Sporting stars Zara Phillips, Amy Williams and former England rugby international Martin Bayfield will this year join teams sailing in the Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week. The race, an annual IMOCA 60 sprint round the Isle of Wight attracting some of the biggest names in ocean racing, sees teams competing for a generous £10,000 charity prize fund, donated by Artemis Investment Management.


Onboard Artemis Ocean Racing, reigning Eventing World Champion Zara Phillips will be joined by Amy Williams. Amy defied the odds to bring home a skeleton bobsleigh gold medal from Vancouver this year and was Team GB’s only gold medallist of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Zara, who competed in last year’s Artemis Challenge along with boyfriend Mike Tindall is back with a vengeance to try and claim the £10,000 charity donation. The pair will be sailing with double Olympic sailing medallist Simon Hiscocks who will skipper Artemis Ocean Racing for the day and is racing for the children’s charity ‘Kid’s Company’.


Up against the pair will be Martin Bayfield - since retiring from rugby he has, amongst other things, played the role of Robbie Coltrane’s body double ‘Hagrid’ in the Harry Potter films.  Martin will be joining British sailor Dee Caffari who holds the record for being the first woman to sail solo, nonstop, around the world in both directions. Their chosen charity is ‘Toe in the Water’.

West Country sailor Steve White will be joined by James and Oliver Phelps, the Weasley twins from the Harry Potter films, who are also back for a second year in an effort to secure the £10,000 for the RNLI, their chosen charity this year and the Cowes Week official charity 2010.

European teams, French sailing legend Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement, and Ryan Breymaier and Boris Herrmann aboard VE1 also all have their sights firmly set on the prize fund for their chosen charities: ‘Plan France’ and the ‘Chemo Outreach Project’ respectively. 

Amy Williams commented: “Though I have never sailed before I am really looking forward to The Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week. I’ve always wanted to give sailing a try, and it’s great to be able to do something different; I’m sure life out at sea is pretty different to life on the skeleton bob track! I know everyone’s in it to win it, but it’s great to be racing not only for your yourselves, but also for others, since we’re all competing for charity. I just hope we have a quick boat!”

The event, now in its fourth year, will take place on Tuesday 3rd August at 0950 BST. The Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week is recognised as a key event of the Cowes Week regatta, one of the UK’s longest running and most successful sporting events which attracts thousands of spectators each year. The Artemis Challenge, sponsored by Artemis Investment Management, one of the UK’s leading investment companies and the largest British sponsor in offshore sailing, is a magnificent spectacle, showcasing the best of offshore racing within easy reach of spectators.

Visit the Artemis Challenge website and follow the race as it unfolds via the LIVE race tracking, latest news and images : www.artemischallenge.com