, the annual inter-island race was first staged in 1964, with crews blessed with beautiful conditions for the 2024 edition from Guernsey, across to Jersey.
First across the line on the day was Jerseyman and St Helier Yacht Club’s Peter Morton.
Now based in the UK, he ventured home fresh off the back of recent success at the Round-the-Island Race in the Isle of Wight.
Morton steered Notorious first across the line just 2hrs 04mins 24secs after the 12pm start in Guernsey, earning sixth place overall with his handicap adjusted finishing time.
However, The Dog’s……! proved dominant overall, with an adjusted time of 2hrs 42mins 03secs over 13 minutes clear of Guernseyman Martin Boyde’s Jostler in second.
2023 winner Abracadabra, skippered by Rhys Perkins, rounded out the top three, just 30 seconds further back.
Winning skipper Brown said: “It is the race everyone in the sport across Jersey and Guernsey want to win. It’s a really special event.
“For me, it is always the highlight of the year and to have won it six times now is a special feeling.”
Brown, along with crew members Gary Birbeck, Bernard Cooper and Bruce Henstridge, have stood the test of time, alongside their boat, which first claimed the award a quarter of a century ago.
“We are getting a little long in the neck now,” joked Brown, with 68 the average age of his crew.
“We have a laugh about it.
“The conditions were perfect for us to be honest. At the start line in Guernsey, we put our spinnaker up, which really increases the boat speed.
“We were planing all the way down to Jersey, where the boat rises on the surface of the water. That’s where we perform our best and we were really pleased with the way the race panned out.”
Brown, for one, was also pleased to see Morton and his impressive 52ft boat Notorious grace the field.
“The boat is seriously impressive. He finished 31 minutes ahead of us, that’s just how quick the boat is.
“I used to sail with Peter many years ago. In fact, we won this very race together 47 years ago.
“He’s races internationally and is a well-respected yachtsman, so to catch up and race against him was great.”
