A total of 260 skippers have beaten the early entry deadline and signed up for this year’s JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race which takes place on 18 June. A total of 1,600 boats are expected to enter.

Both current record holders will be on the starting line. French sailor Francis Joyon, holder of the multihull record at 3 hours 8 minutes and 29 seconds since 2001, will compete in ‘Idec’. He is currently standing by to challenge the New York to The Lizard record, narrowly missed by Ellen MacArthur last year.

London businessman Mike Slade will compete in ‘Leopard of London’ following the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge in May. He has held the monohull record since 1991, breaking his own record twice in different boats.

Olympic medallists Nick Rogers and Shirley Robertson will team up with top Laser sailor Paul Goodison and the Volvo RYA Keelboat team to race on a Farr 45. Nick has competed in the race before, joining his cousins aboard their Contessa 26 ‘Rosina of Beaulieu’, twice winner of the top trophy. Shirley last year swapped her Yngling for a Laser SB3 in the Sportsboat Rules class to compete against fellow Olympic medallists Iain Percy and Ben Ainslie.

Entry forms and Notice of Race can be found on www.islandsc.org.uk.