Hugo Boss (Photo copywright Hugo Boss)
Alex Thomson Racing today announced that Guillermo Altadill, the celebrated Spanish round-the-world sailor, will be joining Alex aboard HUGO BOSS for the 2011 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre race, which starts in Le Havre on Sunday October 30th.
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The script could not have been more perfectly written by the end of the penultimate day of racing at the final round of the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series™ in Almeria. Yann Guichard (Groupe Edmond de Rothschild) and Paul Campbell-James (The Wave, Muscat) will go into the final day of the final round of the season on equal points – Guichard retains the top spot on count back, scoring seven first places at this regatta opposed to Campbell-James’ six. It is now likely that the final will go to the wire with double points up for grabs in the last race.
The script could not have been more perfectly written by the end of the penultimate day of racing at the final round of the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series™ in Almeria. Yann Guichard (Groupe Edmond de Rothschild) and Paul Campbell-James (The Wave, Muscat) will go into the final day of the final round of the season on equal points – Guichard retains the top spot on count back, scoring seven first places at this regatta opposed to Campbell-James’ six. It is now likely that the final will go to the wire with double points up for grabs in the last race.
In contrast to yesterday’s breezy conditions that produced some incredibly close and on the edge of control racing, a gentle breeze of 5-6 knots ruffled the waters inside the port of Almeria requiring maximum concentration and good crew weight distribution to optimize boat speed. Paul Campbell-James and the boys on The Wave, Muscat knew they had to put in a strong performance today and they redeemed themselves admirably, posting two wins in the fleet races and winning the final match race of today against Guichard: “We couldn’t be happier! We are back in the game and it’s all to play for tomorrow. We are on a come back and they are going down so it should be interesting tomorrow,” said Campbell-James. “We’re pumped, it’s not only overall for this event, it’s overall for the whole series that we are playing for tomorrow. The whole year is down to one single day and I can imagine it will be decided in the last race.”
Groupe Edmond de Rothschild came into the season as favourites, finishing second overall in 2009, but it has been the ‘young guns’ on the Omani team that have pushed them every step of the way: “It was a hard day for us but we keep the lead with the same points as The Wave, Muscat so it will be a big fight tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, we are feeling good and the competition should be high. The weather will be different tomorrow with more wind. But as usual we will take it race by race,” said Guichard. “We’re still leading the event here and that’s the main thing. The Wave had a really good day today while for us we struggled a little bit at the start.”
The Wave, Muscat (Photo by Paul Wyeth/ OC Events )
Desperate for an event win is the British team led by Mike Golding on Ecover Sailing Team, and they started the day with good intentions. Ecover won the first fleet race and three races later Guichard, Campbell-James and Golding were all on equal points of 76 going into the fourth race. Helmsman Leigh McMillan sailed a cracking race to put Ecover top of the leaderboard. Sadly, the glory was short-lived – a 5th and 6th place plus losing their match race scuppered their chances. However, nothing is decided yet with a full schedule of racing set for tomorrow and the game is still wide open for Ecover to get back in the mix.
Loick Peyron and his crew on Oman Sail Masirah had an up and down day, and although they have managed to hold on to their fourth place in the event rankings, Franck Cammas (Groupama) is within three points: “It was a good day for us, we won a race and made it to the top three several times and we ended the day on a victory in our match race,” said Cammas. “We’re within reach of Masirah, Ecover in third is a bit further but tomorrow should be a great day with a nice battle.” Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing team now have their work cut out for them if they want to overhaul Cammas to claim the overall fifth place that these two teams are vying for.
The home team of Rumbo Almeria skippered by Guillermo Altadill delighted the local crowds by scoring a 2nd in the first race of the day and now have 54 points, putting them in 6th place going into the final day. Not bad for a team that have had hardly any preparation or training time. Go Almeria!
