Round the Island Race

The annual JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, got underway at 6am on the morning of Saturday 28 June. Organised by the Island Sailing Club, the event is one of the most popular fixtures in the Solent racing calendar and sees Olympic medallists and round-the-world skippers mix with first time racers and family cruisers. The challenge for everyone is the same: to complete the 50 nautical mile course round the Isle of Wight.

Starting on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, the fleet raced westbound to The Needles, round St Catherine's Point and Bembridge Ledge buoy back into the Solent. Spectators were able to watch the race progress from many vantage points, both on the Island and on the mainland.

A truly record breaking event

This year the race attracted a record entry of 1875 boats, compared to 1796 in 2007. 18,000 sailors were said to have participated in the event, which is the largest in the UK after the Flora London Marathon, Great North and Great South Runs.

Some of the well known sailors racing this year included double Olympic gold medallists Ben Ainslie and Shirley Robertson, plus other record breaking round the world names included Dame Ellen MacArthur, Alex Thompson, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Dee Caffari and Mike Golding. As the first person to sail single-handedly non-stop around the globe, Sir Robin was this year given the honour of firing the first gun to start the race. Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton raced onboard the Open 60 HUGO BOSS with Alex Thompson and Ben Ainslie.

All race entrants were invited to race for charity, with over £70,000 raised for good causes through the 2007 event. This year, JPMorgan Asset Management's four main charities for the event were Breast Cancer Care, Macmillan Cancer Support, Prostate UK and The Ellen MacArthur Trust, who arranged for up to 100 cyclists to cycle around the Island at the same time as the sailing race.

Over 60 prizes were awarded for the event and the 1557 boats to finally complete the race all received a memento of the occasion. In total there were 193 retirements.

And they're off!

Initial weather forecasts indicated the possibility of a record-breaking race with a 15/20 knot west-southwesterly breeze. Dave Atkinson, Deputy Chief Race Officer, said: "The conditions could well suit the Open 60s and ICAP Leopard. It may all depend on the sea state south of the Island. The Open 60s don't like a short, sharp chop". Having just broken the record for The Round Ireland Race, ICAP Leopard was the largest yacht in the race at 100-foot.

20 minutes into the race, ICAP Leopard was off Newtown Creek and going well. The brand new Team Russia Volvo 70 was half a mile back followed by the New Zealand maxi Zana. In the Extreme 40 class, the leader was Team Aqua WLT (Jim Turner) followed by Oman and TeamOrigin.

Alex Thomson's Open 60 HUGO BOSS was involved in a pre-start incident with the Farr 45 Atomic which was dismasted and the bowsprit of HUGO BOSS damaged. Nonetheless, she crossed the start line heading for The Needles. Lewis Hamilton was sat out on the weather rail, clearly enjoying himself.

As the head of the fleet passed Yarmouth, the visibility deteriorated, almost to fog, but the bank was rolling quickly east, later leaving The Needles clear.

Speedy conditions in this year's event

With a brisk west-southwesterly holding steady for the first part of the day, Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard was able to complete the 50 nautical miles course at record speed, breaking his own time set in 2001 racing Skandia Leopard, by over 12 minutes. He then went on to take a new time for the complete circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight, which is subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

For the first start at 6am, the sky was overcast and banks of mist rolled eastwards, particularly as the leaders headed for St Catherine's Point from The Needles in poor visibility. Mike Slade commented on his return; "Well, it's awful having to get up in the middle of the night in order to beat our own record!

"Round the back of the Island we couldn't see far, but then we came round the eastern end and the sun came out. From there it was a wonderful trip home in the sunshine. The record looked touch-and-go on our way home, but we didn't know how many tacks it would take to make the finish line. I am delighted we have knocked 12 minutes off the WSSRC circumnavigation of the Island record."

Rob Greenhalgh was first home, in the Extreme 40 TeamOrigin. His time was outside the race record for multihulls but nonetheless he had an exciting race. Rob said; "We had a fantastic day. The sailing was fast and hairy. We were on the upper limit. There was only a quarter mile visibility between The Needles and St Catherine's and we don't get the opportunity, on this type of boat, to look at any sophisticated navigation instruments. This is a great result to add to our current leading position in the iShares Cup. We will be back for the beginning of Skandia Cowes Week to compete in the next round."

At 1330 hours, there were just 50/60 boats yet to round St Catherine's Point, the half way mark of the race, which indicated that all the sailors would be back in good time to celebrate in Cowes.

A Grand Day Out for everyone whether little or large

Twelve hours after the first start in the 2008 JPMorgan Asset Management Race and few very boats were left to cross the finish line in Cowes, which was already brimming with tired by happy sailors.

The day started overcast but breezy as the boats tacked down to The Needles. The main problem on the next leg, to St Catherine's Point, was visibility as banks of low fog rolled eastwards. The sea condition south of the Isle of Wight was variously described as grim, hairy, wild, lumpy and on the edge. As the leaders returned to the Solent however the sun came out and the wind lessened but became shifty, keeping everyone on their toes to the end.

The race usually favours either big or small boats, but the results overall in IRC showed a real mixture at the top of the leader board. First came a big boat from IRC0, Ran - TP52, followed by Darren Masters' diminutive quarter tonner Catch. Last year's Gold Roman Bowl winner Edward Donald came third in his 25 foot Folkboat Madelaine with another TP52, Henri Lloyd Cutting Edge, eight seconds later on corrected time.

The ISC Rated Class showed the top boat and winner of the Silver Gilt Roman Bowl as Sandpiper, Adrian Creedy's Parker 235. Willem Wester was second in his brand new Grand Soleil Antilope. He also wins the JPMorgan Asset Management Family Trophy, racing with his wife, daughter and granddaughter Emily aged 13. Twilight a 1961 Robb Lion design was third with Patrick Moreton. Just 22 seconds later on corrected time came the South Coast One Design Marbella (Mark Taylor).

Trophy winners and race results

Please click here to view the principal trophy winners or visit the official JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island website for more detailed results information.

Next year's event takes place on the 20th June 2009.

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