On a race which has a recent history of dealing close, tight finishes, the final miles of the Transat Jacques Vabre can be the most nerve racking. The finish line is all but in sight, the miles counting down with a pleasing whirr, but for Safran’s Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier – who are seeking to convert the lead they have held for nine days – they still have no shortage of pressure, and it is likely to stay heaped upon them until the end.
 
      And with less than 450 miles to go in this ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, the gap back from Safran to Kito de Pavant and François Gabart on Groupe Bel is just over 70 miles. In 2007 the Safran duo missed out, taking second just 54 minutes behind Michel Desjoyeaux and Manu Le Borgnan on the course from Le Havre to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. In 2005 the winning margin of Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron was just 35 minutes over Roland Jourdain and Ellen MacArthur. This new coffee route course to Costa Rica may yet brew up an equally close finish. 

      Groupe Bel are an ever present threat, as they have been to Safran since they eased past Mike Golding Yacht Racing a week ago, Saturday night 14th, to install themselves in second place. A relatively stationary little low pressure trough has installed itself over the Gulf of Panama. That has contributed to some spicy squall activity for the two leaders today but so there is the distinct threat that the final miles in to the finish line off Costa Rica’s Puerto Limon will not be easy. This morning, in a blustery 30 knots, Safran’s co-skipper Guillemot sounded slightly slightly harassed and was certainly too busy to speak for more than a few snatched seconds.

Groupe Bel are but one gybe behind, but how much compression there will be in the variable, fluky winds which are predicted for the finish tomorrow (Tues) late afternoon or evening, no one is prepared to guess.
Safran crossed the longitude of Cartagena (Colombia) which was the finish for the Transat Jacques Vabre from 1993 to 1999, with a time of 13 days and 22 hours of sailing.
Underlining the evolution of the class ten years ago, the winner of the IMOCA Open 60 division took 19 days and 17 hours over the same course.
By comparison with the course record to Salvador de Bahia, JP Dick and Loick Peyron’s 13.51 knots in 2005 compares with the course average so far of Safran at 13.26 knots.
Safran had done 375 miles over the 24 hours to 1100hrs today.
 
      While Mike Golding Yacht Racing and Foncia seem assured of third and fourth, the race for sixth to eighth remains the closest group of the IMOCA Open 60. While Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella now hold sixth place on W-Hotels, Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson were breaking away from eighth and the heat of battle to effect a rapid pit stop to collect a replacement generator control panel at a rendezvous off St Lucia. The British duo were just two miles short of Veolia Environnment’s seventh when they diverged north.
 Golding confirmed to this morning’s radio vacs with Puerto Limon, Costa Rica that he feels sure that the leaders will squeeze up in the lighter, variable airs expected, but – he said – it would be unlikely to be enough for he and his Spanish co-skipper Javier Sanso to make any impact on the two leaders who are head by more than half of the remaining race track. Plagued by electrical problems, he is still on target for his fourth Transat Jacques Vabre podium finish in the six times he has raced in this Autumn classic.
 
Quotes:
 
Charles Caudrelier, (FRA) Safran:
“It has calmed a little since last night. It is calmer but no holidays. It is very demanding just now. We have so much to do, there is just one thing after another. I helm in shorts which is quite pleasant but you are soaked most of the time with water coming over the deck. We take turns doing things, I don’t mind from time to time being at the chart table.
It feels like we are getting near the end. You sleep little and make lost of moves..
Stealth mode? I don’t know if that is supposed to be funny, but for you it would not be funny now not to know who was leading now….!!”
 
Dee Caffari, (GBR), Aviva:
“It is all set up and we are now just trying to sail to St Lucia as fast as possible, these are great conditions to be sailing in and so we can’t complain too much and it should not cost us too much time, which is good because our competition is tough.
It was an incredible night to drive in, I kind of struggled. I kind of thought we would have lost a lot, and when we got our position reports it was one of our better nights….
It is full of surprises, but it just goes to show how hard we are all working. It is closer and closer.
We are trying to organize so it will be as swift as possible and not let us lose too much, especially in terms of our focus. We are so just trying to concentrate on boat speed all the time and the generator is just background.”
 
 
Mike Golding, (GBR) Mike Golding Yacht Racing:
“The gybes are quite interesting with a short sea, and quite a lot of wind. We are making good progress. We are still having to do quite a lot of hand steering which is quite tiring. At the one time we are massively overpowered and at the other we are hardly moving at all, so that is the only way to do it with no wind on the pilots.
We run trust watch system with no fixed timings, so we work as long as we feel we are alert and try and give the other person as much respect as possible, sometimes one guy is pretty tired then the other will know that and be feeling up for it and so give the other a bit more time lying down, and then when conditions get tough like just now then we are hand steering a lot then we maybe try and do three hour stints, but we have no precise watch system.
There will be a close up towards the end, as inevitably it will get lighter towards the finish, and that may well make for an exciting finish, certainly for the first two boats, and we might see some significant compression, right now with the conditions but with a large gap ahead of us and a similarly large gap behind us, then we are straight lining and trying not to break anything unecessarily.”

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It’s as if the scriptwriters have a hot line to the weather gods. Friday 13th and the Transat Jacques Vabre fleet have their toughest conditions yet, with storm force gusts, mean windspeeds for those in the north of around 50 knots, huge seas and the boats down to tiny sail areas as they live out what promises to be the most difficult period.
 
