2nd Volvo City Sailing Championships

Athens Gold medalists race at the 2nd Volvo City Sailing Championships © Amy Bradley-Watson

Athens Gold medalists race at the 2nd Volvo City Sailing Championships © Amy Bradley-Watson

ATHENS GOLD MEDALLISTS JOIN CITY GIANTS AT THE VOLVO CITY SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Last weekend saw fifteen financial giants and boutique firms, go head to head on the water, as part of the 2nd Volvo City Sailing Championships, held on the Island of Porquerolles, France. Gold medallists Ben Ainslie, Shirley Robertson, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb were also competing in their first regatta since their triumphant return from Athens.

The eight person team from UBS took the 2004 Volvo City Sailing Trophy after a hard fought battle with runners-up Citigroup. Last year’s champions Barclays Capital could only manage fourth place.

Tom Hill, Head of World-wide Equity Research at UBS and skipper of the winning boat: "It was a great event both in concept and execution. The boats were sporty enough without being too hard for crews who had not sailed together before, whilst the social functions added to the good-natured yet competitive feel between the various teams.’

The level of competition was tough, especial <> <> ly after the competitors had received a master class by the Athens GBR Sailing Gold medallists Ben Ainslie, Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb & Shirley Robertson. Throughout the weekend the gold medallists spent time with the competitors in and out of the boats. Their invaluable tips made the final day of racing a fierce battle, which culminated in a Round the Island Race.

Shirley Robertson enjoyed the weekends racing “The racing on the water was competitive and good fun, only surpassed by the activities on land! The venue was fantastic and Ben, Sarah, Sarah and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Volvo City Sailing Championships”.

Jonathan Owen, VP of Business Services and Skipper for Citigroup ‘We were very pleased to finish second overall against such a high standard of competition. In the end it all came down to the last race - Round the Island. We still had the potential to take the regatta from overnight leaders UBS, but we were also under pressure from a very quick Deutsche team who only had to beat us by one place to push us into third overall. We sailed our best race of the Championships (beating Ben and Shirley in the Volvo sponsored boats - there's a certain satisfaction in that!) but UBS were a close second over the line just behind us - enough for them to take the regatta. Congratulations to the UBS team for putting together a very consistent series and a well-deserved victory and we look forward to seeing them and the rest of the teams on the start line next year - where we're quite sure the standard will be higher than ever!"

Volvo Car UK, title sponsor of the event (in association with Volvo Ocean Race) (www.volvocars.co.uk/sailing) won the Sponsor’s category, closely beating off The Eton Group. The festivities on land were supported by Veuve Clicquot and the silverware prizes supplied by Links of London.

The City Sailing Championships are part of the City Championships sporting calendar, which includes Shooting, Golf, Polo, Tennis & Skiing, designed for the highly competitive financial community to challenge each other in sport. www.citychampionships.com