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Having suffered various technical and weather set backs, Hilary Lister armed with tenacity, guts, determination and sheer focus has just become the first disabled woman ever to have sailed solo around Britain, adding yet another record to her list.

Talking about the highly adaptable Artemis 20 yacht, Hilary concluded, “I love the Artemis 20, she is a fantastic boat to sail that has looked after me so well, seeing me through everything from force 0 to force 6 and gusting 40 knots. The important thing is that she is a great looking boat that people want to sail, whether they are professionals, amateurs, have never sailed or go on the water every day, and that is very important for disabled people. Everybody is very excited about the prospect of what the Artemis 20 can do and I hope I have shown some of that potential.”

The Artemis 20 now forms the core of the Even Keel Project in the UK, designed to offer sailing to disabled and disadvantaged audiences who would not usually have access to the sport. As international momentum now grows for this most worthy of projects, we look forward to following progress. How can we possibly sign off without asking ourselves- what next from Hilary- the woman who knows no bounds!

For further information on the Even Keel Project, log on to:www.theevenkeel.com

Photos: www.lloydimages.com

In similar style to Germany, Christopher Wuttke- owner of the Rogers 46 Guts‚Äôn Glory who claimed victory in his first race in Finland (Classic Fyn Rundt 2008), Jens Kellinghusen (the new owner of Danebury) claimed victory in his first event in Heligoland where he comfortably won IRC, beating favoured yachts such as Outsider (the Elliott 52).

More recently Jens took part in the 488 nautical mile Round Gotland Race with Varuna and won the Grand Open ORC class, beating the much favoured racer Progressiva. In addition, they were delighted with their 3rd overall in the Grand Open IRC class where they were up against the TP52’s Ran and Artemis.

Well done to all and the very best of luck in the up and coming Fastnet Race starting on Sunday 9th August ’09. We will all be glued to our screens!

Artemis Ocean Racing skipper Samantha Davies, co-skipper Sidney Gavignet and crew, Graham ‘Gringo’ Tourell and Gareth Rowley, crossed the finish line of the classic Rolex Fastnet race at 0615 BST on Wednesday 12th August to finish 2nd in the IMOCA 60 class. Artemis Ocean Racing took 2 days, 18 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds to complete the 608-mile race in varied and demanding conditions.

“I think tactically we sailed the right route in terms of the wind and sailing round the coast – I don’t think we could have done anything more than we did,” said Sam at the finish. “It’s been pretty tiring, the sprints always are, and I probably need to go and sleep for 24 hours!”

They exchanged the lead with Seb Josse aboard BT for much of the race, which facilitated for a great tuning opportunity. This race has provided Sam and Sidney with yet more valuable experience and data to assess the boats true capabilities, in readiness for the double handed Transat Race in November.

RYD are an integral part of the Artemis team working closely with Sam, Sidney and the OC team to help realise the true capabilities of Artemis Ocean Racing
. A member of our design team was invited on the delivery back from Plymouth post-finish which enabled more analysis to be completed. We are now working closely to optimise her performance profile in readiness for the TJV.

Tanguy and his crew aboard his Rogers Class 40 Initiatives Saveurs-Novedia Group were delighted to have crossed the finish line first out of the 19 Class 40s which took part in the 608 mile infamous Fastnet race course. Having beaten some top opposition including Giovanni Soldini, the Italian skipper of Telecom Italia and Boris Hermann’s Beluga Racing, Tanguy won by over an hour.

“Really there were two places that we got away from the rest, at Portland Bill we went offshore and got a small lead but at Land’s End, we also went offshore whilst Giovanni and Boris went inshore. The breeze came in from the west and we got it first to open up a lead. Now we are looking forward to the Class 40 Worlds in Hamble next week.”

The Rogers Class 40 has once again proved her pedigree and demonstrated that she can excel in all conditions- from light upwind to 20+ knots downwind.

“Good genes is an expression heard often today, but can it be used when describing a race boat? This past month I had the opportunity to race aboard Varuna” [Roger 46/001 ex. Danebury] for the 2009 Gotlund Rund. Having built this boat in 2006, I knew her performance envelope and expected a similar spread of Polars, however, the improvements undertaken by her new owner Jens Kellinghusen and facilitated by Tim Daase his boat captain, rewrote my expectations.

