The Round the Island Race



www.roundtheisland.org.uk

The annual J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club, is one of the most popular fixtures on the Solent racing calendar. The race regularly attracts over 1,700 boats and around 16,000 sailors, making it the fourth largest participation sporting event in the UK after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs.

Competitors come from all over the UK, other parts of Europe and as far away as the USA to follow the 50 nautical mile course round the Isle of Wight. Starting on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, the fleet races westabout, to The Needles, round St Catherine's Point and Bembridge Ledge buoy back into the Solent.

This year’s race was 19th June. There are 17 classes, with starts every ten minutes from 0500hrs to 0640hrs, some of the start times having several classes starting at the same time. We start at 0520hrs.

Spectators can find many vantage points, both on the mainland and Isle of Wight, to watch the race progress. Those who cannot get to watch in person can keep an eye on the race’s progress on the website, via our live text commentary and – new for 2010 – our live boat tracking facility.

The race is a great opportunity to watch world-renowned sailors racing against families and first time racers. Although the majority of the fleet will take many hours to complete the race, the course records stand at 3hrs 53mins 05secs for a monohull boat, set by Mike Slade on ICAP Leopard in 2008, and 3hrs 08mins 29secs for a multihull boat, set by Francis Joyon in 2001.