Racing just metres from the shoreline on both sides of the Harbour here in Hong Kong, the six Extreme 40s put on a spectacular display for the gathered international media on day 1 of the inaugural series. There were six races this afternoon in 12 – 15 knots that gusted up to 18 keeping the skippers challenged in the two lap races.
 
        Early on, however, there was disappointment for Shirley Robertson (GBR) when she was hit in a port/starboard incident by The Wave, Muscat, helmed by Paul Campbell James (GBR) causing serious damage to the hull in the second race of the afternoon. “It is really frustrating as we had had a good first race and were just beginning to settle down into the competition. We were lining up for a starboard entrance at the line and The Wave, Muscat was coming in for what looked like a port start and they decided to go behind us, but just accelerated straight into the side. The hull is split in a tricky position, right by the chainplate and the force of the impact pulled the winch off. Their spinnaker pole then attached itself to ours and we couldn’t get ourselves untangled. We lay our fifth man down in the middle of the boat as we just didn’t know what was going to happen next!

 ”Rumbo Almeria has been lifted out of the water by crane and we have a great team of boat builders already working on it so hopefully we’ll be back out there in the morning,” she concluded. Shirley and her crew will be looking for redress as they missed four further races this afternoon.

“I’m a really happy man tonight,” said Theirry Barot, skipper of the home nation Extreme 40, China Team. “To race here in the Harbour is just spectacular with the ferries, the Junks and the incredible backdrop. The level is so high that when you miss something you are pushed right to the back of the fleet. Our objective is to keep getting consistent results and to give our younger crew members some good experience – racing against these top international sailors and these tricky conditions is fantastic for them.”

Nick Moloney agreed. “It was gusty out there today and the wind really kept us all on our toes. It is a great place to sail here in the harbour, but it’s very technical, you have to keep on top of the shifts and learn how the wind bends around the buildings. There’s lot of passing opportunities which makes the racing really exciting for those watching on the water and for us. We went from last to second in one race, and then nearly took Masirah on the line which was incredible. And we almost did a cartwheel! I’d just taken my jacket off when we nearly lost control of the boat, but that was a mistake and put it straight back on as I thought I might get pretty wet this afternoon! We are having a really great time here, a great spot to showcase these Extreme 40s and the event.”

 

The six Extreme 40s are here in Hong Kong to demonstrate the potential of a full blown Extreme Sailing Series in future years, developed along the lines of the hugely successful European circuit. The first day of racing today was reserved for the national and international media who came from Hong Kong, mainland China, the United Kingdom and Singapore. With informal racing in the morning to give the journalists a chance to get “hands on” the 40 foot catamarans, winching and helming, with the afternoon set aside for the official racing, where the guests were in the coveted “fifth man” spot – onboard in the heart of the action.

Matt Scott from the South China Morning Post, was buzzing when he stepped off the spectator Junk. “It was a fantastic day. We are normally invited to press conferences for events where we only have the chance to speak to people sitting at a formal head table and hear about the events. To actually get out on the water and experience it, both in the informal session and the official racing, was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Gary Rose from the UK national press agency, PA Sport, agreed. “I was planning to be back in the office this afternoon, but after having a go in the morning session I was really keen to try it out in a real race situation. The race was superb and I will be back again this weekend. Many sports offer limited chances to speak to the competitors, but the relaxed nature of this event where people are available to speak regularly is much better for us.”

Tomorrow, Saturday 21 November, will see the six Extreme 40s race in the morning from 10 – 12am and then in the afternoon the 24 sailors will be joined by up to 20 lucky youngsters who will come down to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and have a chance to experience life as a professional sailor on an international circuit.

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First alert 1020 GMT
At approximately 1020 GMT today, BT crew Sébastien Josse and Jean-François Cuzon have activated their EPIRB distress beacon after having suffered major damage following a night battling it out in fierce seas and winds reaching 60 knots at times. The skippers are in regular contact with Race Director Jean Maurel, and have reported significant damage to the coachroof, and water entering the boat. The MRCC are coordinating operations with the Transat Jacques Vabre Race Direction and the BT shore team, to ensure the safe recovery of the skippers. MRCC Falmouth confirmed that the RCC Azores was had sent a helicopter and a Navy vessel over to BT, whilst carrying out a satellite broadcast alert to shipping in the area.

