#TeamMusto ambassadors Pam Lee and Will Harris join forces for the CIC Normandy Channel Race
by Musto 27 May 16:30 BST
31 May 2026
#TeamMusto ambassadors Pam Lee and Will Harris join forces for the CIC Normandy Channel Race © Thomas Deregnieaux / QAPTUR / #EMPOWHER
Two of Musto's long-standing brand ambassadors, Irish offshore racer Pamela Lee and Team Malizia co-skipper Will Harris, will team up together to take on the 2026 CIC Normandy Channel Race which starts on 31 May 2026.
Lee will skipper, with Harris stepping onboard as co-skipper for his first participation in this notoriously challenging double-handed offshore race.
The duo will race Lee's Class40 #EMPOWHER kitted out head-to-toe in Musto's high-performance HPX and MPX offshore sailing kit - systems both sailors have helped shape through countless miles of testing in some of the toughest offshore sailing conditions.
A 1,000-mile tactical battle around the Channel
The CIC Normandy Channel Race is a 1,000-nautical-mile double-handed Class40 race that starts and finishes in Caen, France. The course takes the fleet across the English Channel, inside the Isle of Wight, up to the Tuskar Rock, around the Fastnet Rock, and back to France via the Cotentin Peninsula and the Channel Islands. With strong tides, shifting weather systems, and heavy traffic to navigate, it is widely regarded as one of the most strategically demanding courses on the Class40 calendar - a race where seamanship and decision-making count as much as boat speed.
Competition this year is fierce, with a strong fleet of latest-generation Class40s and many of the circuit's most seasoned sailors on the start line. The fleet will be in the CIC Normandy Channel Race Village in Caen from 26-30 May, with the race starting on 31 May off the Normandy port of Ouistreham.
"The Normandy Channel Race is a course I have a huge amount of respect for - it's tactical, tidal, and absolutely relentless," commented Lee. "It's the only double-handed race for me this season and so to have someone of Will's calibre onboard with me to really push my performance, he is the perfect choice as co-skipper.
"Coming back for a third time feels really special. He's an incredible sailor and someone I've wanted to race with for a long time, so to finally line up together on #EMPOWHER is something I'm genuinely excited about. We're both long-term Musto ambassadors and we've put a serious number of miles into testing the HPX kit in pretty much every condition you can imagine, so heading into a race like this knowing the gear has been pushed and refined alongside us is a real confidence boost.
"With the Route du Rhum on the horizon, every competitive mile I sail this season counts," she concluded.
A third NCR for Lee, a debut for Harris
The 2026 edition will mark Lee's third participation in the CIC Normandy Channel Race, and, aligned with her #EMPOWHER campaign, there will be a record attendance of female skippers. Of the 27 boats entered, six are led by female skippers, and most are new entrants, showing the growing place of elite female sailors among the Class40 Championship.
Having previously raced in 2023 and 2025, last year's edition was a particularly memorable one for Lee and her co-skipper Jay Thompson, who diverted #EMPOWHER to assist a stricken competitor, supporting a dramatic night-time helicopter rescue that drew national television coverage in France.
For Harris, the Normandy Channel Race is a brand-new challenge. Best known as co-skipper of Team Malizia with Boris Herrmann, with whom he will compete in The Ocean Race 2027, Harris brings a wealth of offshore experience as he joins #EMPOWHER for what promises to be a tough but rewarding initiation to one of the fleet's signature events. Through Frisch, Germany's leading retailer of performance sailing gear, Team Malizia is also supported by Musto, making the partnership with Lee a natural fit on every level.
"I'm really pleased to be teaming up with Pam for the Normandy Channel Race, especially as a fellow Musto Ambassador. It's my first time on this course and there's no one I'd rather be doing it with - Pam knows the race, she knows the boat, she's totally dedicated to her offshore campaign, and she sails with a level of calm and intent that makes a real difference," said Harris. "I've always followed this race as it is like an extended Fastnet Race, which is probably my most favourite race of all times! It's an important race for the Class40 calendar and always gets a huge amount of entries so the competition will be high.
"I've known Pam for a number of years through the Figaro Class and we always bump into each other when we are out kite surfing, so when she asked me to join her for the race I was super excited. She has a really good boat, the fleet is getting more and more exciting with the scow bows, and the speed and intensity of the racing is high. And the double handed format is fun, it's a little bit like you are sailing solo, but there is someone else on the boat to keep an eye out on you and keep pushing us hard 24/7.
"Like Pam, I've been working with Musto for a long time, both as an ambassador and through Team Malizia, and the HPX range is the kit I trust when conditions get serious and at this time of year, anything is possible in the English Channel! It's a nice feeling lining up in something you've genuinely helped develop on the water."
A key step on the road to the Route du Rhum
Lee is one of Ireland's most accomplished offshore sailors and is set to become the only Irish sailor ever to have competed in the Route du Rhum - the legendary solo transatlantic race from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe - making the CIC Normandy Channel Race a key milestone in her preparation.
While the CIC Normandy Channel Race does not form part of the official Route du Rhum qualification process as it isn't in solo configuration, the miles raced still contribute towards Lee's overall Class ranking. Following the race, Lee will head home to Ireland to take on the Round Ireland Yacht Race, starting from her home town of Wicklow on 20 June 2026.
Built with sailors, tested by sailors
Lee and Harris have been part of the Musto family for many years, working closely with the brand's product teams as ambassadors and on-water testers. Their feedback - gathered across transatlantic crossings, solo and double-handed offshore races, and full Class40 seasons - has played an integral role in the development and refinement of Musto's offshore range of technical performance clothing.
With this race in mind - and the unpredictable conditions the sailors will face - Lee is opting to wear Musto's HPX Salopettes designed specially for women and engineered with GORE-TEX® Pro Ocean fabric and the addition of D30 impact protection about the knees, underneath highly durable CORDURA® panels, essential for working on the foredeck. Both sailors' choice of jacket, depends on the conditions - likely switching between the HPX GORE-TEX® Pro Ocean jacket and the MPX GORETEX® Pro Offshore Jacket 2.0 constructed with a new improved GORE-TEX Pro fabric and slightly lighter in weight.
Both sailors utilise Musto's three layer clothing system first developed by the British heritage brand in 1979. The key principle is that each layer has a distinct job - wick, insulate, protect - and they work together rather than any single garment trying to do everything. By combining moisture-wicking layers like Musto's HPX Merino base layers or MPX Active base layer, insulating mid-layers, such as Musto's EVO technical fleece tops, and then the fully waterproof HPX or MPX outer layer, the system ensures exceptional warmth, dryness, and safety, with each component working in harmony to regulate body temperature, repel water, and allow for unrestricted movement. The beauty of it is flexibility and Lee and Harris can add or remove layers as conditions change, which is exactly what they need at sea.