SAILORS broke the record of Sir Ben Ainslie at the Round the Island yacht race on Saturday.

Strong winds served up dream conditions for the race around the Isle of Wight, powering the first two multihulls around the course well inside the race record set by the Olympic gold medallist in 2013.

Some 15,000 sailors took part aboard 1,600 vessels, making it one of the largest yacht races in the world.

And Prince Harry (below, middle) was one of the competitors.

Daily Echo:

He was part of the Sir Keith Mills’ FAST 40+ Invictus team, who came second on correct time in the coveted Gold Roman Bowl category.

Browse more than 150 photos from the race, prizegiving and shoreside in the gallery above

Lloyd Thornburg’s giant MOD70 trimaran Phaedo 3 finished in a time of 2 hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds, an incredible 30 minutes inside the time set by Ainslie’s AC45 catamaran in 2013.

Phaedo 3 came screaming up the eastern Solent at a speed of 20 knots, tacking towards the finish when off Lee on the Solent, before making a final tack back onto starboard just a couple of lengths from the committee boats.

Toney Lawson’s almost almost identical trimaran, Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, was next across the line, just over nine minutes later.

The leading monohull, Mike Slade’s 100ft monohull Leopard, reported 25 knots of boat speed around the south of the island.