This morning’s message sent by Jean-François Cuzon said it all, and takes its full measure in the light of this morning’s events. Having battled it out in waves reaching more than 8 metres of height, the BT boys were still ver confident this morning, so one can only imagine the shock it must have been for them to discover the damage. Here is what Jeff wrote, a few hours before all hell broke loose: “Impressive, the conditions are really hard on the water, 35 to 60 knots with a big swell (thankfully we are not upwind). Onboard BT, we just put our heads down and wait for better times, we just had a couple of gusts at 55 knots. Jojo has done a great job at the helm and we are now with only the main sail. We hope to get out of that terrible weather in the middle of the day.” With Veolia heading towards the Azores due to a torn mainsail track and Artemis also reporting a string of gear failures, last night’s storm took its toll on the fleet and BT certainly endured the nastiest blow, after having led for most of the race.

1400 GMT – Rescue boat 30 miles away
Jeff Cuzon spoke to Race Director Jean Maurel at 1325 GMT approximately, the situation is stable on board and both men are secure, calmly waiting for the rescue operation to unfold. A helicopter is currently refuelling and will depart to locate BT as soon as possible. Due to the conditions it might not be possible to recover the skippers by air. However, a rescue boat is 30 miles away from BT and making best speed towards BT. The crew still have their handheld Iridium satellite phone, and the EPIRB beacon is functioning properly, reporting BT’s position.

1705 GMT – Visual contact
The Ocean Explorer vessel, taking part in the rescue operation, made visual and VHF contact with the crew aboard the BT yacht…

1800 GMT – They’re safe!
After having considered all the options, decision was taken to use the helicopter aboard the Ocean Explorer and Seb and Jeff were lifted to safety and taken straight back to Terceira, in the Azores. A tugboat is now on standby, and all efforts will now be made to salvage the BT yacht. The technical team left the UK at midday and will arrive in the Azores this evening, with a planned departure Saturday morning to attempt to salvage the BT yacht. Currently the BT shore team have 15 minute position data from the yacht thanks to its tracker.

Race direction just spoke with Sébastien, both men are perfectly fine and getting ready to seeing the plane fly over them very shortly. The visibility is rather bad.

BT activates distress beacon – rescue operation underway

At approximately 11:00 GMT today, BT crew Sébastien Josse and Jean-François Cuzon have activated their EPIRB distress beacon after having suffered major damage following a night battling it out in fierce seas and winds reaching 60 knots at times. The skippers are in regular contact with Race Director Jean Maurel, and have reported significant damage to the coachroof, and water entering the boat. The MRCC are coordinating operations with the Transat Jacques Vabre Race Direction and the BT shore team, to ensure the safe recovery of the skippers. MRCC Falmouth confirmed that the RCC Azores was had sent a helicopter and a Navy vessel over to BT, whilst carrying out a satellite broadcast alert to shipping in the area. BT is currently 210 miles North of the Azores, 42 10º N – 27 50º

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Both BT boats and crews are in the final stages of preparation for the biggest events of their season… There is just a week to go before the final event of the iShares Cup in Almeria, Spain and Nick Moloney and the BT Extreme 40 crew will have to put in a strong performance to secure their current overall 5th place. For the BT IMOCA 60 team, the countdown has started for Sébastien Josse and Jean François Cuzon who will start the double handed Transat Jacques Vabre, the pinnacle race of the IMOCA season, in just over one month…

After five events across Europe in the 2009 iShares Cup, BT is currently in 5th place just behind the world’s best multihull skippers – Loick Peyron (Oman Sail Renaisance), Franck Cammas (Groupama 40) , Yann Guichard (Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild). Not a bad place to be perhaps, but the BT team, who have finished third on the podium at the last two annual iShares Cup series, are disappointed that the podium this time is beyond their reach.  BT skipper, Nick Moloney, remains positive and knows they must put in a good performance to fend off the other teams vying for position:
“Almeria is the last event and the sailing conditions should be completely different to Kiel and Amsterdam, where we had our worst results. In Spain we will have an open race course and more wind, and we clearly are better in those conditions. We are still 5th on the overall leaderbord, we are determined and we will fight until the end of the last race!”

