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‘We had right of way’: when British fair play met Russian firepower off the Isle of Wight Emine Sinmaz · Helena Horton · Jamie Grierson and Daniel Boffey
Jane and Alan Kelvey’s holiday yacht met a warship in the Channel – at a tense time for Anglo-Russian relations“We actually had right of way,” said Jane Kelvey, a little crossly, though keeping it civil. “But we weren’t going to argue with a warship.”The dramatic standoff in the Channel on Tuesday morning between Admiral Grigorovich, a 125-metre (409ft) battle-hardened Russian frigate, and Bright Future, a 12-metre (40ft) pleasure yacht owned and helmed by Jane, 69, and her husband, Alan, 71, ha
17 June 2026 at 19:17

‘We had right of way’: when British fair play met Russian firepower off the Isle of Wight

By: Emine Sinmaz · Helena Horton · Jamie Grierson and Daniel Boffey

17 June 2026 at 19:17

Jane and Alan Kelvey’s holiday yacht met a warship in the Channel – at a tense time for Anglo-Russian relations

“We actually had right of way,” said Jane Kelvey, a little crossly, though keeping it civil. “But we weren’t going to argue with a warship.”

The dramatic standoff in the Channel on Tuesday morning between Admiral Grigorovich, a 125-metre (409ft) battle-hardened Russian frigate, and Bright Future, a 12-metre (40ft) pleasure yacht owned and helmed by Jane, 69, and her husband, Alan, 71, has rather caught the nation’s imagination.