Sydney Gold Medallists and Team Volvo for Life members, Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Shirley Robertson competed head to head in this weekend’s Round the Island Race. Each sailing the one-design high performance sportsboat, the Laser SB3, along with Volvo Ocean Race CEO and former Laser World Champion Glenn Bourke. In total 17 SB3s competed in the Sportsboat division.

Ben Ainslie made a perfectly timed run to the start line in the strong west going tide and led the pack away from Cowes. By the Needles lighthouse Glenn Bourke had pulled out a slight lead on Ainslie. The tussle between the two boats continued for 40 of the 52 mile course, with the lead switching twice more before both boats broached in the gusty conditions, just before Bembridge Ledge Buoy. Bourke suffered a broken rudder and was forced to retire from the race. Ainslie, despite taking on a large amount of water from an open hatch, finished as first place Laser SB3, just ahead of his Athens team-mate Iain Percy.

Having never sailed a Laser SB3 or competed in the Round the Island Race previously Percy showed outstanding talent to finish 2 minutes 41 seconds behind Ainslie, and just ahead of third placed SB3 “Saboteur” owned by Paul Wiseman and Quentin O’Neil.

“I’ve never sailed an SB3 or even an asymmetric keelboat before so we weren’t that sure of best set-up. Every time we saw an SB3 we’d check out their settings and once we’d found the right set up we were off! The last downwind run from The Forts back to the finish in Cowes was just awesome, I really enjoyed the race, it’s just a shame we didn’t manage to overtake Ben!” said Percy.

Shirley Robertson came third in the battle of the Sydney Medallists, her crew an exhausted Sarah Ayton vowing to race on something significantly larger in next year’s Round the Island Race.

Ben Ainslie, Shirley Robertson, Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell all now have a few days well earned rest in the UK before heading back to Athens which will be their home until the end of August.

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OBSERVER TROPHY – First Monohull to finish

FRA29 NEEDASPONSOR.CO.UK AT Racing

GOLD ROMAN BOWL – First Overall IRC

GBR363 WHOOPER Giovanni Belgrano

SILVER ROMAN BOWL – Second Overall IRC

CO1219 ROSINA OF BEAULIEU Jeremy Rogers

ROYAL THAMES CHALLENGE TROPHY – Third Overall IRC

GBR707 MADELAINE Edward Donald

ROYAL LONDON CHALLENGE CUP – Fourth Overall IRC

GBR731 NORDIC BEAR Dermod O’Malley

VAPHIO CUP – First Overall IRC Grp 1

GBR48R JACOBITE Stephen James

IRC Class 1

GBR521R BEAR OF BRITAIN Kit Hobday and Tim Louis

IRC Class 2

GBR955R MARIONETTE C Dunning

IRC Class 3

GBR48R JACOBITE Stephen James

IRC Class 4

GBR6064T J-SPOT Malcolm Jaques

YEOMAN CHALLENGE TROPHY – First Overall IRC Grp 2

GBR9851 FIXATION Nick Fullagar

IRC Class 5

GBR9791R JAMMIN OF POOLE Mike Riley

IRC Class 6

GBR8408 FESTINA LENTE Philip Meakins

IRC Class 7

GBR9851 FIXATION Nick Fullagar

IRC Class 8

GBR3709 PRIME CUT P P Parker

Trophy Winners

CHAMPAGNE MUMM CHALLENGE CUP – First Overall IRC Grp 3

GBR363 WHOOPER Giovanni Belgrano

IRC Class 9

K6121 FIREBRAND Ed Dubois

IRC Class 10

GBR1744 FRENESI OF CLYNDER David Hart

IRC Class 11

GBR363 WHOOPER Giovanni Belgrano

IRC Class 12

CO1219 ROSINA OF BEAULIEU Jeremy Rogers

METHUSELAH TROPHY – Winning Team in IRC Grp 1

Royal Corinthian Yacht Club

JEROBOAM TROPHY – Winning Team in IRC Grp 2

Poole Yacht Racing Association ‘A’