This Wednesday (30.9.09) BT skippers Sébastien Josse and Jean-François Cuzon took a break in their training and headed to Paris for the official press conference of the Transat Jacques Vabre. The gathering of the 14 IMOCA duos who will compete in the Transat Jacques Vabre starting on 8th November, put the race under scrutiny and an intriguing tactical option that could divide this very competitive fleet of latest generation IMOCA 60s. For Sébastien and Jean-Francois a victory in the IMOCA class of the Fastnet race was a reassuring win, but they know the competition in this year’s Transat Jacques Vabre will be intense. Racing against the likes of Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia,  Kito de Pavant’s Groupe Bel and Roland Jourdain’s Veolia Environnement all who have recently been sharpening their racing skills by competed in the Istanbul Europe Race.

 

 

 

 

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First away, punching into the last of the flood tide, were the IMOCA 60s. With their ‘big gear’ unfurled seconds before the start, it was Dee Caffari’s Aviva that made the most positive start towards the pin end. However she was soon overhauled by Seb Josse on BT IMOCA 60 sailing in slightly better breeze on the island side of the course. By the 1430GMT position report, the leading IMOCA 60s were already halfway across Christchurch Bay with Mike Sanderson’s Pindar leading, narrowly ahead of Aviva, BT and Arnaud Boissieres’ Akena Verandas.

With the tide having turned favourable to flush the remaining classes west, it was the small IRC classes that were next up. By the 1430 update they too were out through the Needles, with David Lees’ High Tension 36 Hephzibah leading from the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race winner Iromiguy, Jean-Yves Chateau’s Nicholson 33 in IRC 3B, just ahead of David Collins’ Swan 43 Cisne, leader in IRC 3A.

For the boats heading west down the Solent, the transition to the south westerly breeze occurred for most off Yarmouth resulting in a short lull before they were put hard on the wind. Fortunately the boats were driven west towards the new breeze by the tide.

With the largest boats catching up the smaller ones, Christchurch Bay was becoming grid-locked mid-afternoon, with the IRC 2 leaders David McLeman’s J/109 Offbeat and David Walter’s J/39 Jackdaw having cruised most of the way through the Class 3 fleet, as had Jacques Pelletier’s X-43 L’Ange de Milon and Andrew Jackson’s First 40.7 Genie, leading their respective halves of IRC 1.

Despite having started an hour later than the IRC 3 boats, even the IRC Zero fleet had caught up, with John Shepherd’s Ker 46 Fair Do’s VII leading on the water from Jack Pringle’s Farr 45 Fraxious.  

In their planning of the starts, the Royal Ocean Racing Club had left the best to last. On schedule at 1440 BST, it was the turn of the Class 40s to take their start with the breeze still from the east. Here it was the two Verdier designs, Giovanni Soldini’s Telecom Italia and the Felippe Cubillos’ Chilean yacht Desafio Cabo de Hornos which made the best starts. By the time they exited the Solent Soldini was tied for the lead with Andrew Dawson’s Spliff and Mike West’s Kerlaria.

Five to six miles short of St Alban’s Head, at 1600GMT Tanguy de LaMotte reported from the Class 40 Initiatives Saveurs – Novedia Group that they were upwind, albeit port tack favoured, and that having put in a few tacks to get offshore they were making 5-6 knots, but the wind was slowly dying on them.

Finally there came the biggest boats in the fleet, led off the line by Mike Slade’s towering Rolex Fastnet Race record holder, the 100ft super-maxi, ICAP Leopard. Luna Rossa, with Flavio Flavini helming and Volvo Ocean Race winner Torben Grael on tactics, followed in their wake with Niklas Zennstrom’s Ran 2 leading Karl Kwok’s Farr 80, Beau Geste up the mainland side.

