ALEX Thomson praised Sir Ben Ainslie’s achievement in smashing the Round the Island race record.

The Olympic legend scissored a sensational 16 minutes off the previous record on board The JP Morgan Bar at the weekend.

“Ben breaking the record by that margin is just awesome,” said Gosport sailor Thomson.

“What a legend. It’s a massive achievement, particularly as he has done it on a relatively small 45ft catamaran.

“Far bigger catamarans have tried to break the Round the Island record before and haven’t got anywhere near the time that Ben did it in today.

“Ben was sailing in memory of his good friend Bart Simpson, so it’s especially poignant that he managed to break the record in such style.

“I’m really chuffed for him.”

Thomson won the Open 60 class in Round the Island on his first competitive sail since finishing third in the Vendee Globe odyssey back in February.

“It was a great feeling to be back onboard HUGO BOSS and sailing competitively again, and I’m really happy with my time which is a personal Round the Island best for me,” Thomson said.

“This was my first race since that third place Vendee Globe finish.

“We had a great race.

“It was very windy, much more windy than we had expected, as it was very gusty off the back of the Island, but it made it very exciting.

“The Round the Island is a special race to be part of; it’s sailing’s version of the London Marathon.

“The sheer number of boats on the start is an incredible sight to witness and the atmosphere is always fantastic.”

Despite demolishing the decade-old course record, Ainslie didn’t taste victory in the Grand Prix Multihull class, losing to amateur sailor Phil Cotton.

His Seacart 30 trimaran Buzz was third over the line overall but his corrected time put him 30 minutes ahead of the Olympic legend.

It was a good day for the amateurs in the race, with Nottingham’s Peter Walters skippering a novice crew onboard Sunsail 4009 to a new record time of 7hrs 6mins 32secs in the Sunsail F40 class.

Hamble’s Puma Logic also had a fine day on the water winning the IRC Class 1B, Class 1overall and finishing the top IRC Sailing School boat.

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