Extreme Sailing Series Boston (Photo by George Bekris)
- 48 of the World’s very best sailors will be in Cowes for Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series™. Twelve teams and sailors from 15 nationalities will be on the startline in Cowes for the only UK stopover on the 2011 circuit during Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.
- On-water entertainment each day from 3pm from Saturday 6th to Friday 12th August 2011.
- BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank to close the seven days of competition with a ticket-only party, raising funds for official Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 charity Toe in the Water, supporting competitive sailing for injured servicemen.
Cowes, will once again play host to the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series™ circuit. Twelve teams with 48 sailors from 15 nationalities, will line up on the starting grid on Saturday 6th August for Act 5 at the only UK stopover on the global circuit at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.
Watch the Cowes Week Promo Video here
The Extreme 40 fleet racing at Cowes Week 2010 © Lloyd Images
The Set-Up
The Extreme Village will once again be at Egypt Point. Open from 11am each day, it is the perfect spot to watch all the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week fleet starts before the Extreme 40s kick off in front of the Extreme Village at 3pm each afternoon.
In addition, a two storey VIP marquee will be in place, designed to give invited guests a panoramic view of the race course as they enjoy the experiential hospitality.
With live commentary, food concessions, including fish and chip specialists CATCH, the Extreme Bar, the Island’s renowned Minghellas ice cream stand and a Marinepool Extreme Sailing Series™ clothing concession, the Extreme Village is the perfect place to enjoy Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, without missing a moment of the action.
Professional Windsurfer Guy Cribb racing the Extreme 40s at Cowes Week 2010 © Lloyd Images
Racing Schedule
The Extreme Sailing Series™ is the home of ‘Stadium Sailing’ and each afternoon from 3pm the on-water action will kick off in style.
Saturday to Tuesday will see the Extreme 40s in action from 3pm right in front of the Extreme Village at Egypt Point. From Wednesday to Friday the Extreme Village will be a great vantage point to come and watch all the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week action and as soon as the last finishers are past Egypt Point, the Extreme 40s will be lining up for their first start.
But there will be plenty to do and see before the main action gets underway. British Championship Windsurfer Guy Cribb has challenged the Extreme 40s to some head-to-head combat and will be showing the crowds some of his fancy tricks at the weekend.
Every afternoon, at 6.15pm there will be a presentation to the top boat of the day : an opportunity to come and meet some of the top international sailing heroes.
Cowes venue map showing location of the race area and race village
Fireworks Night
BBC Radio 1 DJ and Curator of Bestival, Rob da Bank, will for the third year return to Cowes for a one-night ticket only set to close the Extreme Sailing Series™ on Fireworks Night, Friday 12 August. From 8pm, Rob, a long-time supporter of the circuit and sailing fan, will provide entertainment for the 500 guests.
Rob commented, “Every year that the Extreme Sailing Series comes to Cowes with their insane stadium sailing it gets me more excited about the possibilities of sailing really bloody fast boats as close as possible to the spectators! I love music and sailing about equally so to be invited to be part of the Extreme Fireworks party is a great honour once more!”
Tickets, priced £12, are on sale now from www.extremesailingseries.com/cowes and are strictly on a first come, first served basis with £1 from every ticket going to official charity Toe in the Water.
Team Pindar ( Photo by George Bekris )
Today thousands of spectators filled the Extreme Sailing Series™ Race Village and were treated to a spectacle of 49er racing followed by eight first-class, action-packed Extreme 40 races. A good sea breeze allowed the Extreme 40s to showcase how this style of stadium racing really works, with live onboard commentary from US sailor Cam Lewis and Britain’s Andy Green. The start/finish area located just a few meters off the shore gave the public a close-up view of all the action and the home crowd were truly behind Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis Racing, cheering the team home every time. Fifth man guest Dennis Piretra was impressed by the public support: “We could see people up and down the docks watching with a lot of people really engaged. It’s not just a social event they are really enjoying the sport.”
Check out the video of Red Bull Air Force skydiver Jeff Provenzano landing at the Race Village before hitching a ride with the Extreme 40
A six-boat 49er fleet showcased the Olympic class that will compete in the Olympics for the third successive time in a row in 2012, with three teams from the USA and three from Canada (see below). As the Extreme 40 circuit returns to European waters in August, the European 49er class will form part of the circuit competing for the 49er Europe Cup at the Extreme Sailing Series.