By the 1500 update, ICAP Leopard had already pulled ahead of all the IRC boats with only the IMOCA 60s ahead of her on the water. Among the Mini Maxis Beau Geste, thanks to her longer waterline length, had pulled ahead of Ran 2 and the STP65s Luna Rossa and Rosebud/Team DYT, although probably not enough to lead on corrected time.

Prior to the start America’s Cup helmsman and Beau Geste skipper Gavin Brady, for whom this is his third Rolex Fastnet Race, said that they were still on a “steep learning curve phase” with their newly launched boat. “We have had the opportunity to do three races this week which was good for us to learn the boat, but it is never fun, when you have a brand new boat, to look at the scoreboard at the end of it. So we know from on board the boat that we have a lot more speed to get out of it, but like any new boat at the moment there is a long list of things to do to get there. If the Rolex Fastnet Race was in one month’s time we’d be a lot better off.”

Like the other Mini Maxis, Beau Geste has a very strong crew including former Luna Rossa helmsman Francesco de Angelis and from Volvo Ocean Race winner Ericsson 4, New Zealanders David Endean and Phil  Jameson.

In the Rolex Fastnet Race, Beau Geste has the second highest IRC rating, to ICAP Leopard, but given the newness of the boat Brady felt it unlikely they would be nipping at heels of ‘the big cat’.  “We are very respectful of the fact that they are 100-foot long with a canting keel. ICAP Leopard would have to have a pretty bad race and we’d have to have an extraordinary good race to beat them; but this race has seen strange things before and you have to navigate the Celtic Sea and the currents. I think we have an outside shot, but the rating tells the story: they owe us seven minutes an hour.”

The 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race could well be decided this evening as the wind drops and the majority of the fleet struggle to make it around Portland Bill without having to kedge.

Two handed Division

One of the strongest sub-divisions of the Rolex Fastnet Race fleet are the two handed, twenty eight boats sailing just two up. The 2007 winners in the class, Simon Curwen and Paul Peggs, both former Mini Transat competitors, aboard Curwen’s J/105, Voador, made a strong start in Class 2, alone in gybing early towards the island side.

Many will be following up-and-coming British solo sailing star Katie Miller, freshly returned from the singlehanded transatlantic race in her Beneteau Figaro 2, Hot Socks, which she is racing two handed in Class 1 with fellow solo sailor Hannah Jenner. Miller very nearly didn’t make the Rolex Fastnet Race start when some delamination was discovered in Hot Socks’ keel structure. Her boat was only relaunched yesterday thanks to some 11^th hour assistance by Endeavour Quay in Gosport.

Despite the last minute panic, Miller was looking forward to a light wind race. “Last year the only IRC race I won my class in was when we had a really light crossing going to Cherbourg. So a bit of light upwind conditions to the Fastnet and some stronger downwind conditions back to Plymouth – that should work well for us.”

 

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Since it was first run in 1925, the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s biennial Rolex Fastnet Race has earned a reputation for being one of the toughest events in the international yacht racing calendar. This has come about from the brutal conditions it can occasionally throw at competitors, as well as the complexity of the race course. Over the 608 mile long course, crews must negotiate tidal gates off the numerous headlands along the English south coast, as well as the open ocean as they cross the Celtic Sea to the Fastnet Rock, 10.8 nautical miles off the coast of southwest Ireland, before returning around the outside (west side) of the Scilly Isles to the finish in Plymouth.

The Rolex Fastnet Race this year has attracted A-list sailors from around the world, and the strongest international line-up of grand prix race yachts amongst the 300 boats setting sail from Cowes tomorrow, Sunday 9th August. Peppered throughout the fleet are stars from the America’s Cup, plus the Volvo Ocean Race and Vendee Globe round the world races.

