J.P.Morgan BAR AC45 crew ready for Round the Island Race

J.P.Morgan BAR crew on tiptoes for the Round the Island Race 2013 © Lloyd Images / J.P.Morgan BAR

The countdown to the J.P.Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race has begun, just three days remain until the 82nd year of this classic yacht race. The J.P.Morgan BAR shore crew has been putting the AC45 together at Green Marine ready for racing this Saturday 1st June.

The team will start at 0510 with the other multihull classes for the 50-mile race around the Isle of Wight on the south coast of the UK. The race will see 1459 boats with competitors from all walks of life, from world-renowned sailors to families and first time racers.

The team is watching the weather forecasts closely, this will be the first time the AC45 has ever competed in this event, conventionally sailed on courses close to the shore, sailing the AC45 around the Isle of Wight will not be easy. The America's Cup World Series events involve short races, where the team would only race for 20 – 30 minutes at a time. The boats are very physical, so the crew will be working intensely as they manage the weather, the close contact with the fleet and the tidal challenges this course is famous for.

This event will see a new line up for the J.P.Morgan BAR crew, a mainly British affair as Ainslie is joined by Andrew McLean (NZL) (Headsail Trimmer) and Matt Cornwell (Bowman), both have a wealth of AC45 sailing experience competing for Team Korea in the 2012 -13 America Cup World Series. The other two crew roles on board will be taken by Andrew Mills (Runner/Floater) and Mark Andrews (Wing Trimmer). Both sail as part of the British Sailing Team in the Finn Class and were training partners for Ainslie in the lead up to London 2012. They join the team after recent success at the Delta Lloyd regatta, where Andrews won and Mills finished third.MacLean replaces Mark Buckeley who has broken some bones in his hand and will now coach the team.

The current course records stand at 3hrs 53mins 05secs for a monohull boat, set by Mike Slade on ICAP Leopard in 2008, and 3hrs 08mins 29secs for a multihull boat, set by Francis Joyon on IDEC in 2001. For any attempt on the race record conditions would need to be perfect for the team. The current forecast looks positive with 12 – 15 knot, north/north westerly conditions expected.

Matt Cornwell (J.P.Morgan BAR bowman) who has competed in the race before on an Extreme 40 has experienced racing these fast mulithull's on this course, "I went round on the Team Origin Extreme 40 in 2008 and again in 2009. In 2008 we were within about 18 minutes of the record but fog, lumpy seas and 20+ knots downwind between Hurst and St Catherine's made for a very tricky leg. That will be a fairly key part of the race this year too as we will be pushing a building tide and we need to get around St Catherine's as quickly as possible".

The crew will be working with their own weather forecasting team as well as the official race forecaster to make a decision on the feasibility of racing on the day. "These are amazing boats, but they have their limits and they are predominantly raced inshore so we will be watching the forecasts closely to decide whether we can compete in the conditions on race day," explained Cornwall.

The J.P.Morgan BAR team will be supporting the Race For All charity campaign. This year, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race has launched a twitter campaign to facilitate communication throughout the sailing community, while also raising funds for the official Race charity, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. For every tweet including the hashtag #raceforall, J.P. Morgan will donate £1 to the charity.

J.P.Morgan BAR crew list

Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) – Skipper
Matt Cornwell (GBR) – Bowman
Andrew Mills (GBR) – Runner/Floater
Mark Andrews (GBR) – Wing Trimmer
Andrew McLean (NZL) – Head Sail Trimmer

For all the latest news from the team including daily updates from Ben Ainslie go to jpmorganbarblog.com