The top five places on the overall leaderboard remain unchanged with Artemis Racing holding the top spot, although three races from the end of day the Swedish team momentarily lost their lead to The Wave, Muscat. Leigh McMillan had a wobbly start to the day posting a 9th and a 6th giving Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand to chance to overhaul the Oman team. But a last place in the fifth race of the day for the Kiwis, gave McMillan’s team the opportunity to get back. Check HERE to hear what his rivals and friends have to say about the British sailor who is currently riding the wave…
Max Sirena’s Luna Rossa team had a better day, leaving them just 4 points adrift of the French at the halfway stage. However, the ‘stand-out’ team of the day was the Swiss team Alinghi, posting three race wins: “It is the first time in the season that we have three race wins in one day, so we are very happy,” said Tanguy Cariou. “The beginning of the event was quite tough for us and we were disappointed with that but we have tried to close the gap. We have been more aggressive with our sailing and had some good starts.”
Britain’s Ian Williams, skipper of Team GAC Pindar, nearly scored their first race win of Act 4 and were leading round the final top mark in the fourth race of the day before a twist in the gennaker spoiled ruined that prospect. However, the team’s improved performance today allowed them to leap-frog Roland Gaebler’s Team Extreme on the overall leaderboard.
Going into the penultimate day 22 races have been staged so far and with a potential 12-14 races still on offer the teams have plenty of points to play for. What is clear now is that every point counts.
49er Teams at Act 4, Boston:
Trevor Parekh/Matt Dubreucq – CAN
Zach Brown/ Thomas Barrows– USA
Rob Frost/Tom Arbuckle – CAN
Mike Brodeur/Tom Carlton – CAN
Jon Goldsberry/Charlie Smythe – USA
Max Fraser/Dan Morris – USA
Extreme Sailing Series Act 4 at Fan Pier Boston, USA
Current overall standings after 22 races, Day 3 (2.7.11)
Position / Team / Skipper & crew / Points
1st Artemis Racing (SWE), Terry Hutchinson / Sean Clarkson / Morgan Trubovich / Julien Cressant 169 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 159 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Adam Beashel / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 158 points
4th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 156 points
5th Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 151 points
6th Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Will Howden / Craig Monk 148.2* points
7th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 141 points
8th Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Mark Bulkeley / Daniele de Luca Simone de Mari 114 points
9th Oman Air (OMA), Sidney Gavignet / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 106 points
10th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Ivey / Andrew Walsh / Jono Macbeth 83 points
11th Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Bruno Dubois / Sebbe Godefroid / Bob Merrick 72 points
Boston Extreme Sailing Series (Photo by George Bekris)
The ever changing conditions on the second day of racing at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 in Boston, resulted in a game of snakes and ladders for many of the 11 Extreme 40 teams and leaves Act 4 wide open going into the halfway stage tomorrow. After another seven races today there have been a significant number of place changes on the overall leaderboard, although Terry Hutchinson’s crew on Artemis Racing extended their lead at the top ahead of The Wave, Muscat by 7 points. So no change for the top two, however Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand strong performance today moved the Kiwi team up to 3rd place: “We were really happy with today,” commented Dean back on the dockside at Fan Pier. “We won four races and sailed in good shape for the rest. In the last race we copped a penalty and managed to fall back three places, so we were actually pretty happy with how we continued as it would have been easy to give up but we finished in 8th which is good, and an improvement on yesterday.”
The racing started out in really light and fluky winds. In the first race, won by Emirates Team New Zealand, three boats fell foul of the time limit rule for not finishing within 6 minutes of the winning boat. It wasn’t until the fourth race that the sea breeze really filled in and stabilized. Then the boat speeds picked up and the action moved up a few gears delighting the Boston crowd who turned out in force again today.
The Swiss team of Alinghi, skippered by Tanguy Cariou, after a mixed bag of results yesterday, came back strongly in the second half to climb from 9th to 6th place. Unfortunately, for Austrian skipper Roman Hagara, skipper of the popular Red Bull Extreme Sailing team here in Boston, a collision in the fifth race with Team GAC Pindar put them out of action with damage to their rudder system, and the team has dropped from 3rd yesterday to 8th. Undoubtedly, Hagara’s team will be seeking points redress as the fault for the collision sits with Team GAC Pindar.