Racing out on her own for line honours will be property developer Mike Slade’s 100ft supermaxi, ICAP Leopard. Given the relatively light forecast, Boat Captain Chris Sherlock says that breaking the record of 1 day 20 hours 18 minutes, ICAP Leopard set in the 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race, is looking unlikely, but he remains hopeful. “It is a British summer – anything could happen! I wouldn’t write it off. We don’t need that much wind to average 14 or 15 knots.”

To optimise their boat to the conditions, they have had to shed a couple of crew and a sail, relieving them of about one tonne in weight in total. They will still have 24 crewon board, an all-star cast including New Zealander Brad Jackson, watch captain on the winning boats in the last two Volvo Ocean Races and from the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand tactician, Ray Davies. “We have a few boys on board to give it our best shot,” continues Sherlock. “When we come up against Wild Oats and Alfa in the Rolex Sydney Hobart this year they will have an equally good crew, so we have invested heavily there.”

A new feature of this race are the IRC Mini Maxis and STP65s, the very latest breed of grand prix race boat and the battle between the four of these will be one to watch. Making the voyage from the US is the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner, the STP65 Rosebud/Team DYT owned by Roger Sturgeon, which this week won this class at Cowes Week. The very newest is Beau Geste, a Farr-designed 80ft IRC boat owned by Hong Kong-based Karl Kwok and with an international team led by America’s Cup helmsman Gavin Brady.

Favourite in this heavyweight bout is probably the 72ft Ran 2 belonging to Skype founder Niklas Zennström, featuring many of the UK’s top professional sailors led by Volvo Ocean Race veteran Tim Powell. Ran 2 has made the trip up from the Mediterranean especially to compete in this race as has Luna Rossa, the STP65 sailed by Prada owner Patricio Bertelli’s Italian America’s Cup team. She features among her crew five-time Olympic medallist and Volvo Ocean Race winner, Torben Grael.

Torben Grael has competed in the race twice before when the Rolex Fastnet Race was part of the Admiral’s Cup and in 1995 won overall on Medina. ” It is a very traditional race which is sometimes pretty hard. The worst one was 30 years ago, so it is special long race. There are difficulties with the tide and sometimes quite strong winds. ”

For this race Grael is standing in for another well known Brazilian Olympian, Robert Schiedt and he only sailed on Luna Rossa for the first time this week. “I think light winds are not the boat’s speciality but she should be competitive still,” says Grael. “We will see what the forecast is for tomorrow. It has been bouncing a little bit – very light and then a little better. I hope we have enough wind to keep going.”

For the singlehanded sailors who competed over last winter in the non-stop round the world race, the Vendee Globe, the Rolex Fastnet Race is a sprint. Among the line-up is 2004-5 Vendee Globe winner Vincent Riou sailing on his old boat, now Arnaud Boissieres’ Akena Verandas, while 2005-6 Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Mike Sanderson is reunited with his IMOCA 60, Pindar. Favourite is expected to be Seb Josse on board BT IMOCA 60, who won this class in the race two handed with Riou in 2007.

Other household names competing in this class are Dee Caffari, the first woman to sail around the world singlehanded non-stop in both directions, sailing Aviva, and Sam Davies, who was fourth home as well as being first British skipper and first woman in the last Vendee Globe.

” The Rolex Fastnet Race is one of the most respected races in the world, ” says Davies, who has swapped her Vendee Globe steed Roxy for the more powerful Artemis Ocean Racing. ” It comes in a list of great races that I am proud to have taken part in along with the Vendee Globe, the Rolex Sydney Hobart and the Figaro. I remember when I was really young never imagining I’d even sail across the Channel and the Fastnet Race was something I was overawed by. ”

Similar to the IMOCA 60s, but smaller, are the Class 40s. The 19 strong line-up includes Portimao Global Ocean Race winner, German Boris Hermann on his new Beluga Racer. But the favourite is certainly Italian Velux 5 Oceans winner, Giovanni Soldini and his Telecom Italia, who this year won both legs of the class’ Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables two-handed race. Soldini is sailing the Rolex Fastnet Race four up with Italian America’s Cup sailors Pietro d’Ali and Corrado Rossignoli.