JEROBOAM TROPHY – Winning Team in IRC Grp 3

Royal Lymington Yacht Club

CONRAD RITBLAT TROPHY – First IRC Yacht to finish

BER2000 VENOM BNP PARIBAS

SILVER GILT ROMAN BOWL – First Overall ISC Handicap

3413 PENGUIN OF CHRISTCHURCH Robert York

FIDELIS TROPHY – Second Overall ISC Handicap

GBR56R ZINGALA Barry Polley

GEISCO TROPHY – Third Overall ISC Handicap

GBR8802T BUTTERFLY Kenny Wingrave

JIMMIE READ MEMORIAL CUP – O/A Winner ISC Handicap Group A

GBR56R ZINGALA Barry Polley

ISC Handicap Class A

GBR56R ZINGALA Barry Polley

ISC Handicap Class B

GBR8802T BUTTERFLY Kenny Wingrave

Trophy Winners

ISC Handicap Class C

GBR7260T KYMAH Lindsay Stuart

ISC Handicap Class D

GBR7947T GREAT BEAR III Graham Hetherington

FEDALAH CHALLENGE TROPHY – O/A Winner ISC Handicap Group B

3413 PENGUIN OF CHRISTCHURCH Robert York

ISC Handicap Class E

GBR4115R PERSEVERANCE John Oldridge

ISC Handicap Class F

3666Y JOY OF HAMBLE R F Cheek

ISC Handicap Class G

3413 PENGUIN OF CHRISTCHURCH Robert York

ISC Handicap Class H

GBR4914T FAT CHANCE Michael S Blair

SPREAD EAGLE TROPHY – O/A Winner ISC Handicap Group C

GBR7230 OPUS Steve & Mark Reynell

ISC Handicap Class J

K5562 GUNSLINGER Peter Jenner

ISC Handicap Class K

GBR7230 OPUS Steve & Mark Reynell

ISC Handicap Class L

GBR1995T DIANA David Moore

ISC Handicap Class M

FB199 ELLA MORGAN David Mattey

RENAISSANCE TROPHY – Overall Winner Classic Racing Yachts

1464C FLYOVER H John Wilson

Arun Yacht Club Team Trophy – Winning Team in ISC Handicap

Royal Victoria Yacht Club

LLOYDS BANK TROPHY – First ISC Handicap yacht to finish

FRA29 NEEDASPONSOR.CO.UK AT Racing

Trophy Winners

GOLDEN MILLER CHALLENGE CUP – Overall Winner Multihulls

11 IDEC Francis Joyon

TRIFLE TROPHY – First Multihull ‘A’ on corrected time

GBR681M CARBON TIGER 2 Brian Haynes

HOYA TROPHY – First Multihull ‘B’ on corrected

GBR680M VIKTORIA John Heffernan

First Multihull Grand Prix on corrected time

11 IDEC Francis Joyon

FREEDOM CHALLENGE BOWL – First Multihull to finish

FR2007 ORANGE II Bruno Peyron

First 72′ Challenge Classic Yacht

C45 CHALLENGE BUSINESS 45 Challenge Business

First 67′ Challenge Classic Yacht

C47 AURORA OF LONDON David Beckett

CONTESSA CHALLENGE TROPHY – First Contessa 32

596 POLAR STAR Sebastian Gardner

BEAULIEU TROPHY – First Contessa OOD34 to finish

003X ALSTROEMERIA II Tim Stevenson

WHALE TROPHY – First Cornish Shrimper on elapsed time

851 PORTHILLY DREAMER George Dibben

RED LION TROPHY & JACK KNIGHTS TROPHY – First Folkboat

FB704 SVENJA Michael Stoner

Formula 1 Sailing Trophy

GBR7388R TEAM F1S Louise Arney

JUBILEE TROPHY – First ‘Original’ Gaffer on corrected time

8X MIZPAH Alex Charlton

DISCOVERY TROPHY – First ‘Modern’ Gaffer on corrected time

GBR7633T MAXIMUS Geoff Whitefield

SHAMROCK TROPHY – First Original Gaffer to finish

2 KELPIE Brian Keelan

Trophy Winners

GK24 CUP – First IRC GK24 on corrected time

GBR3387T MINX Chris Hawkes

KEMP MASTS SALVER – First Hunter 27 OOD

Not awarded

TURBO UK CUP – First Hunter 707

GBR7023 EMU EXCURSION Nick Wood

ROYAL SINGAPORE Y.C. CHALLENGE CUP – First Dragon

478 COCONUT Trevor Scovell

PRINCE OF WALES CHALLENGE CUP – First Int. Etchells 22

GBR1252 ENDA LIMA SHAMBA Nils Razmilovic

WESTERLY TROPHY – First J/24

4263 JOBS FOR THE BUOYS Dr John Holloway

SONATA SALVER – First Sonata

GBR8107N MISS RED Toby Gorman

HALMATIC TROPHY – First Nicholson 32

2312Y WAYZATA Duncan Heath

NICHOLSON 35 CHALLENGE TROPHY – First ISC Handicap Nich 35

GBR8734T ANDREA LORELEI Giles Whittaker

OWEN AISHER CHALLENGE CUP – First ISC Handicap SCOD

SC78 ANJAJO R & V Johnson

First Sigma 38 on elapsed time

GBR8408 FESTINA LENTE Philip Meakins

EDWARD HEATH TROPHY – First Sportsboat on corrected time

GBR83L RYA 3 Ian Williams

EVANS TROPHY – First Sonar

GBR698 ECHO John McIntosh

WESTERLY SILVER JUBILEE CUP – First IRC Storm 33 to finish

GBR2191T EXEAT Guy Mcbride

HOYA TROPHY – First Sunsail 37

GBR7842T SUNSAIL 42 Sunsail

Trophy Winners

SWAN TROPHY – First IRC Rated Swan

GBR48R JACOBITE Stephen James

TRAPPER TROPHY – First IRC Trapper 300 on corrected time

GBR3766T GOOGLE-EYE Pat Stables

BRIANNGEE VEGA ASSOC. CHALLENGE CUP – First ISC Hand. Vega

1209 XIPHION Tim Buckley

VICTORIA CUP – First ISC Hand Victoria Shadow Assoc. Yacht

GBR4756T SAMPHIRE M S B Whiffen

X-YACHTS TROPHY – First IRC X-Yacht on corrected time

D201 XANTHIPPE Chris Rhodes

First X332 Yacht on corrected time

GBR8233T GLIDE-X Ian Dawson

TELFORD GOBLET – First IRC Inst. of Civil Engineers Yacht

9241Y QUARTET James Blackburn

JOHN FRANKS TROPHY – First ISC Handicap Sailing School Yacht

GBR8272T NEILSON REDEYE Neilson Active Holidays

CATALAC TROPHY – First Catalac Cruiser on corrected time

Not awarded

IROQUOIS SOVEREIGN – First Iroquois Cat on corrected time

K2502 PEN-Y-MOR DAU David Lewis

CECIL DONNE CUP – First IRC Old Carthusian Yacht

GBR300 PROSPECT OF WHITBY James Nimmo

SHEPHERDS TROPHY – First ISC Chartered Surveyors Yacht

121 DRAGONFLY Sean Fallon

SHEPHERDS TROPHY – First Chartered Surveyors Yacht IRC

K4476 WORKOUT Jeff Worboys

YACHTING MONTHLY FAMILY TROPHY – First family crewed boat

GBR56R ZINGALA Barry Polley