For many of the teams new to the circuit, the experience of three events already under their belts is starting to pay as they accelerate up the learning curve. Italy’s Niceforyou is in a great battle mid-leaderboard, only 2 points behind Alinghi, and skipper Alberto Barovier is clearly enjoying the experience: “The racing is pretty tricky,” said Alberto. “We survived two days with a good consistency on results which is very good for us and an improvement on the other venues. We are looking forward to doing better tomorrow and the next day.”
The final race of the day was one of joy for Roland Gaebler’s Team Extreme who posted their first win of the regatta with American 470 Olympic silver medalist Bob Merrick onboard, and one of huge disappointment for the Pierre Pennec’s French team on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. The team crossed the line first but touched the finish mark and was instantly penalized, forcing them to re-cross the finish line. Pennec was visibly unhappy with his 6th place but the French team are still very much in the running having posted multiple 2nd places today, and maintaining their fourth place overall.
A day of frustration for many and joy for others but there are still many more points up for grabs and no one is placing any bets on which teams will be standing on the podium come Monday. “It’s just all about getting to Monday with a chance to win,” said Terry. “Everyone is so good but I am very hungry to win here.” And with more breeze forecast for the final two days, the action is going to get hotter and hotter.
Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino visited the Extreme Sailing Series Race Village at Fan Pier to see the action first-hand: “It’s very special to have the Extreme Sailing Series in Fan Pier,” said the Mayor. “Boston has a great harbour but to have these boats here is a very special time for us. We hope that the sailors have a great time and we hope that the event comes back in future. This could be the start of a great tradition in our city and I want to thank everyone involved in this for choosing Boston to be the place to come in America. In short this is awesome. There is no better place and time to be in America than on 4th of July on Boston harbour.”
The Extreme Sailing Series Race Village at Fan Pier was rocking until late last night culminating in a fantastic firework display and there is palpable party atmosphere in the build up to Monday’s Independence Day celebrations.
There is plenty of action still to see at Boston Fan Pier all weekend long and on the Fourth of July.
Extreme Sailing Series Act 4 at Fan Pier Boston, USA
Current overall standings after 14 races, Day 2 (1.7.11)
Position / Team / Skipper & crew / Points
1st Artemis Racing (SWE), Terry Hutchinson / Sean Clarkson / Morgan Trubovich / Julien Cressant 114 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 107 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Adam Beashel / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 106 points
4th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 101 points
5th Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 88 points
6th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 78 points
7th Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Mark Bulkeley / Daniele de Luca Simone de Mari 76 points
8th Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Will Howden / Craig Monk 70 points
9th Oman Air (OMA), Sidney Gavignet / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 69 points
10th Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Bruno Dubois / Sebbe Godefroid / Bob Merrick 57 points
11th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Ivey / Andrew Walsh / Jono Macbeth 44 points
Extreme Sailing Series Boston Fleet (Photo by George Bekris)
The opening day of the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 at the Fan Pier in Boston proved to be a challenging one as the 11 Extreme 40 teams made their USA debut. Finding the best lanes of pressure and speed was the big ask of the day as the breeze fluctuated in strength and direction with the Fan Pier backdrop throwing in some wind holes for good measure, especially at the finish area only metres from the shore and the crowds. For some it presented opportunities, for others lost opportunities, rapid places changes were the order of the day but on top by 1 point was US sailor Terry Hutchinson, driving Artemis Racing: “It’s nice to come off today in this position but you know the racing is only going to get harder not easier and we’re mindful that we’ve got probably another 25-28 races to go. It is intense and full on the entire time,” said Terry. “Boston is such an awesome city to sail in and provided a great race track today.”
Extreme Sailing Series Skippers (Photo by George Bekris)
It was a great comeback for British sailor Leigh McMillan who took over as skipper and helm of The Wave, Muscat. In 2010 McMillan helmed Ecover into third place overall but at this morning’s press conference he was reticent about his hopes at his first 2011 event. These were quickly dispelled with a win in the first race and two more out of the seven races staged on the opening day: “I really just wanted to take it easy and in a way we did but when the race starts you just have to take every opportunity as it comes and that’s what we did,” said Leigh. “We didn’t have good starts but it was very shifty conditions and there were a lot of opportunities to overtake which is where we came into our own and made big gains in all of the races. I did not expect at all to be in second place so I am really thrilled with the day and thrilled to be sailing with these guys.”
Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing pulled off two race wins in the final two races and consistency in the earlier races secured third place overall going into the second day. No doubt his team was inspired by the Red Bull Air Force skydivers who provided a stunning opening stunt to kickstart racing. The two parachutists performing loops on their descent, releasing smoke flares before landing on the floating pontoon right in front of the crowds with impressive precision.
Special guest and two-time Velux 5 Oceans victor, Brad Van Liew, dropped by to experience his first Extreme 40 ride as guest 5th man: “First time being at an event, let alone getting a ride and with Dean Barker so really a fun thing to do. For those that came down to the venue to watch its fantastic because we’ve had all these huge lead changes. Great fun to watch and even more exciting to see up and close.” For Brad who is more used to racing ocean-going monohulls, the lightweight Extreme 40s came as a breath of fresh air: “These things can go from 0-20 knots in a couple of boat lengths and they can also go from 20-0 knots in a couple of boat lengths so when they sail into a windless hole, they pile in on top of each other which reconsolidates the race. I can imagine sailing one in 25 knots would change your ‘fun-meter’ level!”
With Act 4 being part of the Boston Harborfest 4th July celebrations there is plenty for the public to enjoy over the coming days with 49er sailing, music on the main stage every night, street performers and more skydiving from the Red Bull Air Force.
Extreme Sailing Series Act 4 at Fan Pier Boston, USA
Current overall standings after 7 races, Day 1 (30.6.11)
Position / Team / Skipper & crew / Points
1st Artemis Racing (SWE), Terry Hutchinson / Sean Clarkson / Morgan Trubovich / Julien Cressant 60 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 59 points
3rd Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Will Howden / Craig Monk 54 points
4th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 46 points
5th Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 44 points
6th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Adam Beashel / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 43 points
7th Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Mark Bulkeley / Daniele de Luca Simone de Mari 41 points
8th Oman Air (OMA), Sidney Gavignet / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 35 points
9th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 28 points
10th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Ivey / Andrew Walsh / Jono Macbeth 26 points
11th Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Bruno Dubois / Sebbe Godefroid / Bob Merrick 25 points
Extreme 40 Fleet (Photo by Lloyd Images)
After the epic Act in Istanbul, the Extreme Sailing Series™ now heads to new shores for Act 4 – Boston in the USA – the first time the circuit has staged an official event in the United States. “Boston is proud to be the first U.S. city to host the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series to our waterfront for the city’s July 4th celebration – one of the largest in the nation,” said Thomas M. Menino, Mayor, City of Boston. Watch the Boston promo video here.
The Boston event will be staged at Fan Pier as part of the Boston Harborfest celebrations and it is lining up to be a very special event…visit the Fan Pier Facebook page here. Taking place from Thursday, 30th June to Monday, 4th July, every day is open to the public and there will be plenty of attractions. The 11-boat Extreme 40 fleet will showcase their close combat ‘stadium’ style of racing in front of the spectators at Fan Pier, a 21-acre site on Boston’s waterfront spanning nine city blocks, owned by the Fallon Company, the official host venue partner to the Boston Act. The Extreme 40s will be supported by 49er racing, Laser and J22s racing for the official charity Courageous Sailing, fireworks, live music and street performers, and aerial demos from the Red Bull Air Force skydivers. Media partner Boston’s Fox25 TV will be capturing all the action as part of their scheduled live programming from Fan Pier.
Boston Fan Pier Aerial (Photo by Boston Fan Pier)
“As part of our ongoing evolvement to bring more and more to the spectators both on and off the water, we are really delighted with the Boston line-up and especially that the Olympic 49er Class can join us for the first time this year,” said Gilles Chiorri, Events Director, OC ThirdPole. Some of the USA’s and Canada’s finest 49er sailors will be showcasing their skills to the crowds ahead of the Extreme 40 racing.