Extreme Sailing Series™ Almeria Results after Day 3
1st Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Yann Guichard, 97 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat, Paul Campbell-James, 97 points
3rd Ecover Sailing Team, Mike Golding, 91 points
4th Oman Sail Masirah, Loick Peyron, 78 points
5th Groupama 40, Franck Cammas, 75 points
6th Rumbo Almeria, Guillermo Altadill, 54 points
7th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, Roman Hagara, 49 points
8th Emirates Team New Zealand, Dean Barker, 47 points
Overall Standings Extreme Sailing Series™ 2010
Team / Skipper / Points
1st The Wave, Muscat, Paul Campbell-James, 28 points
2nd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Yann Guichard, 27 points
3rd Ecover Sailing Team, Mike Golding, 25 points
4th Oman Sail Masirah, Loick Peyron, 24 points
5th Groupama 40, Franck Cammas, 13 points
6th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, Roman Hagara, 13 points
7th The Ocean Racing Club, Mitch Booth, 7 points
8th Team GAC Pindar, Nick Moloney, 3 points
Mike Golding Yacht Racing Coming Into Le Havre
2009 Imoca World Championship
1. Marc Guillemot 362pts
2. Michel Desjoyeaux 357pts
3. Armel Le Cleach 338pts
4. Samantha Davies 321pts
5. Vincent Riou 304pts
6. Dee Caffari 295pts
7. Arnaud Boissières 292pts
8. Brian Thompson 281pts
9. Steve White 250pts
10. Richard Wilson 220pts
11. Raphaël Dinelli 210pts
12. Norbert Sedlacek 200pts
13. Kito De Pavant 59pts
14. Loïck Peyron 52pts
15. Yann Eliès 44pts
16. Roland Jourdain 39pts
17. Mike Golding 36pts
18. Jérémie Beyou 33pts
19. Yannick Bestaven 32pts
20. Alex Pella 30pts
21. Pachi Rivero 18pts
22. Guillermo Altadill 16pts
23. Jean-Pierre Dick 8pts
24. Marc Thiercelin 4pts
25. Unai Basurko 0pts
26. Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty 0pts
27. Derek Hatfield 0pts
28. Sébastien Josse 0pts
29. Jean Le Cam 0pts
30. Jonathan Malbon 0pts
31. Bernard Stamm 0pts
32. Alex Thomson 0pts
33. Dominique Wavre 0pts
Fonica In Straights of Gibraltar (Photo by Jacques Vapillon)
Since the end of the day yesterday the first boat of the Istanbul
Europa Race fleet has entered the Atlantic, leaving the Mediterranean
in its wake. One by one, on the same single tack, the crews have
followed in the tracks of leader Michel Desjoyeaux, who has been
leading the way towards Brest for more than the last 24 hours. Though
all are making modest speeds, the passage of the Straits of Gibraltar
has mixed up the competition on this third leg more than ever,
particularly among the boats vying closest to take on the leader.
Veolia Environnement and Groupe Bel have been having quite a battle,
which Paprec Virbac 2 is doing its utmost to join. Further back, the
Spaniards aboard 1876 have been contending with a mast problem which has slowed them down, while the Mediterranean has yet to finish with the men of DCNS…
For its first edition, the Istanbul Europa Race has the pleasure of presenting a fleet of around fifteen boats, helmed by the top sailors of our time. The trust the sailors display in the organising company, together with the scale of the event and the course on offer, greatly appeal to sailing professionals.
In terms of image, the skippers are perceived as adventurers, sacrificing everything for their passion and a far cry from overpaid stars. In addition they practise a sport which, though given a lot of media coverage, is sheltered from the numerous excesses you can observe in other sports (structured finance, doping), and benefits from a ‘clean’ image in every sense of the word.
As such these top level offshore racers have expressed a desire to accept the invitation to what is to be an unmissable race in their professional career. Among them we can already mention:
The Istanbul Europa Race, in the prestigious IMOCA class, is the latest great sailing race in the yachting calendar. Its long course through Europe is to make it a major sporting event from its very first edition. In the great tradition of stage races, the Istanbul Europa Race will bring together a fleet comprised of some of very best sailors of our time, taking them on an ideal course and offering a genuine invitation to travel.
From One Sea To Another (Photo courtesy of Group Bel)
A human, competitive and cultural adventure, the Istanbul Europa Race has a wealth of assets to bring to the table. A public, comprising amateur sailors and enthusiasts alike, is bound to come out in force to view the spectacle, to witness this new encounter between man and the natural elements, at the forefront of which are the waters of the Mediterranean, as well as the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. The excellent line-up of sailors offered, the original aspect of the race ports and the course together with the public presence, all go to ensure massive, international media coverage, given the infatuation that is prompted by sailing.
