Entries have opened for the 2012 Round the Island Race

The Island Sailing Club (ISC) is delighted to confirm that the first entry registered by the Race Entries team at 12.04am for this year's J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race is Inseyandra, a Bavaria 46, owned and skippered by Martin Thomas from Kings Langley in Hertfordshire.  Martin is a Yachtmaster Instructor and Principal of Solent Sail Ltd, an RYA sailing school, and he will be racing on 30th June with an amateur crew of ten on board.

In what has become an annual tradition at the ISC, Lea Bennett, Club Secretary, telephoned Martin Thomas this morning to congratulate him on being the first entry and also revealed to him that he had in fact just pipped the triple Olympic Gold medallist Ben Ainslie CBE to the post with his Race entry which was filed just two minutes later! 

Martin Thomas has said; "I am extremely happy and very proud to be the first entry in but also feel incredibly privileged to be racing against an Olympic champion in surely one of the only yacht races where this is actually possible!" 

As it commences an eighth year as Race Title Sponsor, J.P. Morgan Asset Management confirms that Ben, whom the company also Title sponsors, has indeed entered this year’s Race and, furthermore, it’s the only time when he will be competing outside of the Finn class before the Olympics. In this most historic of sporting years for Great Britain and one in which Ben, GB’s most successful Olympic sailor ever, is hoping to make history, he will skipper J.P. Morgan Asset Management Winston (GBR 2806L), a very competitive Beneteau First 40.

The first Race start is scheduled for 0700 on Saturday 30th June. If you’ve never done the Race and are contemplating entering this year, take a look at the Race Overview and First Timers’ Guide.

Race website
Visitors to the Race website will appreciate the new-look, user-friendly and feature-packed site launched today to coincide with this year’s entries opening this morning. The overall design is such that the Race organisers, Title Sponsor and Race Partners alike hope it will encourage, inform and entertain first timers and regular racers alike with its stunning imagery, Race news, special features and practical hints and tips.

The Race organisers welcome feedback via the online Forum, on the Race Facebook page or via the Race Twitter feed.

Early bird entries close at midnight on February 25th.