The public will have plenty to enjoy but for the Extreme 40 sailors, their focus is purely on one thing – winning Act 4. After three events in Muscat (Oman), Qingdao (China) and Istanbul (Turkey), three different teams have so far claimed victories – Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Muscat), Luna Rossa (Qingdao) and Artemis Racing (Istanbul) skippered by American Terry Hutchinson. Can another team claim victory in Boston? Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand came so close in Istanbul and is desperate for a win. Red Bull Extreme Sailing, on the podium in Muscat, but an outright event win still eludes them – a victory in Boston would be a mighty celebration as the US round is supported by local event partner, Red Bull. And despite their crash in Istanbul, Alinghi, helmed by 2010 runner-up Yann Guichard, is raising their game with a podium finish within their sights. And now The Wave, Muscat has a new skipper in the form of Britain’s Leigh McMillan, who helped steer Ecover into third place overall in 2010, taking over the reigns from Torvar Mirsky.
A total of 43 races were staged in Istanbul – the most ever at one event in the circuit’s history – and this could be replicated, or even exceeded, in Boston if the weather plays ball. The short 15-minute races are mentally and physically demanding. Find out what a ‘day in the Extreme 40’ office is like for Red Bull Extreme Sailing bowman, Craig Monk here.
Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 at Fan Pier, Boston Programme**
All times are local (GMT -5hrs)
Daily, 30th June to 4th July
1100-2300 Race Village opening times
1100-1300 Courageous Sailing (official venue charity) including Lasers and J22s
1100-1300 49er Sailing
1400-1700 Extreme 40s racing in Boston Harbor at Fan Pier
1730 Prizegiving
1600-1900 Street performers
1900-2300 Live music entertainment in Race Village
Thursday 30th June (media day)
1100-1200 Press Conference
1330-1400 Red Bull Air Force skydivers in Race Village
1830-1900 Red Bull Air Force skydivers in Race Village
1800, 2200 & 2300 FOX 25 live broadcast from the Race Village
1900 Opening Ceremony
2115 Fireworks at Boston Harbor at Fan Pier
Friday 1st July
0600-1000 FOX 25 Morning news live broadcast
0700 Red Bull Air Force live jump on FOX 25
1330-1400 Red Bull Air Force skydivers in Race Village
**please note that times/activities might vary
49er Sailors Provisional Entry List Boston
Trevor Parekh/Matt Dubreucq – CAN
Zach Brown/ Thomas Barrows – USA
Rob Frost/Tom Arbuckle – CAN
Mike Brodeur/Tom Carlton – CAN
Jon Goldsberry/Charlie Smythe – USA
Max Fraser/Dan Morris – USA
www.49er.org
About Fan Pier:
Fan Pier is a 21-acre site on Boston’s waterfront spanning nine city blocks with over three million square feet of planned mixed-use development. Currently, the luxury waterfront property is home to the internationally acclaimed Institute of Contemporary Art, famed Boston retailer LOUIS, Salon Mario Russo and restaurants including Sam’s and Strega Waterfront. Fan Pier’s first office building at ONE Marina Park is already occupied, and the destination includes a new public park, a Harbor Walk, and a state-of-the-art marina. When complete, Fan Pier will have a five-star hotel, luxury condominiums, additional offices, retail and restaurants. The Fallon Company is owner and developer.
About Boston Harborfest:
Boston Harborfest 2011 is a six-day long Fourth of July festival that showcases the colonial and maritime heritage of the cradle of the American Revolution: the historic City of Boston. The award-winning festival strives to honor and remember the past, celebrate the present, and educate the future with reenactments, concerts, historical tours and much, much more. Now in its 30th year, Boston Harborfest is considered to be the largest patriotic celebration in the nation with visitors enjoying more than 200 activities during the festival.
Artemis, Acto 3 winners in Istanbul (Photo by Lloyd Images)
Nice For You Day 1 in Istanbul, Turkey (Photo by Lloyd Images)
The first day of the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 3 in Istanbul, Turkey saw an action packed seven races for the 11 international teams, with Artemis Racing taking the top spot with 52 points, only a single point ahead of Act 2 winners Luna Rossa and Alinghi on 47. The racing conditions tested the teams today as the 44 sailors manhandled their Extreme 40 racing machines around short, sharp courses. There were plenty of gusts to potentially trip the up boats, shifts in wind direction and the race legs were so short it was a full-on physical work. “It’s beautiful to sail here, the conditions are good with a tricky wind which is good for us,” said Maxi Sirena, skipper of Luna Rossa.
