Double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson OBE will be stepping from one onto two hulls for some extreme racing at Skandia Cowes Week next month. Robertson will line up against seven other teams onboard the JPMorgan Asset Management Extreme 40 (see photo) as part of The iShares Cup.

The iShares Cup is the penultimate event in the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series. In addition to the three-day regatta from 3-5 August, the Extreme 40s will put on several days of exhibition sailing from 7-9 August off The Green by the Royal Yacht Squadron. Shirley explained: “The Extreme 40s are an amazing class, but I am more used to one hull than two, so it is certainly going to be a challenge.”

This will be the second event for the JPMorgan Asset Management Extreme 40, since taking line honours at the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race in June. British America’s Cup sailor David Carr, Victory Challenge sailor Fraser Brown, and British bowman Nick Hutton will join Shirley onboard for the three-day regatta.