Thanks to Dani for sharing this report from Team Richard Mille. In her own words. Ed
Richard Mille and MUSTO are delighted to announce Team Richard Mille’s line honours victory in Saturday’s JP Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Sailing Race. Pete Cumming’s all-British team sailed to victory in a time of eight hours, 51 minutes and 37 seconds.
The crew
Sailing the 50 nautical mile race in a cutting-edge GC32 foiling catamaran, Team Richard Mille was helmed by former Extreme Sailing Series winner and member of AC34 Luna Rossa Challenge, Paul Campbell James, who was supported by a talented team of multihull sailors including fellow AC34 Luna Rossa team mate, Nick Hutton, previous winning skipper of the Extreme Sailing Series, Pete Cumming, GC32 expert Adam Piggott and experienced tactician Mark Campbell James.
The GC32 crew members wore a selection of Richard Mille diver’s watches; the RM 028 Automatic, the RM 032 Flyback Chronograph and the new RM 60-01 Flyback Chronograph Regatta. The team’s technical clothing was supplied by the world’s leading offshore sailing brand, MUSTO, from their new Dynamic range.
Light wind conditions
The team took to the water for a 6.40am start and was the first of the 1,584 starters to cross the finish line at 3.31pm – not managing to break the current record of two hours, 52 minutes and 15 seconds, set by Sir Ben Ainslie in 2013, but making the most of the light wind conditions.
Racing on board his RP45 ‘Jolt 2’, which rounded the needles towards the front of the fleet, Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille Europe, Middle East and Africa sent his best wishes to the team –
“Richard Mille congratulates Pete Cumming and his team for an incredible achievement. Despite weather conditions not being ideal for a record breaking result the guys showed persistence and determination sailing in extremely light winds to win line honours; an impressive result for the first foiling catamaran to race in a Round The Island Race.”
“The best finish we could ask for”
Pete Cumming commented,
“We have had a brilliant week on the GC32 and to get line honours is the best finish we could ask for given the conditions. We’d like to thank our sponsors for enabling this to happen; both Richard Mille and MUSTO have been hugely supportive and we look forward to working with them both in the future.”
Nigel Musto commented,
“We’re thrilled that Pete, Paul, Nick, Adam and Mark managed to achieve line honours. It’s been a privilege to work with the guys, kitting them out in our new high performance Dynamic range. The JP Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race is a very special event and we hope everyone that competed today had a fantastic day on the water.”
Image: © Lloyd Images
