Brentwood-born sailor in Round The Island Race

SIR KEITH Mills may have helped mastermind a successful London 2012, but he was delighted to have helped continue its sporting legacy after he emerged victorious at the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race.

The Brentwood-born 63-year-old, who as deputy chairman of LOCOG helped oversee a fantastic Olympics last summer, was competing on board his TP 52, 5 West, among a fleet of almost 1,500 other boats who tackled the 50-nautical mile course around the Isle of Wight.

The entrepreneur and his crew, skippered by Robert Greenhalgh, came home in 4hrs 35mins 2secs to win the Gold Roman Bowl for topping the IRC Overall division.

And in a race that also saw four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie break the 12-year-old multihull record by more than 16 minutes on board J.P. Morgan BAR, Mills admits such successes were a fitting tribute to the late Andrew Simpson.

“It was a great race, although I didn’t expect to win as it’s usually a small boat like a Folkboat or Contessa 26 that gets it in the end,” said Mills. “The race is normally bitterly contested and it was no different this year, it was a great run around.

“It is great to win, particularly for the team. I pulled these guys together to give the boat a good outing in the UK summer and so to pull it off is a great achievement, especially in one of the blue ribbon events.

“We had a good tussle with both Pace and Weapon Of Choice and we are all pretty closely matched but we had a new A3 sail which favoured the northerly conditions.

“It was particularly nice because most of the team were at Andrew Simpson’s funeral and we all said it would be great to pull off a good result for ‘Bart’ and I hope he was able to see that.

“He was down to sail with us in the race as well so it was great to put one away for him in his memory.”

With its ‘Race for All’ philosophy, the race attracts thousands of amateur sailors – from families, groups of friends and colleagues – to race alongside some of the sport’s biggest names, Ainslie and Dame Ellen MacArthur included.

And Mills admitted it is the sheer number of boats and the competitive spirit exhibited by all that make the race so special, particularly as it provided a chance to celebrate British sport once again.

“The Round The Island Race is a major sporting event watched all over the world. It is so unique and there is nothing like it with the history or skill or breadth of competitors,” he added.

“It is a real pleasure to be a part of. I have been supporting Ben Ainslie and Alex Thomson for the past ten years with the Olympics and Vendee Globe but it was nice to get some time on the water to race myself.

“I travel around the country looking at all sports and practically every sport has seen a huge boost and has caught the imagination of the youngsters who now have big hopes.”

? The J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race is the 4th largest participation sporting event in the UK and the largest yacht race of its kind in the world, attracting anything between 1,500 – 1,800 yachts and 16,000 competitors. www.roundtheisland.org.uk