Pilot Cutters racing around the Isle of White 2003

A number of traditional boats take part in the annual round-the-island-race around the Isle of White. In this case the Canadian built ‘Eleanor Mary’ built 2000 and the famous French Pilot Cutter ‘Jollie Brise’ are battling it out off St Catherines Point, the southernmost point of the Island.

The genuine pilot cutter ‘Jolie Brise’ is famous for winning the first Fastnet Race in 1925 and two more races soon after. She is the only boat to have won three Fastnets and one Tall Ships Race in 2000 for luck. There is no special significance in the fact that she is crewed by students from Dauntsey’s school.

As ‘Jolie Brise’ is nearly two meters longer on the waterline than ‘Eleanor Mary’ it is not surprising that within a few moments of this picture she overtook her modern rival.

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