Zara Phillips and Will Greenwood. Picture by Jennifer Burton.
COWES WEEKA FLEET of star names from the worlds of sport, film and television took to the Solent for the third annual Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week.
Zara Phillips, daughter of the Princess Royal and three-day-eventing world champion, joined by her partner rugby star Mike Tindall, climbed onboard the powerful Artemis Ocean Racing IMOCA 60 to compete for the £10,000 charity prizefund on offer to the winning boat.
The famous couple sailed against eight other high speed offshore racing yachts, skippered by some of the world’s leading ocean sailors and featuring celebrity guests such as Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, Tindall’s former England rugby teammate Will Greenwood, twins James and Oliver Phelps, who play the Weasley brothers in the Harry Potter films, and television actress, Denise Black.
Light winds meant that instead of sprinting around the IW as in previous years, the fleet took a route east past the Solent forts before rounding the Nab Tower.
 |
| Bryan Adams. Picture by Jennifer Burton. |
As the wind strengthened through the morning, the race became a close battle between five of the leading yachts, including Artemis Ocean Racing, skippered by British yachtswoman Sam Davies, and BT IMOCA 60, skippered by Frenchman Seb Josse, who had pulled in the help of Dame Ellen MacArthur as crew.
Artemis The Profit Hunter, skippered by Simon Clay and assisted by Bryan Adams, put in a strong performance among the newer, faster generation IMOCA 60s, which also included well-known yachtswoman Dee Caffari on Aviva and Volvo Ocean Race winner Mike Sanderson at the helm of Pindar.
However, by mid-afternoon, the wind had died again and the course was shortened to finish at No Man’s Land Fort, which meant that Seb Josse and BT IMOCA 60 took first place, ahead of Pindar in second and Artemis The Profit Hunter in third.
The win for BT means that they have scooped £10,000 for their nominated charity, the Ellen MacArthur Trust.
Zara said: "Seeing how everyone works together as a team is impressive. Sam and Sidney seem so cool and did an amazing job in hard weather conditions - at the end the wind went completely. They got us all involved in what was going on and we had a really good day."