For six out of seven races today a different team crossed the finish line first, only Luna Rossa scored two bullets. Alinghi, Emirates Team New Zealand, The Wave Muscat, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Team GAC Pindar all secured a win apiece which kept everyone guessing right up to the last race as to which team would finish the day on top. Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis Racing proved that securing steady results in the top half of the leaderboard throughout the day gave them the edge over the less inconsistent teams: “I think one of the best things that we did was not get too flustered by some of the bad cards that were dealt to us, the last race was a perfect example of hanging in during the race and waiting until there was an opportunity presented to us to make our move,” explained Terry Hutchinson. “When a nice little shift came down the course we went for it with an early gybe, I think we passed three boats in the one move which was really, really good.”
Team GAC Pindar (Photo by Lloyd Images)
Team GAC Pindar had their first race win of the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series. Skipper Ian Williams was jubilant to get their first race win under their belts in such challenging conditions: “It was challenging today, really shifty puffy conditions, quite strong winds at times and quite light winds at times which made it really tricky. Our first win was great today, it was a really close race with Team Extreme but in the end we just snuck it on the line with Team Extreme finishing in second.” Click here to watch Ian Williams discuss his form and that of the fleet in a chat with Seb Destremau.
The race management maximized the length of the upwind/downwind leg using the widest part of the Halic estuary but the downwind leg was still short – with the Extreme 40s covering the 400m stretch in 90 seconds. Two laps round and each race was over in just 10-12 minutes.
With only 11 points separating the top eight teams there will be some tough competition tomorrow as the front runners try to establish a firm lead, and the race course will become narrower as it moves in front of the VIP set-up for the media day ahead of the Extreme Sailing Series Race Village opening to the public on Friday, 28th.
Extreme Sailing Series – Act 3, Istanbul
Current overall standings after Day 1
Position / Team / Skipper & crew / Points
1st Artemis Racing (SWE), Terry Hutchinson / Rodney Ardern / Morgan Trubovich / Julien Cressant 52 points
2nd Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 51 points
3rd Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 47 points
4th Oman Air (OMA), Sidney Gavignet / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 46 points
5th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 45 points
6th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Torvar Mirsky / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 44 points
7th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 44 points
8th Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Bruno Dubois / Sebbe Godefroid / Nicholas Heintz 41 points
9th Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Will Howden / Craig Monk 34 points
10th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Ivey / Mischa Heemskerk / Jono Macbeth 29 points
11th Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Mark Bulkeley / Daniele de Luca Simone de Mari 29 points
Extreme 40 Fleet In Istanbul, Turkey (Photo by Lloyd Images)
Red Bull Extreme Sailing 2nd Capsize of the Day (Photo by Giordana Pipornetti / Niceforyou)
Never in four years of the Extreme Sailing Series has there been so much drama in one day. In almost unprecedented conditions here in Qingdao, the public witnessed some extraordinary adrenalin fueled ‘stadium’ racing, first witnessing a major collision between The Wave, Muscat (OMAN) and Oman Air (OMAN) at the first downwind mark of the first race, and four dramatic capsizes – The Wave, Muscat (OMAN) in Race 2 and Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Team GAC Pindar (GBR) and Oman Air (OMAN) all in the final race of the day. In the first two races it was the very gusty conditions that tested some of the world’s best sailors to their limits, and beyond, with 3 to 23 knots, and up to 30 knots by the final race. “Massive day! The only way to describe it is extreme! The wind was funneling through the big buildings of the city, really puffy and shifty, it caught a lot of people out,” Will Howden, Red Bull Extreme Sailing.
Skipper of The Wave, Muscat, Torvar Mirsky, in his first Extreme 40 season, was to have his toughest day yet, firstly in race 1 accelerating in to the back of Oman Air right at the first downwind mark with the impact throwing crewman Dave “Freddie’ Carr in to the shroud (a cable holding the mast up), and then soon after in Race 2 suffering a catastrophic capsize. Freddie has been given the ‘ok’ but will remain in hospital for observation for 48 hours.
“I can honestly say that this is the worst day of sailing I’ve ever had,” commented a visibly shaken Mirsky, the youngest skipper on the circuit. “First of all taking out Freddie and then in the second race, we got hit by a gust that I couldn’t handle and the boat went down and we all knew straight away that it was going to go over and to hold on. We were trapped and doomed for a disaster. Kyle and I got flicked off from the top and fell onto the mast and snapped it.” [full sequence has been captured on video] The Wave, Muscat were accelerating away after a ‘hot’ bear away and gybe at the final top mark, and lost control as a gust hit and span them in to a very fast cartwheel.
