Round the Island Race - Top sailors sign up

by Peta Stuart-Hunt on 28 Mar 2013 J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club (ISC), takes place on Saturday 1st June. Three of the world's finest offshore racing sailors and Team GB's Paralympic sailing Gold Medallist have signed up for this year's Race.

The current Race monohull record holder Mike Slade (ICAP Leopard GBR1R) and the British Vendée Globe sailors Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss GBR99) and Mike Golding (Gamesa GBR3) will all be on the famous RYS start line.

The Race Management Team at the ISC is also thrilled to hear that, at the time of writing, Helena Lucas MBE, Team GB's Gold medal-winning 2.4mR sailor, may be joined on board Squire Sanders, an Elan 450, by a co-skipper and none other than Brian Thompson, world record-holding Vendée Globe skipper and crew aboard the Jules Verne record-holding Banque Populaire.

Race Partners on board until 2014 - In addition to the title sponsor J.P. Morgan Asset Management being committed to sponsor this iconic 50 nautical mile Race up to and including the 2014 event, the Race Partners are also confirmed as Haven Knox-Johnston, Henri Lloyd, Old Pulteney, Raymarine, Red Funnel, Sailing Logic and Timex.

The Race is especially fortunate in attracting an interesting family of sponsors who, by and large, want to participate in the Race, either with their own staff crewing or by sponsoring a boat and securing places on board for their clients or themselves.

Boatloads of Sailing Logic - J.P. Morgan has entered a number of corporate charter boats from Britannia, whilst their sister company and new Race Partner, Sailing Logic, has five boats entered with some terrific racing results between them. Puma Logic, Jaguar Logic and Lion Logic are all Reflex 38s and there's Lancelot Logic, a Beneteau First 40 and Talisman Logic, a Sequest Prima 38.

HKJ Firestarter is a Match 35 - honestly! Keith Lovett and his crew from Parkstone Yacht Club have only missed one Round the Island Race since the early 1990's. Keith has competed in over 25 RTI Races and has for the last ten years been supporting one of the Race Partners, the marine insurance specialists Haven Knox-Johnston, part of the Amlin Group. In 2013 he is racing the aptly named HKJ Firestarter, a Match 35. In 2012 the crew sailed to win the Bavaria Owners' Association Cup for the first Bavaria yacht on corrected time in IRC and are looking to repeat their performance.

North of the border for Henri Lloyd - Henri Lloyd Tan-It, a Sydney 36, is skippered by Richard Harris with a Scottish-based crew and staff members from the Race clothing partner Henri Lloyd on board. This boat won the Timex Seamanship Award in 2011. Richard describes himself as 'born to sail' on his sailing CV.

Timex goes large with a Clipper 70 - Meanwhile, the team at Timex who are once again sponsoring the Outstanding Seamanship Award this year, has chartered one of two Clipper 70s, entered as Nautica, and there are also eight Clipper 68s signed up for the Race.

Old Pulteney Kurketrekker - Kurketrekker is a First 35 once again sponsored by Race Partner Old Pulteney Single Malt Scotch whisky for the fourth year in succession. The award-winning whisky has a rich maritime heritage and long standing association with the sea and is known as the 'Maritime Malt'. Sponsoring Kurketrekker is part of the brand's programme of year-round activity that focuses on supporting maritime activity and communities.

Team Rock and Roll, powered by Raymarine Wireless - Well the name may not trip off the tongue that easily but these guys mean business! This J80 is from the Royal Southern Yacht Club, owned by Gillian Ross, and has crew Ross Partridge (UK Regional Sales Manager at Raymarine), Thomas Cheney, Charlotte Goodman-Simpson, and Thomas Taylor on board.

Dame Ellen joins the young people for their race of a lifetime - The Official Race Charity, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust has five yachts entered and its Patron, Dame Ellen MacArthur, will be taking part in the Race again this year. The Trust's Operations Manager, Dan Taylor, fills in some of the detail.

'Every year the Race gives the Trust the opportunity to take some very special young people afloat and give them the experience of a lifetime, including one yacht being joined by the Trust Patron, Dame Ellen MacArthur. This year we have five yachts entered under the names Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust 1 (Moonspray), Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust 2 (Scarlet Oyster), Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust 3 (Confidence), Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust 4 (Carte Blanche) and Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust 5 (Creme De La Creme).

'Our fleet is entered in a variety of classes and will have slightly staggered starts from 0500 with the last boat starting at around 0700. Two of the yachts are chartered through Britannia. The Trust crews taking part in the Race are made up of young people from all over the country including someone from as far flung as the Orkney Islands, as well as our very capable skippers and volunteers.'

Race facts: Did you know that only boats racing under IRC are eligible to win the Gold Roman Bowl? Currently, overall entries are at around the 800 mark with 250 or so racing under IRC.

Standard entry ends midnight Sat 11th May. Enter online here.
Event website