Percy refuses to give way in start-line argy-bargy

(ONEDITION )

A start-line argy-bargy between two of Britain’s Olympic gold medallists went the way of Iain Percy when he refused to give way to Ben Ainslie as a record 1,900 boats left Cowes for the 50-mile dash round the Isle of Wight today.

Percy, with fellow gold medallist Andrew Simpson, then saw the boat’s owner, Tottenham Hotspur director, Olympic Games deputy chairman and British America’s Cup team boss Sir Keith Mills take over the helm of the 52-foot Origin. Between them, they brought it back to be first monohull across the finish line.

The overall winner, however, was a modest Contessa 26, called Sundowner, owned by Jo Hutchinson and Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers.

But the boisterous ride down the south side of the island cost Origin both a lost spinnaker and a ripped mainsail, plus a two and a half minute deficit on handicap behind another 52-footer, Bob, highlighted last year when sailed by part-owner former BP boss Tony Hayward.

First multihull to finish was France’s Lionel Lemonchois in the 50-foot Prince de Bretagne, 42 minutes outside the record. There were several dismastings and blown sails and one injured crewman, out of an estimated total of 15,000 competitors – fourth largest participant in UK sport - was taken by helicopter to Portsmouth.

Ainslie, who is backed by and was sailing for race sponsor J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said afterwards: “We had an incredible race. The conditions were pretty extreme, so it was very hard on the boats and the crews.

“We had rugby international Will Greenwood grinding the winch for us, which helped, but we ripped all three spinnakers in what were pretty awesome conditions. Still, I really enjoyed it. Full stop. Now it’s back to Olympic preparation.”

Sir Keith agreed that “it was a pretty amazing day. I have been round the island a few times and this was pretty hairy. We hit 25 knots of boat speed. It was a hard bloody race.”

A red flag had been waved at Ainslie during the pre-start incident but no formal protest was lodged and he revealed that, once the Olympic Games are over, his Origin team would be looking for a new major sailing challenge.

He was also pleased by news that nearly all the tickets for the spectator stands at the Games in Weymouth had been sold. “It is a real tribute to the sport,” he said.