“The Rolex Fastnet Race is a very historical race for us,” says Soldini. “I heard about this race when I was a little boy. It is a difficult and tactical race – all the problems with the tide and quite often there can be a low pressure and a front during the course.” He adds that he is not looking forward to the light conditions forecast as his boat, Telecom Italia prefers stronger breeze. “The weather conditions are changing every day. Some days they tell you it will be 10-12 knots – that is okay. Other days it tell you it is 4 knots – that is not okay!”

While the high profile international grand prix race boats grab the headlines, the bulk of the fleet remains the smaller handicap classes and with the race sailed under the RORC’s IRC rating system, any of these is in with a chance. Among them is the 2005 winner, and one of the smallest boats in the fleet, Jean-Yves Chateau’s Nicholson 33, Iromiguy as well as the new Tonnerre de Breskens of 2001 winner Piet Vroon.

1979 remembered

This year’s race marks the 30th anniversary of the disastrous 1979 race when 15 competitors lost their lives in mountainous seas as the fleet floundered in storm-force winds. The chances of a repeat of this incident have been greatly reduced over the intervening years. For example, today all 302 boats are fitted with EPIRBs, GPS and tracking units so that the organisers know exactly where they are at any moment in time.

Commodore of the RORC, Andrew McIrvine comments on how the safety aspects of the Rolex Fastnet Race have improved: “At the least half the crew and the skipper have had to do the qualifying miles. They have to do a sea survival course and a first aid course. They have got into a liferaft and turn it upside down and turn it the right way up again, so they know how things work. But probably the most important thing that people really didn’t understand [in 1979] -they thought it was safer to climb into the liferaft rather than stay on their boat even though it had a broken mast or it had rolled over a few times. A liferaft is only something you step up into when you absolutely know your boat is wrecked and is going to sink.

“We know so much about the weather. In 1979 the weather came completely out of the blue. Today we have very accurate weather forecasting and that was why we were able to make the changes two years ago and say wait 24 hours. And of course all the way around you can be picking up the weather forecast on your iPhone. Navigation is much safer today. GPS wasn’t there [in 1979]. Back then we were using RDF and you plotted a big triangle on the chart.”

In addition this year the forecast is looking relatively benign. According to meteorologist Chris Tibbs the most wind competitors are likely to see in this year’s race is 20 knots.

“The main feature is the ridge of high pressure up through the central Channel,” says Tibbs. “Also we have a small area of low pressure approaching western Ireland tomorrow afternoon. The start will therefore be in a light northerly gradient wind, so hopefully we’ll get a light sea breeze to get the boats away.” Tibbs says that the boats getting down Channel will coincide with the depression moving across Ireland swinging the wind into the southwest bringing 15-20 knots on Monday lunchtime. “There will be a small cold front on Monday afternoon and then it is going to be a light to moderate wind beat from Lands End across to the rock.” Past the Rock the high pressure reasserts itself over the race course to provide a light northwesterly to get the boats back to Plymouth. “For any slow boats, there is another low pressure expected on Thursday or Friday swinging the wind round to the southwest to bring the last boats home.”

The warning signal for the first start on the Royal Yacht Squadron line, off Cowes, Isle of Wight, will be at 1150 BST with the Open 60s leading out of the Solent followed by the small IRC classes, the Class 40 start at 1340 BST, the biggest boats at 1400 and finally the multihulls.

Virtual Fastnet
Following on from the success of the games accompanying other major offshore races, so the RORC this year for the first time have introduced the ‘Virtual Fastnet Race’ game. In this, competitors from around the world can take part in their own on-line race in a standard 40 footer starting from the south side of the Isle of Wight (to avoid congestion at the Needles). With around 500,000 people having already played the round the world race games, the RORC are confident of achieving high participation for their race. As of Thursday, already 11,000 virtual competitors had signed up.

