This in from organisers of Saturday’s Round The Island Race, in their own words. Ed
As the Race Management Team at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes commences the countdown to the start of the 80th Anniversary Round the Island Race on Saturday 25th June, boats have already started arriving in Cowes, such is the excitement surrounding this record-breaking yacht race.
‘Britain’s favourite yacht race’
This epic event, dubbed ‘Britain’s favourite yacht race’ has attracted a record number of entries this year, now standing at a phenomenal 1,908 since entries closed last Saturday.
Rod Nicholls, Commodore of the Island Sailing Club, reflects the mood of everyone involved in this year’s Race, saying, “We’re all very excited at the prospect of welcoming a record fleet on the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes early on Saturday morning. We’re hoping for good sailing conditions to help get everyone away on time and safely round the Island.”
Denise van Outen to fire the starting gun
The first start is at 0600 when the gun will be fired by TV personality Denise van Outen to commence a series of class starts lasting one hour 40 minutes that sees eleven different classes of boat set off on their epic one-day racing adventure.
The first finisher, taking line honours, but not necessarily winning the famous Gold Roman Bowl, is expected to cross the finish line back in Cowes at around 0930 after completing the 50 nautical mile westabout course.
World-class entries
Lionel Lemonchois, a former winner of the Route du Rhum in 2006 and 2010, could be the first skipper celebrating. He is racing in this year’s J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race on the 50ft Trimaran Prince de Bretagne.
Another of Lionel’s claims to racing fame is as part of the Groupama 3 team that won the 2010 Jules Verne Trophy with Franck Cammas at the helm, racing around the globe in 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds.
A Race for all
After the excitement of congratulating the crew taking line honours, the team at the Island Sailing Club will be finishing boats throughout the day right up until 10pm, the time that every boat needs to have completed the Race in order to qualify for a result.
This Race is a great opportunity to watch world-renowned sailors racing against families and first timers. Although the majority of the fleet will take many hours to complete the Race, the course records stand at 3hrs 53mins 05secs for a monohull boat, set by Mike Slade on ICAP Leopard in 2008, and 3hrs 08mins 29secs for a multihull boat, set by Francis Joyon in 2001.
Watch out for Ben Ainslie
One of the famous names to look out for on Saturday is Ben Ainslie, triple Olympic Gold medallist, who is setting out with a steely determination to win this year and add to his gold and silverware collection.
Ben is being joined on board the Ker 40 Keronimo by ace navigator Mike Broughton and Trimmer Mark Campbell-James amongst others. The ex-World Cup Rugby player Will Greenwood has also signed on as crew and will be lending a hand to this high profile team.
Don’t forget to make your donation to the Race Charity the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. It’s really simple to do. Just go to Buy A Mile and select a boat and crew member who you would like to support and buy a virtual mile of the Race.
Image: Jean-Pierre Dick’s JP54 in action