Amongst these improvement are, all new carbon rigging, a new fixed bowsprit and new sail inventory. The performance increase is noticeable, especially in the light and tricky conditions of this year’s event. Acceleration out of a tack seemed smoother and when we had breeze, Varuna remained easy to drive with boat speeds climbing to the high teens, almost effortlessly. The foundation of the Rogers 46 is, the excellent design, this strength hides untapped potential for individual yachts and the class alike. Good genes‚Ķ.. I think so.” Mike Castania.

Three new British sailors, Sam Davies, Nick Bubb and Ollie Bond, have joined the Artemis Ocean Racing Team for the next 6 months to the end of the current programme – skippers and boats that cover a spectrum of British talent and short-handed events. This announcement only reinforces the commitment that Artemis has had from the start to fly the British flag within yachting and they have done so in an unwavering fashion.

It was also announced that Sam Davies, Britain‚Äôs top performer in Vend?©e Globe 2008 finishing 4th will Skipper the new Artemis II for the key IMOCA race of the year, the two-up Transat Jacques Vabre Race in November. Her co-skipper will be the vastly experienced French ocean racing sailor Sidney Gavignet who recently returned from the Volvo Ocean Race on Puma.

After the hull and deck were united for the first time in Late April, the dry fit of the deck has now been completed and the lid is back off to allow the first fit of the hydraulic and electrical systems, including integration of the state of the art CanBUS control for all systems monitoring. The Client, Rogers Yacht Design and Goetz Custom Technologies are all delighted with progress and are looking forward to an exclusive open evening at the Rhode-Island facility on the 11th June……2 days time.

All three of the European based Rogers 46‚Äôs have confirmed places in the 2009 Fastnet Race. Varuna and Guts n’ Glory will both be travelling from Germany for the event, whilst David Aisher‚Äôs Yeoman XXXII will be back from a successful Caribbean season, which included class victory in a future offshore classic, the RORC 600. RYD is looking forward to seeing all three boats together again in our home waters and hope to see them competing against each other in Cowes Week as a pre-Fastnet tune-up.

Photo: Nico Krauss

Sailing her specially adapted Rogers designed Artemis 20, Hilary restarted her journey around the British Isles at the end of last month, and has been making excellent progress, despite experiencing everything from storms to calms as she navigated the West Country Coast.

A few days ago, Hilary arrived in Fishguard, after one of the longest legs of her Round Britain Dream. Maybe the sailing was the easier part as Hilary and her team had then to face what she describes as the ‚Äúgreatly exaggerated and, in some cases, incorrectly reported‚ involvement of the RNLI in terms of assistance on the closing stages of this leg.

One person who understands just what Hilary is up against is the quadriplegic yachtsman Geoff Holt who in 2007, completed this Everest of challenges to become the first disabled person to sail single handed around Great Britain: ‚ÄúIt seems so strange following Hilary and her team as they make their way around the British coastline. For me it’s like d?©j?† vu as they make the same daily journeys and visit the same destinations as we did in 2007. I know how tough it is for them and I have nothing but admiration and respect. Post event, the one thing I felt most difficult to convey was the logistics of such an operation. I’m sure Hilary would agree with me, the sailing is the easy bit.‚Äù We all contiune to wish her the very best of luck!

To follow her blogs, log on to:http://www.hilarylister.com

The key philosophy of The Even Keel Project is ‘accessibility’ and the breaking down of traditional barriers. The vision is to make sailing available to all, regardless of ability, age, race or background. The aim is to offer individuals the opportunity to participate on a completely level playing field Рon an even keel, including on the race track. The Even Keel project ultimately aims to offer international accessibility, establishing fleets of boats in key yachting centres around the world.

To help promote the project, the fleet of Artemis 20s recently based themselves in Galway for the stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race. Green Dragon’s skipper Ian Walker was one of the first to experience sailing a 20; “That was great fun. The Artemis 20 is really responsive, even in such light winds. After sailing in big boats, it’s great to get onboard a small boat; it reminds you what sailing is all about. The Even Keel project has a fantastic ambition – sailing is one of the few sports that truly have the ability to cross barriers of disability and I wish them all the luck for the future.”

To learn more about the project, log on to: www.theevenkeel.com

Photo:Rick Tomlinson/ Volvo Ocean Race