Artemis Ocean Racing to compete in Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race PDF Print E-mail
ImageArtemis Ocean Racing, the Open 60 sponsored by one of the UK’s leading investment companies, Artemis, will today start the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. The 1,800 mile race will kick off at 18.00 BST today, from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes, Isle of Wight.

Record breaking yachtsman Brian Thompson, who has logged more multihull and swing keel sailing miles than any other Briton, had been set to skipper Artemis Ocean Racing, one of the fastest Open 60’s on the water. However, a family tragedy has forced a last-minute change of plans and boat captain Jonny Malbon will now skipper the yacht. Malbon, who was boat captain for Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher during her Route du Rhum victory in 2002, will lead a highly-experienced team comprised of Nick ''Nobi'' Black, Will Oxley, Jonathan McKee and Mark Thomas.

The course for the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race will run clockwise around the British Isles. The 28-strong fleet will head east after the start, around the Isle of Wight and west out of the Solent, along the south coast of England. The yachts will then race up the west coast of Ireland, outside the Outer Hebrides, north of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, before turning south through the North Sea, heading for the Dover Strait and home.

This will be the first time the race has been run as a fully crewed event. It was last sailed in 2000 as a double-handed race, and six out of 14 entrants did not finish. For the first time, all competing yachts will be fitted with tracking devices to allow their progress to be observed on the internet. Intense racing is expected, with Robert Lutener and Martin Elwood’s Volvo 60 ‘Cutting Edge on Venom’ and Marcelle von Wendland’s Whitbread 60 'Zest of Belgium' amongst the competition. The record to beat will be 7 days and 4 hours set by Jean-Philippe Chomette’s Nacira 60 ‘Solune’ in 2000.

Artemis Ocean Racing is the highest rated boat competing and will certainly be looking to lead the fleet out of the Solent. “We’re expecting 8-10 knots from the north for the start today,” says skipper Melbon. “This will drop off once we are around the Isle of Wight, before filling in and building to approximately 25 knots on the nose as we head up towards Scotland.” Malbon predicts Artemis will complete the race in nine days, although he hopes to be quicker. Eying up the competition, he says: “The record holder Solune will be one to beat, and the two Volvo 60s will be fast, especially upwind, so we will need to pull away from them as much as possible in the early part of the race.”

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