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Seb Josse and his all-star team, including celebrity guests Dame Ellen MacArthur and Radio 1 DJ, Rob Da Bank have won the Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week.  On an east-bound course, the fleet set off at 10:00 from the Royal Yacht Squadron line on a downwind leg flying their huge code zero gennakers. Mike Sanderson and team, including celebrity guest Paul Rose (TV presenter and adventurer), led off the startline but complicated winds soon started to affect proceedings and within 10 minutes, fleet positions had turned inside out.

 Team Pindar today finished second in the Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week, skippered by Former ISAF World Sailor of the Year and TEAMORIGIN Team Director, Mike Sanderson.

Light winds this morning forced organisers to modify the normal ‘round-the-island’ course, to a shortened 35-mile route through the Forts and around Nab Tower off the Isle of Wight. 8 miles from the official line, as the wind dropped further, the race was called to an early finish, sealing victory for Frenchman Seb Josse and his crew on board BT IMOCA 60.

 Now in its third year, this year’s Artemis Challenge attracted a total of eight Open 60’s many of which had not competed since the end of the non-stop solo round the world yacht race, the Vendée Globe earlier this year. Each yacht played host to a celebrity sailor which included names from the world of entertainment and sport: Zara Phillips, Bryan Adams and Rugby World Cup winners Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall. Sailing on board Team Pindar was BBC TV presenter, adventurer and Earthwatch ambassador, Paul Rose.

Mike Sanderson commented: “Obviously it was disappointing not to have more breeze, but we had a good time and definitely made the most of the day. Considering how well the boat has been performing in the strong winds over the last few days, I was really encouraged to see how well she handled the light breeze too.”

Earthwatch Ambassador, Paul Rose commented: “I’ve been sailing all my life but it’s not everyday you get to be out on the water on an Open 60 and with some of the best sailors in the world. It’s been a tremendous event and a great opportunity to raise awareness for Earthwatch and its Oceans Appeal.”

Team Pindar is now preparing for the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race, which starts from the Royal Yacht Squadron

A further five hours later the fleet made its way back up the Solent from No Man’s Land Fort after the course was shortened for the first time but the wind totally disappeared between Portsmouth and Ryde creating a concertina effect on the fleet. 

Making zero headway against a now adverse tide, the race officers made a decision to put the self-shortening course procedure into action. It was agreed this morning that all competitors were to time themselves round each mark of the course, and take the times of the boat ahead and behind should this particular scenario happen.

The race office confirmed that the results would be based on the timings at Bembridge Ledge which meant that BT who was leading at the time was deemed the overall winner, and Pindar was second. Simon Clay on Artemis The Profit Hunter with celebrity guest Bryan Adams, were third. Stable mates – Artemis Ocean Racing –  with Sam Davies and special guest Zara Phillips finished 4th.

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The UK round of the 2009 iShares Cup circuit kicks off tomorrow, with Day 1 of the iShares Cup at Cowes Week. Today’s practice races saw three different victors over 3 races with Jean-Christophe Mourniac (LUNA), Yann Guichard (Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild) and Nick Moloney (BT) winning the final practice race today. Tricky conditions in the light and shifty breeze, and some over-zealous starts, has not provided a clear form guide but a good shakedown for the Extreme 40 crews ahead of the serious business that starts tomorrow at 2.00pm.

After two rounds on the six-stage European circuit the iShares Cup leaderboard is still wide open, especially now current overall leaders BMW ORACLE Racing have been forced to miss the Cowes event due to commitments testing their new America’s Cup boat in San Diego, USA. Of the nine racing teams, this puts Oman Sail’s Masirah in pole position after their win at the second round in Hyères, France last month. However, Masirah are on equal points with Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild, winners of the season opener in Venice.

Pete Cumming, skipper of Masirah: “We’re in an ideal position, and obviously after Hyères we’re going into this event pretty confident but at every event different teams come back stronger and stronger so you’d be a fool to count anyone else out of the game. The only time we ever really look at the results is going into the final double points race because you can’t do anything about everyone else, so we’ll just keep our heads down and try and sail clean and not pick up any stupid penalties – which I think will be pretty tricky here!”