The conditions on the second day of Act 2 guaranteed that these fast and powerful Extreme 40s were going to be a handful even for these experienced professional crews. By the third race the 11-boat fleet had been told to put a reef in and keep their massive downwind gennakers furled. A sensible measure, but not enough to stop three further capsizes in the final race when the gusts were reaching 30 knots. Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing was chasing for the lead in the final race and was just meters from the pedestrian breakwater when they capsized: “We saw a gust coming which we knew was really hard. The wind was 5 knots when we went into the gybe and 25 after. We dived immediately and then capsized. We went so quickly. All four of us were hanging on because we know what happens from the last time, so we were all safe and luckily we had lifejackets and helmets on and nobody got hurt.” [*Red Bull Extreme Sailing capsized at the Muscat event in January 2010 during the Extreme Sailing Series Asia]
Whilst Red Bull Extreme Sailing was being righted by their support RIB, British skipper Ian Williams, who is new to this multihull game, was the next capsize victim as he closed in on the downwind mark a little too ‘hot’ along with Oman Air (back out racing with a replacement crew). Oman Air’s skipper Frenchman Sidney Gavignet bailed out, but when trying to bear away to come back down to the mark a second time, a powerful gust during a tight turn, sent them also hurtling in to a capsize.
Emirates Team New Zealand stayed out of trouble and retained the top position on the leaderboard ahead of Alinghi in 2nd and Red Bull Extreme Sailing finish in 3rd place today.
The pit lane is busy tonight as man and machine are put back together. Red Bull Extreme Sailing was righted with mast intact despite rubbing on the bottom of Fushan Bay, Team GAC Pindar was righted with mast intact and towed back in albeit missing one of their daggerboards. Both teams expect to be racing tomorrow. The Wave, Muscat suffered a broken mast and full inversion, with the extent of the damage still to be assessed. Oman Air spent some hours fully inverted and is now back in the harbour, with its condition yet to be established.
A day one can only described as Extreme!
Leaderboard after Day 3
1st Emirates Team New Zealand
2nd Alinghi
3rd Red Bull Extreme Sailing
4th Luna Rossa
5th Groupe Edmond De Rothschild
6th Artemis Racing
7th Niceforyou
8th The Wave, Muscat
9th Team Extreme
10th Oman Air
11th Team GAC Pindar
Emirates Team New Zealand (Photo by Lloyd Images)
In the words of singer, Paolo Nutini, ‘What a day…!’ Four and a half hours of high-drama on the second day of the Act 2 at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Qingdao. The Austrian Red Bull Extreme Sailing team thought they had snatched the overall lead from Emirates Team New Zealand in the final race only to find their victory in tatters after Dean Barker’s team were given redress (a rare occasion on this circuit); the 11-boat close combat racing resulted in two collisions; and, to top it all, Roland Gaebler’s Team Extreme won their first race of the season with the Mayor of Qingdao on board in the 5th man spot, to the delight of the public!
Six ‘open water’ races were raced today outside the breakwater of Fushan Bay. The breeze was a up and down but predominantly strong enough to see the Extreme 40 fleet flying their hulls – when it dropped, the teams had to deploy a different set of tactics to find an advantage which split the fleet on numerous occasions as Hagara explains: “It was a pretty hard day today, especially on the start line as the wind was shifting a lot and there was a big difference in pressure. Quiet difficult to know where to go, which side of the start line is better, where the pressure is the most powerful.”
Team Extreme WIth The Mayor of Qingdao (Photo by Lloyd Images)
Dean Barker’s team was consistently good and finished inside the top four in the first five races, winning the penultimate race. It looked like the Kiwi team would retain their overall lead… But in classic Extreme style, the script appeared to be rewritten in the final race of the day… Barker’s team was called over the start line and Roman Hagara’s team were off leading the race all the way to the finish line. Emirates Team New Zealand needed to finish in 6th place or higher to keep their lead and fought all the way from the back, climbing into 7th place at the finish. It looked like they had lost their overall lead to Red Bull Extreme Sailing. But post-racing video footage proved that Emirates Team New Zealand were not in fact over the line and redress upgraded the team to 4th place – the overall lead at the halfway stage remains with the Kiwi team for now.
The Fleet On Day 2 Racing Close to city (Photo by Lloyd Images)
