A ROUND-THE-WORLD yacht based in Penarth has successfully completed a 50-mile fundraising race.

Competing against 1,500 other boats, the 72-foot yacht Challenge Wales finished the 85th edition of the Round the Island Race, helping to pump funds into the local sail training charity.

Penarth Marina's Challenge Wales provides on board training in employment skills for disadvantaged young people across south Wales.

The Round the Island Race,which takes place round the Isle of Wight, is one of Challenge Wales’ biggest on-the-water fundraisers of the year and is one of the largest participation sports events in the UK, with thousands of sailors, of all abilities, taking part.

Challenge Wales completed the course in a time of 7 hours 11 minutes and 28 seconds, with no fewer than 317 boats retiring due to challenging weather conditions with gusts of up to 35 knots.

The crew felt that Challenge Wales could have possibly been at a disadvantage as she was fully laden with food and fuel for the summer, but the yacht has always beaten the other Challenge 72s in the fleet.

She now heads to Belgium, Spain and Portugal with young people onboard as part of the Tall Ships Races series. 

Challenge Wales trustee, Vicky Williams said: "Those taking part onboard the Challenge Wales in Round the Island Race are directly contributing to the Challenge Wales bursary fund enabling more young people to jump aboard and have a life-changing experience."

Challenge Wales has twice sailed around the world and is Wales’ largest sail training vessel.