JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race

JP MORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT ROUND THE ISLAND RACE News from A & S Whitewood

With just a few days to go to this year’s JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, entry numbers are showing an increase on 2006 and stand at a current total of 1,738, the second largest in the history of the race. Over 12,000 sailors across the whole spectrum of the sport will be lining up on the start line at Cowes, making this the fourth largest participative, annual, UK event, after the London Marathon, Great North and Great South Runs.

Charity fundraising has added an important dimension to the event with many skippers and crews participating. Lea Bennett, Secretary of the Island Sailing Club, organisers of the event, said: “We have been touched by the personal stories behind many of the charity entries and are so pleased to have their involvement”.

Classic yacht Gipsy Moth IV will also be sailing for charity. This is the 53 foot ketch in which Sir Francis Chichester broke many records during his solo circumnavigation in 1966. She has recently returned from her second round the world passage, this time crewed by disadvantaged youngsters including a number from the Isle of Wight. Those on board for the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race will include people undergoing treatment or in remission from cancer. Each of the race’s four main charity partners will be represented plus one extra place being made available through a competition run in conjunction with BBC South Today. This was open to any viewer who would like to take part, whether a seasoned sailor or not.
Extreme40teamswillalsoline up for the race aiming to beat the class record set by Holmatro in 2006. For the iShares teams, who hope to have a match race off the Green at Cowes the evening before the race, this event forms one of their endurance races.
This race will certainly be putting a smile on the face of America’s Cup skipper and Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy. With his Olympic Star campaign crew Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson he will be racing on Skandia Big Grin, an 8.5 metre canting-keel sportsboat. This high-performance sportsboat was built for former UK Paralympic team member Mike Browne, as a smaller version of Full Pelt. The race will give an exciting break from Iain and Andy’s Beijing training programme. Other Olympic sailors taking to a different craft for the day include Shirley Robertson.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Robin Aisher will be racing together again this year. Both are sailing legends in their specialist fields. They competed together in the 2006 event, since which time Knox-Johnston completed the gruelling Velux 5 Oceans Race round the world, finishing in fourth place and, at age 68, as the oldest skipper in the history of the event. In 2005 they raced in Suhaili, the wooden ketch in which Knox-Johnston became the first to sail single-handed, non-stop round the world in 1969. The two Robins have been firm friends since 1969 although their careers afloat have taken different directions; Knox-Johnston’s as a solo, long distance sailor, Aisher’s as an Olympic athlete, gaining a bronze in 1968 as well as skippering the Yeoman dynasty of offshore racing yachts
The crew for the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race will include Sir Robin’s nephew Paul, whose father Chris helped bring Suhaili to the UK from India where she was built. Paul is Lombard Marine Finance’s Marine Manager as well as a keen sailor, though he admits to feeling rather more at home on a Sigma 33 than an Open 60!

Robin Aisher is Admiral of the Island Sailing Club, organisers of the event. His place would normally be on the RYS platform to fire the initial cannon but this year he will need to be out on the water ready for the first start at 5am. On this occasion, Alan Titchmarsh, gardener, broadcaster and writer, will be doing the honours. Alan is himself an enthusiastic yachtsman and devotee of the Island. He comments: “The Isle of Wight has always been a special place for me. I've boated around it for the last 30 years, and lived on it for the last nine. I'm delighted to be starting the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, even if it does mean getting up at four in the morning!”