Sunsail F40 fleet in the JPMorgan Round the Island Race

A windy JPMorgan Round the Island Race © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Fleet showcase racing prowess

The first of the new Sunsail F40 fleet completed the 80th J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race in just over seven hours, heading home within the same timeframe as IRC Group 0 and IRC Group 1A showcasing the racing prowess of the new Sunsail F40 performance racer/cruiser fleet in their first Round the Island Race.

At prize giving it was announced that the 2012 Round the Island Race entries are now open and the new Sunsail F40 fleet will head to the Canaries this winter. Kate Bray, Distribution Director, Sunsail said; “the new Sunsail Winter Racing programme will run from 22nd October 2011 to the 10th March 2012, it will offer a mix of high adrenalin racing and relaxed cruising, including two 3 leg long distance regattas, a series of In Port Racing, Pro Am Regattas and Cruising Rallies.”

The new fleet of 42 identically matched Sunsail F40s battled with fierce conditions during the 50 nautical mile circumnavigation round the Isle of Wight, with wind speeds clocking up to 28 knots and huge swells off the Needles and St Catherine’s making for a challenging Round the Island Race.

Huw Powell onboard Sunsail 4038 was the first F40 to cross the finish line in an elapsed time of 07:19:13 to take home first prize in the Sunsail F40 fleet. Emma Warner from Cheltenham racing onboard the winning Sunsail F40 commented; “It was a fantastic day, very exciting at times, with close racing right up to the finish against four other Sunsail F40s. It was my first time on the new F40 a great layout and I really enjoyed the racing.”

Second in the fleet onboard Sunsail 4012, Richard Clarke commented; “We were leading to the Needles, we had a couple of broaches but the new F40 handled really well.”

For more information call Sunsail Racing tel: 0844 463 6851 or log onto www.sunsailracing.com

Overall Results: