A flotilla of dinghies, yachts, catamarans, windsurfers and wingfoilers surrounded Sheppey on Sunday as they tackled the gruelling 50-mile Round The Island race.

Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club spokesman Tim Bell said: "The weather was perfect. The wind force 3 to 4 from the east was an ideal sea breeze, although it became a bit lumpy at Shellness at the mouth of the Swale with difficult conditions.

"However, the incoming tide helped the craft navigate the Swale up to the Kingsferry Bridge."

As usual, volunteers were on hand at the bridge to help walk through yachts on their sides which were too tall to sail underneath.

Club members Chris Goymer and Paul Wiseman finished first in 2hr 32min and claimed most of the trophies with their Dart 18 catamaran in the 64th annual challenge.

Local lad Jo Baker excelled himself by securing third place on handicap in another Dart 18.

Windsurfer Andrew Gibson chalked up the second fastest time of 2hr 52min to circumnavigate the Island.

It was the first time the relatively new wingfoilers had taken part. Their fastest entrant, Mark Lunan, completed the course in 3hr 13min.

Lee Marriott won the single-handed dinghy prize in his boat Blaze, finishing the course in "a blaze of glory".

None of the competitors managed to beat the course record of 1hr 52min set by a Hobbie Cat in 2010. The record for a mono-hull still stands at 2hr 17min.

But Mr Bell said: "It was still a very successful event with 50 entries of boats and craft."

He admitted: "The beach crew had a difficult job getting the boats out of the water at the end of the race as they returned to the club house in Marine Parade, Sheerness. There was very little beach at high tide as the waves crashed onto the pebbles. It often took up to eight people to lift each boat out of the surf."

There was help from the Medway Raynet Group. Ken Dickson oversaw radio communications and Sheppey's Event Management Unit (Emus) were on hand.

This year, each boat was fitted with a GPS tracker so its progress could be monitored on the race's website in real time. The event is the UK's longest annual dinghy, cat and board race.