Looking set for a record year as 80th Anniversary Race starter is confirmed as TV personality Denise van Outen
• Denise van Outen starts the 80th Anniversary Race
• Team Volvo for life entries announced
• Ben Ainslie tackles Race with Will Greenwood on board
• Tracking enhancements for 2011
• Cowes Yacht Haven Race Village – Race Partner attractions
• Competitions galore!
• Late entries close midday 18th June
Volvo,Match Racing Girls, Monohull, Palma, Spain, Elliot 6m, Annie Lush, Lucy, Kate Macgregor
The Island Sailing Club, organisers of the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, are delighted to confirm that this year’s 80th Anniversary Race will be started at 0600 hrs on Saturday 25th June by actress and TV presenter Denise Van Outen. She will be joined by Michelle Luke, a Social Worker for Clic Sargent at Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle who won the draw for the ‘Buy a Mile’ charity fund raising promotion run by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.
Popular TV personality, Denise and good friend, actor and TV presenter Chris Parker, will be joining Volvo Car UK as their guest for the Race weekend to learn how to sail. As complete novices to sailing, they will be in safe hands with fellow Essex local, top British 470 Olympian and Team Volvo for life sailor, Saskia Clark. Saskia is confident that they can prove the ‘only way is Essex’ and beat the fellow Team Volvo for life sailors also competing in the race onboard J109s.
The Team Volvo for life sailors are taking time out of their busy training schedules to join over 16,000 competitors in the Race. One of Britain’s leading Paralympic sailors, Helena Lucas and Nick Dempsey, Olympic bronze medallist and 2009 World Champion RS: X Windsurfer, will also both be sailing in J109s. “I’m pretty excited to be taking part in my first J.P Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race. Getting to grips with competing in a J109 could take me a while as I have always windsurfed, but, I’m really up for taking part and I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Nick.
Sisters Lucy and Kate Macgregor, two thirds of top international Women’s Match Race team and current World Champions, the ‘Match Race Girls’, will show their competitive spirit as they battle it out against each other. The Girls will each be joined by a crew of three, including some of the country’s best youth sailors, members of the RYA Volvo Team GBR squad. Laser Radial sailors, Rheanna Pavey and Cameron Douglas and local 29er Lymington sailors Sam Battern and Henri Lloyd Williams were recently selected for July’s ISAF Youth Worlds, Croatia, and are looking forward to sailing with the Girls. The Team Volvo for life sailors are estimating a time of around eight hours to complete the 50 nautical mile course and can be followed via online tracking as they circumnavigate the Isle of Wight.
The triple Olympic gold and silver medallist Ben Ainslie has also been confirmed as racing on board a Ker 40 entered as J.P. Morgan Asset Management with the 2003 World Cup rugby star Will Greenwood on board. They will be joined by ace navigator Mike Broughton. This is one major yachting event that has so far escaped Ben’s clutches as far as picking up the main prize, the Gold Roman Bowl, is concerned, so this is another high profile and competitive entry to watch out for.
Race Tracking technology and supported hardware and software enhanced for 2011
Key developments
• New software for Android phones which will allow many more people to take part. The software adds support for 60+ new models of smartphone from HTC,
Samsung, Motorola, LG etc.
• New support for iPhone4 as well as 3G and 3GS.
• New software for Blackberry to support more phones and networks.
• Continuing support for Windows Mobile phones.
• Enhancements mean that over 87% of UK smartphones are now supported.
Also…
• Ability to have more than one phone registered per boat. This will provide more positions for each boat, so more accurate and up-to-date tracking.
• Simplified registration process. One simple tracking ID per boat that can be emailed to all the crew to enter into their phones.
• Improvements to the Race Viewer (improved visualisation of the main fleet, ability to save and recall selected boats and search for boats in a class).
• Addition of Race Management facilities to track support boats and other special craft.
• Re-designed server infrastructure to support expected increase in number of phones/boats being tracked.
• Integration with EventTV so that fleet positions and leading boats can be shown on screen during the day.
The new software is being released to competitors from June 6th allowing them a few weeks to try it out and to encourage everyone to sign up.
Excitement builds as 80th Anniversary Race Village plans are confirmed
Cowes Yacht Haven is gearing itself up as the key venue for the entertainments and activities during this year’s J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race weekend. There’s a full schedule of FREE entertainment and activities running from 10am on Friday 24th through to the night of Saturday 25th June.
The Race Village also includes a fully licensed hospitality marquee and a superb live music/broadcast stage, with live entertainment being staged on both the Friday and Saturday.
There is so much on offer for youngsters as well as adult visitors to this year’s Race Village including face painting and arts & crafts. The official charity, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, is including a sailing simulator with a leader board for visitors to beat a few well-known sailing personalities, and there’ll even be a Segway Challenge held as well as climbing wall sessions.
For the more creative types, Quay Arts will be running free 3D boat building workshops using environmentally-friendly recyclable rubbish materials.
The ‘Round the Island in 80 years’ Exhibition is being shown in the Events Centre in Cowes Yacht Haven from Friday 10.00 – 16.00 hrs and on Saturday from 10.00 – 16.00 hrs.
It’s competition time!
The exhibiting Race Partners are making sure there’s plenty of fun and competition with Nautica Watches throwing down the gauntlet to see who can post the fastest time on the Lewmar grinder machine. Take on the challenge on Friday 24th & Saturday 25th June at the Nautica marquee in the Regatta Village – the quickest time will win a Nautica watch worth £300.
Meanwhile, Haven Knox-Johnston is holding a fun Spot the Buoy competition on their stand and the entry on or closest to the centre of the Buoy wins a sailing jacket and a rucksack full of goodies.
Henri Lloyd is running a fabulous F1 simulator and competition to produce the fastest lap time and the winner gets a Mercedes Petronas Factory Tour for you and five friends, and Volvo Car UK has a prominent display in Cowes Yacht Haven’s Race Village.
The Volvo stand will feature a range of contemporary and stylish vehicles, including the all-new V60. In addition, something new and exciting is springing up in the Race Village! The Volvo Chill-Out Bubble is a place for you to sit back and relax after a hard day’s racing. Get interactive with the iPads or come and record your own Round the Island Race weekend video diary in the Video Diary pod. It’s the perfect place to take it easy with friends and, if you’re lucky, you might even get the chance to meet and talk racing tactics with the Team Volvo for life sailors. The Volvo Chill-Out Bubble and stand will be open from midday on Friday and all day on Saturday.
