Sunlight breaking through the trees in the New Forest
Sir Ben Ainslie broke the 2013 Round the Island Race record by 16 minutes. He dedicated the win to Olympic sailor and friend Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson who died recently in a sailing accident.
Starting in Cowes, Ainslie and his crew circumnavigated the Isle of Wight in two hours and 52 minutes in the 45ft America’s Cup catamaran JP Morgan BAR.
The weather was in their favour and the win smashed the 2001 record held by Francis Joyon.
ICAP Leopard skippered by Mike Slade was second to finish, also in record time. The super maxi took 9 minutes and 45 seconds off the monohull record which was previously set by Slade in 2008.
Toe in the Water, skippered by round-the-world yachtswoman Dee Caffari and racing for the Gosport-based charity for injured servicemen came 23rd in their class, finishing the race in a time of five hours and 35 minutes.
