Members of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme will be crewing the TP52 Team Volvo for Life 1

More than 1,600 yachts have entered this year’s JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race as the deadline for standard entries approaches on 7 June (tomorrow) at midnight.

Entries received before midnight on Saturday 7th June 2008 will cost £66. Late entries will be accepted after the 7th June 2008 if received by 12 noon on Saturday 21st June 2008 and accompanied by a special entry fee of £190 (Extra for yachts in category C).

Entries can be made online through www.roundtheisland.org.uk 

Tall Ships Challenger 72
The race features a range of classes from sportsboats to classic yachts; regular racers to first timers. This year, thanks to excellent support from the Tall Ships Youth Sailing Trust, 11 of the RYA’s top young sailors will have the fantastic opportunity to crew in the event on one of the Trust’s Challenger 72 yachts. Some will also be going on to compete in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships taking place in Denmark this July.

Those chosen to race are aged 15 to 18 years and include Laser Radial sailors Sophie McKeeman (Kempsford, Glos), James Grant (Mylor, Cornwall), James Spencer (Mudeford, Dorset), Martin Evans (West Mersea, Essex) and Jak Cornthwaite (Accrington, Lancs). They are joined by 29er competitors Becky Diamond (Warsash, Southampton), Claire Lasko (Thame, Oxon) and Fiona Hampshire (West Horsley, Surrey). Phil Sparks (Christchurch, Dorset) and Ben Gratton (Guildford, Surrey) are normally found in a 420 whilst Izzy Hamilton (Bude, Cornwall) is the single representative of the windsurfing fraternity, having taken gold in the girls’ RYA Youth National Championships in April.

The youngsters’ weekend starts on Friday morning with training afloat. The loads on a 38 tonne, 72 foot round the world yacht are massive in comparison with a dinghy. The team will also run through key drills and safety routines ready for an early start on Saturday. Then it will be off to join the 1,600 boats expected to compete in this unique event, racing the 50 nautical miles round the Isle of Wight.

Simon Wergan, the RYA’s Youth Racing Manager, commented: “This is a terrific occasion for the sailors both to build as a unit and to take a look at another aspect of the sport that may be new to some.”

Keelboaters on TP52
Elsewhere on the race track members of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme will be crewing the TP52 Team Volvo for Life 1. Their skipper and helm will be Team GBR’s Paul Goodison, currently British and European Champion in the Laser class. Paul will be representing Great Britain at this summer’s Olympic Games, hoping to improve on his fourth place at Athens. This will be his last race in the UK before setting off for Beijing. Further members of the Volvo RYA Keelboat team will be competing against Olympic silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield in the Sportsboat Rule section, racing level-rated J/80s.