On line entry opens tomorrow

The latest from this year's JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island race

Online entries for this year’s JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race are open from Thursday 21 January. The Notice of Race and Entry Form go live on the updated Race website.

Following competitor feedback and the large number of entries received online in 2009, it has been decided that entries will be via the online system in 2010. However, paper entries can be made by contacting the Island Sailing Club direct.

The 2010 Race, the 79th edition and the 6th to have J.P. Morgan Asset Management as its title sponsor, is being run on Saturday, 19 June. In line with other significant British sporting fixtures, it has become one of the great summer sporting occasions and is now the UK's fourth largest participation sports after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs.

Around 16,000 sailors from across Europe and the USA, as well as from all over the UK, compete in upwards of 1,700 boats to follow the 50 nautical mile course around the Isle of Wight. Starting on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, the fleet races westabout to The Needles, past St Catherine's Point, turning at Bembridge Ledge buoy and then heading back into the Solent. Spectators can find many vantage points on the mainland and around the Isle of Wight, to watch the race progress.

Over 60 prizes are awarded and every boat completing this much-loved race receives a special Tankard marking the occasion.

Whether you compete regularly or are new to the event, the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race provides the opportunity to enjoy a day of superb racing in some of the country's finest sailing waters. It is one of those things that you just have to do, at least once!

The multihull record stands at just 3 hours 8 minutes and 29 secondsand for a monohull, the record is 3 hours 53 minutes and 5 seconds. However, the bulk of the fleet crosses the line during the late afternoon or early evening.