Cowes Week Limited is delighted to announce that Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week has been selected as the new qualifying event for Sportsboats interested in participating in the 2014 EFG Pan American Sport Boat Championship which will be held in March in Miami.

This championship event is held in conjunction with the Bacardi Cup and Miami Sailing Week which brings together American and international sailors for a week of racing in Biscayne Bay. Sportsboats were added to the regatta four years ago when EFG International and the Viper 640 Class created the Pan American Championship as a feeder series for a final in Miami. 

Lucy Reynolds, owner of Performance Yacht Charter will be taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race aboard her First 40, Southern Child with an all-female crew this summer.

"It's not about being an all-female crew, gender doesn't come into it," explains Portsmouth-based, 25 year-old Lucy Reynolds. "Our goal is to do well by finishing in the top 25% of the fleet; to beat Northern Child (The Swan 51 she also owns with husband, Christian) and to finish in a respectable position in the race. We'll provide the tools and structure to give female crew a chance at competing on an equal footing in this testing offshore race, " says Lucy.

Ben Ainslie stormed across the finish line at 0802:15, accompanied by a swarm of RIBs and Ian Roman's photo helicopter, to smash the 12-year-old race record.

He finished the race in 2 hours 52 minutes 15 seconds, carving more than 16 minutes off Francis Joyon's 2001 time and taking the record time to less than three hours.

Second across the finish line was Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard. Having sailed the first half of the race in 1 hour 40 minutes the giant monohull looked to be well inside the record time of 3 hours 53 minutes she set in 2008. 

On the eve of this year's Race the competitors are unanimous in their excitement as they look forward to tomorrow's rounding of the Isle of Wight in the iconic J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

At today's packed pre-Race press conference at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes, there was a mix of guests interviewed on stage by MC Tracey 'TC' Clarke, ranging from Dame Ellen MacArthur to 90-year old competitor Ray Moxley and Emily Sarsfield, Britain's Ski Cross Champion who is sailing for the first time! Here's an overview with some of the highlights.

Sir Ben Ainslie, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Dee Caffari MBE, Helena Lucas MBE, Alex Thomson, Mike Golding...certainly the most accomplished and recognised names in British, if not global yachting circles, and they're all racing around the Isle of Wight on Saturday 1st June in Britain's favourite yacht race, the annual J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

These top sailors will be joined by up to 16,000 others arriving in Cowes from all over the world by boat, plane, train, ferry and Red Jet, all hoping to make this the best day's racing this year.