Round the Island Race - New photo gallery introduced

by Peta Stuart-Hunt on 28 May 2012 J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club (ISC), is being held on Saturday 30th June 2012. The Race organisers are introducing a new online photo gallery that will allow competitors to share their pictures of this year’s Race with fellow competitors and sailing fans around the world.

Thousands of images are taken each year by those taking part, but this is the first time that all of these images will be available and searchable in one gallery. If you are taking pictures, just select your favourite pictures after the Race is finished and visit the official website to upload them to the gallery. Once images have been approved by the ISC, your pictures will be available for everyone to see and, because each image will be tagged with the name of the boat featured, you’ll also be able to see who has captured pictures of your own Race around the Island! The ISC think this new photo sharing facility will prove very popular with the competitors and encourage race-goers to remember their cameras on Race day.

Tracking: The popular GPS tracking facility will again be in action this year. If the skipper or a member of the crew has a Blackberry, Android smartphone or iPhone, you will be able to track your race around the Island with the free GPS tracking app. As well as keeping everyone watching at home up-to-date with your progress, it'll also give you the opportunity to replay the Race after you've finished to see where you gained (or lost) time on your rivals.

This year, the team behind the technology is improving the frequency of position reporting whilst also better managing your battery power. They are also introducing a mobile Race Viewer so that competitors can see where they are on the Race track compared to their rivals. Visit the tracking preview page for more information.

Live Race Viewer: Online fans will be able to watch the Race unfold through the Live Race Viewer as well as the online Race Blog. Each boat in the fleet, which has GPS tracking enabled, will be visible in the Viewer, and visitors to the official Race website will be able to track favourite boats as they progress around the 50 nautical mile course.

Tracking will commence from the first start time of 0700 right through to the finish at 2200. Replay and pause facilities will also be available for anyone who is interested in comparing detailed performances. The live tracking facility will be found here.

Live Race Blog: The Live Blog is a great way for friends and family to follow the Race online. Throughout the day on June 30th, the team of bloggers will be keeping a huge online audience up-to-date with all the action on the water. The blog will be featuring the latest pictures and video content from the Race track as it arrives at Race HQ, plus live tweets from some of the competitors taking part. Online visitors can read along and even ask the team questions as the Race unfolds.

Last year’s Race Blog attracted 17,762 visitors over the course of twelve hours with comments coming in from as far away as Australia, the Philippines, Mexico and the US. This year’s Blog will be live from 0630 on Race day and can be found on the official website.

EventTV: The Race has a dedicated TV station, EventTV, which will be on air from midday on Friday 29th June to midday on Sunday 1st July, providing all of the latest news, information, pictures and video from the Race, plus a full up-to-the-minute classified results service as the boats start arriving back in Cowes. EventTV will be showing at the Island Sailing Club, at Cowes Yacht Haven and in many of the bars and clubs in Cowes – as well as on Channel 200 of the WightCable TV network.

Your chance for a spot of luxury!
...and finally, another treat which is open to competitors and spectators. There is a fabulous prize on offer from one of the ISC's Race Partners, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), who have an unsurpassed collection of over 520 luxury hotels in more than 70 countries. From Argentina to Austria, Mauritius to Malaysia and Tobago to Tanzania, an infinite variety of experiences awaits. Visitors to the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race Village, situated in Cowes Yacht Haven, can win a superb five night stay at any of the SLH hotels worldwide by visiting the SLH stand and entering a competition for the chance to experience another world!

Don’t forget that Standard Entry closes at midnight on 2nd June. Round the Island Race website