Ventnor Blog

VentnorBlog fave, Dame Ellen MacArthur, has been up in the Smoke impressing the heck out of everyone she came across.

The write up in The Telegraph couldn’t have been more complementary in its praise.

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We see on the Motor Boat and Yachting website today that a new event called the Great Island Challenge is planned for later this year, taking place around and on the Wight.

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Wight Air Extreme Sports Festival started today.

We headed over to Yaverland to see how things were going.

Pleased to say that it’s all looking very good.

A big mixture of people there, from the young to families enjoying the day out.

There’s loads laid on with the sports side and lots besides, including 50 bands playing - one every hour.

We caught up with Nigel Howell, the man behind the event, to hear what was planned for the week.

Click on the play button below to listen to the interview.

There is a real buzz in the air as the The White Air Extreme Sports Festival draws ever closer.

Less than a week to go and we’ve got news for you every day this week, in the run up to one of the most exciting sporting events of the year.

If you’ve been to the festival before, you might’ve noticed that there are lots of ‘HAVE A GO!’ activities. This year, the festival brings you even more and as part of a BBC programme, celebrity sports stars Colin Jackson (pictuered) and Phil Tufnell will go head to head at ‘HAVE A GO’ activities early next week. They will be trying out some of the more radical extreme sports White Air has on offer.
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I was lucky enough to take part in a race at Cowes Week On Wednesday, by the lovely people at Cheetah Marine (only joking), BT.

It was all great fun, but one thing that really struck me was how many RIBs there were there. Clearly they’ve become quite the thing to have, as you can see from the shot above.

Sad news reaches us that three people were badly hurt last night when a RIB crashed into the the breakwater at about 11:15pm.

From the report in the CP

If you’ve been up to Quay Arts recently, you may well have found yourselves sitting in the Learning Curve Gallery making and decorating a paper boat as part of the Rites of Passage exhibition.

Well, if you did make a boat (or two) and would like to see how well your vessel does on the open waters, make a date in your diary to return to Quay Arts on Saturday 25 August at 11am.

There will be a regatta to launch the Curragh (the handcrafted boat currently under construction in the Michael West Gallery by Kieren Reed) as well as the paper boats that visitors of all ages to the gallery have been invited to create.
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Before you think “what the hell?”, we’re not talking about the boat building factory about to be constructed on the eastern esplanade car park, but about a small boat yard in Ventnor, New Jersey, USA.

Simon came across the web site for Ventnor Boat Works, earlier this week and was wowed by the style of boats they produce.

The firm was founded in 1902 by Adolph Apel, who in a short space of time became well known as builder of the world’s fastest custom speed boats.

His son, Arno continues the business now and their boats really are ‘the business’. Take a look through their gallery and see what you think.

In stark contrast to London, where you are often drowned out by the blaring police sirens, as they rush off to the next shooting or stabbing, tonight, we can’t help but realise the dangers of being by the sea.

You will’ve heard it on Isle of Wight News and seen the coastguard and rescue teams scanning up and down the east coast today in search of the 22 year old girl who is missing after the RIB she was in, collided with Bembridge Ledge earlier today.
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Maybe it’s because we’re just flushed with the excitement of having watched the great Round The Island Race on Saturday, and seeing that Ellen MacArthur won, but we thought you might be interested in the following.

We see that the TV production company behind the filming of Dame Ellen MacArthur’s record breaking voyages has just sold for £1.05m in cash and a bunch of shares.
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All of last week, BBC2’s Working Lunch were running reports by Graeme Le Saux (the footballer) who came over to the Isle of Wight to look at our diverse collection of businesses.

On Friday we see the report when Graeme came to “Vent-Nor to find out how it is establishing itself as the food capital of the Isle of Wight.”

There were two films shown, the first focused on The Ventnor Fishery. Geoff Blake certainly flew the flag for Ventnor in this feature and it was very interesting to hear what he had to say about his business and it’s development. Good to see him taking the anti-Tesco stance too. Look out for the really sinister smile from one of the chaps in the fishery when he talks about how the crabs are ’slowly suffocated’.

The second feature on Friday covered the success of the Isle of Wight Cheese Company (as we’ve mentioned on the blog before) and Graeme also took a walk down to the Ventnor Brewery and had a chat with Ventnor’s very own master brewer, Xavier Baker.

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It’s almost that time of year, the time to call upon all those old mates of yours who have fantastic sea views and a large enough outside space to accommodate all their mates.

Yes, it’s almost time for the JP Morgan Round the Island Race. This year there will be 1,738 boats taking part, that’s some 12,000 sailors!

Amongst that lot, keep your eye out for the Gipsy Moth IV, who will be sailing for charity. On board will be people undergoing treatment or in remission from cancer. Across the race, there are hundreds of people hoping to raise money for charities in this fourth largest participative annual event (behind the London Marathon, Great North and Great South Runs).

So, you’ve got just over a week to decide how you’re going to spend the day, whether it’s on the beach, the downs or at a friends house - or maybe you’re lucky enough to have great views from your home - in which case, be prepared for the doorbell to ring throughout the day!

The first class starts from Cowes at 5am.