BMW ORACLE Racing are planning to rejoin the iShares Cup circuit at the next venue in Kiel, Germany, later this month – with up to 24 races at each venue, James Spithill and crew can still be in contention for the title at the halfway stage of the series.

Just behind Gitana Extreme, Oman Sail’s stable mate Renaissance, skippered by Loick Peyron, is one point behind in fourth overall, whilst the French multihull squad on Groupama 40 are just four points further adrift in fifth. Groupama 40 has a new skipper for the iShares Cup at Cowes Week, as Franck Cammas this week set off on a transatlantic record attempt on the giant multihull Groupama 3. He will be replaced by Olympic catamaran sailor and former 470 class world champion Gildas Philippe. Meanwhile, on Team iShares crew Winston McFarlane steps in for fellow Kiwi Jonathan Macbeth. McFarlane has sailed with Team New Zealand in several America’s Cups. Extreme 40 class creator Mitch Booth is, once again, the helmsman for BT standing in for an injured Darren Bundock.

The iShares Cup racing will take place on a short shore-side course set just off Egypt Point, on Cowes Espalanade. The third venue will bring new challenges to the crews, including the Solent’s strong tides and rocky coastline to avoid, and some strong breezes. Tim Hancock, Race Director, confirmed: “Tomorrow the forecast wind is going to be southerly, about 12-15 knots. Saturday’s current forecast is south-westerly 10-12, Sunday it’s going lighter but the wind will swing around to the north-west, and Monday will be the windiest day, on a north-westerly currently forecast around 16 knots, although there’ll be gusts of more than that I’m sure.”

The iShares Cup sailors will be joined by some celebrity sportsmen and women… On Monday Arctic adventurer Ben Fogle will be sailing with fellow Champagne G.H.Mumm Cordon Rouge Club member Mike Golding on Ecover; record-breaking offshore sailor Dee Caffari will join Shirley Robertson on Team iShares on Sunday; while Iwan Thomas, Olympic and Commonwealth 400m medallist, will be sailing on Ecover on Friday.

Racing kicks off on Saturday, 1st August at 2pm, with a full afternoon of up to eight short, sharp races planned. The iShares Cup racing continues on Sunday, 2nd and Monday, 3rd August .

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After a 6th position at the inaugural event of the iShares Cup in Venice, Nick Moloney and his team matched that again at the iShares Cup Hyères-TPM with another sixth place. This also leaves BT in 6th overall in the iShares Cup 2009 circuit going into Round 3 that takes place in the UK over 1st-3rd August at the start of Cowes Week.

BT had a strong first day, winning the final race: “It was awesome but also quite tricky at times. It was very aggressive out on the racecourse. We just tried to be consistent scoring thirds and fourths, then a win in the final race was good enough to put us second on the leaderboard at the end of the day. Our training session in Hyères a couple of weeks ago has really paid off – losing Darren was tough as you lose 25% of your consistency but Mitch has been the ideal replacement.”

 

Mitch Booth took over the helm of BT as Darren Bundock, regular driver of the BT Extreme 40, was forced to step down due to injury: “I have not sailed an Extreme 40 for three years,” explained Mitch who then summed up day two in succinct terms: “We did good on the first day before having a shocker yesterday! We had too many bad positionings, got locked out of the starts twice, and in that class once you’re out, you’re out! And every mistake is paid for in full.”

The racing for the 10 top international Extreme 40 teams was intense and aggressive. The conditions were near ideal with a similar weather pattern over the three days starting in light conditions before building during the afternoon – the bigger breeze piling on the pressure for the teams.  In these conditions, the iShares Cup Race Committee staged 19 races in total, within view of hundreds of spectators – the finish line itself was set almost within touching distance of the crowds.  The BT crew were ‘pumped up’ for the final day and quickly put two bad results behind them to get back in the game with a second place in race 17 and a fourth place in the final double points race.

Nick was pragmatic about BT’s result and not overly disappointed: “You have to remember here that we are racing against some of the top sailors in the world, so getting a 1st or a 2nd in a race is huge.”

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