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We are delighted to invite all 2022 Round the Island Race competitors (crew members, skippers and boat owners) to take part in our Competitors' Competition. Our Race Partners and the Island Sailing Club have kindly given a selection of fantastic prizes for you to win. The prize pot is worth over £4,400, so get your race and competition entries in this weekend!

Prizes include:

• The new B&G easy-to-use Zeus 3S chartplotter, which comes with B&G's unique sailing features built-in, making it simple to navigate, plot routes, add waypoints and view key sailing or racing data at the touch of a button or screen (RRP £2,830)
• A GPM Marathon Watch. Ideally suited for the toughest sailing challenges, all Marathon watches are Swiss made and have guaranteed precision and durablility (RRP £370)
• A Skagen Offshore Sailing Jacket from Helly Hansen, a comfortable, durable and protective sailing jacket, built with innovative Ocean Bound recycled materials (RRP £325)
• Plus, a weekend mooring at Cowes Yacht Haven, dinner for four at the Island Sailing Club and subscriptions to Sailing Today and Classic Boat.

For more information and to enter, visit the event website. Competition only open to 2022 race competitors. Entry closes on 28 June 2022.

NEW FOR 2022: COMPETE & COMPARE

With hundreds of boats competing in this unique race, part of the fun is comparing how your boat (or the one you are following) is doing against others. Every boat taking part in the 2022 race is required to register for the live tracking system, so that its position in the race can be tracked. As well as keeping the race officials and everyone watching at home up-to-date with progress, the system also gives competitors the opportunity to replay their race after they've finished to see where they gained (or lost) time on their rivals.

We know many of our competitors like to use the tracking system to compare their performance in the race with other boats of the same type - whether they're sailing a Farr 52 or a Hunter Impala! So, by popular demand the Race Tech Team have upgraded the Race Viewer with a new 'Compete & Compare' feature that gives everyone a one-click access to the tracks of all the boats that match yours (class or design type). And best of all, this will all work LIVE while taking part or following the race! The Race Viewer will be available from mid-June, see the event website for more details.

GET RACE DAY READY WITH B&G

The B&G blog series is in full swing, with the third in the series "Calibrating your electronics" designed to ensure competitors can monitor the windshifts and get the most out of their electronics kit on race day. Getting on the inside of a good wind shift can make or break any race, but in the Round the Island Race, where you'll find long legs, not only upwind but also on all points of sail, playing the shifts right could propel you to the top of your class.

B&G are also excited to announce the launch of their pre-race webinars, hosted by the legendary Mark Chisnell. There will be two sessions running in mid-June, where Mark will guide webinar viewers through his hints and tips for a successful race. Over the race weekend the B&G Technical Support Vehicle, kitted out with all the latest electronics, will be at the Round the Island Race Village at the Cowes Yacht Haven. The team will be on hand to offer support and will have some cool giveaways.

HELLY HANSEN RACE COLLECTION

Helly Hansen is proud to be returning as the Official Clothing Partner to the Round the Island Race 2022. The market-leading brand will be kitting out more than 150 volunteers and organisers for the event. A merchandised capsule collection has been designed for the race, incorporating the brand's most popular technical pieces for the marine and water sports industry, along with new pieces for 2022, included the brand's most responsible materials to date. Highlights from the official merchandise collection includes Helly Hansen's HP 1/2 Zip Pullover, HP Racing Jacket, and W Inshore 1/2 Zip Pullover. The collection will be available to reserve online from 1st June 2022. Collect and pay in the Helly Hansen Cowes store by Friday 24th June (or before if you happen to be passing).

COMPETITOR STORY

A recent entry is from Mark Ashley-Miller, an ex farmer, ex army, ex Internet entrepreneur, who bought his Nauticat 331 'Good Dog' with the aim of circumnavigating the UK and Ireland as slowly as possible in order to visit every harbour with a Harbour Master in the country and write a book. There are a total of 300 Harbour Masters and the skipper has met nearly 200 of them so far, having visited 230 harbours to date. Starting from Dartmouth in 2019, the boat has sailed clockwise around GB including St Kilda, Muckle Flugga, Perth, Goole and Wisbech. The challenge is in aid of The Seafarers' Charity and has so far raised nearly £20,000. The Cowes Harbour Master, Ed Walker, looks forward to welcoming 'Good Dog' and her crew on the 25th June.