Dame Ellen MacArthur presents prizes galore to the 2012 J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race winners
The post-J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race atmosphere in the sunny town of Cowes today is mainly one of relief and immense pleasure after competitors enjoyed a challenging, lively and memorable day of racing yesterday, organised and run by the Island Sailing Club. The 81st Round the Island Race, the biggest yacht race in the world, this year attracted an entry of 1,647 boats across 25 classes. Of these, 1,198 crossed the finish line yesterday (30th June) within the 10pm deadline; 247 retired, giving a 73% finish rate which is precisely the same percentage of finishers as in 2011 when the 80th Anniversary Race attracted a record entry of 1,908 yachts and welcomed home 1,345 finishers.
At today’s exceptionally well-attended Prizegiving, hosted by the Island Sailing Club, the upbeat audience was welcomed by the Club’s Commodore Rod Nicholls who made special mention of the Coastguard and inshore lifeboat services to a heartfelt round of applause. An impressive array of gold and silverware was handed out by Roger Thompson, COO of J.P Morgan Asset Management and presented to the prize winners by the guest of honour, Dame Ellen MacArthur, attending in her capacity as Patron of the Official Charity, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. The Prizegiving was MC’d by the ISC’s Sailing Secretary, Chris Thomas.
The winner of the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl for first boat overall on IRC handicap was Tony Langley’s TP52 Manroland Sheetfed. Competing in IRC 0, Manroland Sheetfed (aka Weapon of Choice) was the second monohull to complete the course, finishing in 4hrs, 42mins and 12secs to win on corrected time by just 3 minutes. As the first monohull to finish, the Observer Trophy went to Mike Slade and ICAP Leopard whilst the Silver Roman Bowl was won by last year’s Gold Roman Bowl winner, Jo Hutchinson, on Sundowner.
Author: Peta Stuart-Hunt
