SailRaceWin: Wet and Windy Race around the Isle of Wight for charity onboard the IMOCA Open 60 Hugo Boss : Images from SeaLaunay

Sunday, 14 August 2011

Wet and Windy Race around the Isle of Wight for charity onboard the IMOCA Open 60 Hugo Boss : Images from SeaLaunay

Stars took to the water for a fast and furious sail in the Artemis Challenge

Image copyright Christophe Launay/SeaLaunay @Sealaunay

by Alex Thomson Racing media

The fifth edition of the Artemis Challenge was a near record-breaking day out for Ewan McGregor, Zara Phillips and Natalie Pinkham, who joined world class skippers for the 50-mile sprint around the Isle of Wight. The Artemis Challenge, at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, the world’s largest sailing regatta and one of the UK’s biggest sporting events, saw four IMOCA 60 teams battle it out for a £10,000 prize fund for the charity of their choice. The fifth edition of the Artemis Challenge was won by the French entry PRB skippered by Vincent Riou, winner of the last solo, non-stop Vendee Globe, in a time of 4 hours, 14 minutes and 1 second, narrowly missing out on breaking the previous fastest time by just 13 seconds, set by Team Pindar (4h 13m 48s) in the 2008 Artemis Challenge.

Hollywood A-lister Ewan McGregor, who joined the HUGO BOSS sailing team led by British round-the-world skipper Alex Thomson, said: “"It was an amazing experience - it was my first time yacht racing and to be part of the HUGO BOSS team was a fantastic introduction to a really adventurous sport. Although the prize fund will not be awarded to UNICEF, I was pleased to be able to represent such a great cause on the water today and we hopefully helped to raise awareness of UNICEF'S crucial work for children in East Africa. And of course we can all still share a little of what we have with these children who so desperately need our help by texting SHARE to 78866.”