True to the plot-line the winds built at around midnight, and skippers spoken to early this morning say they expect to have seen the worst of it by they time they get into Saturday.
Conditions on deck are close to impossible and below decks the duos try to stop themselves from being flung around the inside of their boats like pinballs.

As record breaking British skipper Dee Caffari – the only woman to have circumnavigated the planet non-stop solo in opposite directions – reported from Aviva: “It’s survival conditions. We are just working to get through it, looking after the boat and ourselves.”

Kito de Pavant, from Groupe Bel, summed it up: “It’s a war!”

Jeff Cuzon on second placed BT: ‘It’s horrible.”

Conditions for the group in the south are marginally better but it is the Safran of Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier, in the northern vanguard, which still heads the rankings by 18.7 miles from Seb Josse and Curzon on BT.
In the south Michel Desjoyeaux and Jérémie Beyou on Foncia are in a SW’ly wind on port tack and have pulled back around 20 miles since last night but still have a deficit of some 245 miles on the leading pack, an seem set to continue into lighter headwinds.

Somewhat ominously perhaps, the boat in the furthest north remains Alex Thomson’s black hulled Hugo Boss, was the quickest this morning, with the best VMG of the fleet.

Mike Golding and Javier Sanso retain their third place on the IMOCA Open 60 standings on Mike Golding Yacht Racing just less than 40 miles in arrears to Safran, while Caffari and Brian Thompson and seventh, behind Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel on Hugo Boss whose distance behind the leaders is very little changed since the same time yesterday morning.

Deliverance, in some form, should come at the Azores where the fleet seems set to compact again a little with some lighter breezes, although there are still small systems around to be negotiated or utilised to best effect.

In the Multi50 fleet Crepes Whaou have been sticking to the survival recipe in their new boat but are emerging with a lead of 184 miles.
With Prince de Bretagne safely in Vigo, Galicia for assessment and repairs, only three multi’s are actively racing just now.

Quotes:
JF Cuzon (FRA) BT: “The conditions are very difficult. Since midnight we have had between 35 and 60 knots. It’s tough, it’s horrible, it’s impressive. You try to preserve the boat as much as you can. The swell is powerful but the most impressive thing is the gusts of wind. It goes up so quickly and that is what makes it so difficult.
Then today maybe round midday it should start to drop.
….there, we have 53 knots of wind, I need to go….”
In his message sent shortly after he confirmed that they were sailing only under deep reef mainsail.

Dee Caffari (GBR), Aviva: “Things are a bit messy. We have 40-50 knots squalls. It has been like this for the last three hours. We took the staysail down and put out the storm jib but did not unfurl it because we are just overpowered. It is consistently 35, gusting to 40 and 50.
It is definitely in for the next 12 hours. It is uncomfortable and there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to survive it and so we are in survival mode which is a bit frustrating, but it is about getting through this and coming out the other side and get back to sailing. The boat seems to handling it well, Brian is a cool, calm cucumber and is having a good effect on me. We’ve had our fair share of issues and problems but so far we seem to be surviving.”

Alex Thomson (GBR), Hugo Boss:
“ All is well on board. We had a bit on an issue with the J3 which unfurled itself in 50 knots of wind but Rossco dealt with it and furled it away. Ross banged his wrist on the first night out but he has been battling on through the pain, he is a real trooper.”
“It is incredible on board. You cannot move around anywhere or do anything, you can’t go to the toilet. In fact we have not even managed to make a cup of tea since the start and both Ross and I are avid tea drinkers.”
“But we are moving up the rankings OK, which is nice, but at the moment survival is the most important thing, but as soon as the wind eases off we will be able to really put the hammer down the more miles we get south.” 

Mike Golding (GBR), Mike Golding Yacht Racing:
“ It was a rough night really and now we are hoping in the next hour or so to see the back of the squalls which have been coming through up to 65 knots, and just horrendous seas but I am sure that all the boats are struggling in these conditions. It is not an easy time.” 
“ We are both fine. Javier has just gone for some rest. We have both been up all night with just such extreme conditions. We are just trying to push through them and not break anything.”
 “ I think at the moment we are just pleased to be still on the race course, we are having to squeeze up a little to try and find a line through, but I have always been quite happy tactically where are, to the south of this group.
“And I’ll be pleased to be the first out of the worst.”
“ We are lining up to pass the Azores in 12 hours of so, and we’ll see what happens there.”

Michel Desjoyeaux, (FRA), Foncia:

“It is a bit wet here. We had a front pass over then a rough night with the wind increasing and a shift around daybreak and since then it has gone SSW’ly. It is bumpy, everything shaking. It is quite impressive but it passes and that is the way it is. We are getting along between 12 and 14 knots all the time and mostly the wind has been low 30′s. The most we’ve seen is 48 knots. And in a few hours we should see some calmer conditions. The seas will remain for a bit, but the winds will abate steadily.”

Roland Jourdain (FRA) Foncia:

“ We tore off the cars at the head of the mainsail when we were taking a reef in. The winds have been between 40 and 45 knots, we took a first reef, then a second and then we had the problem. We realized the problem and immediately dropped the mainsail. We can’t sail with more than two reefs, which is fine for the moment. But if we want to be competitive to the end of the race then we need to stop to repair it.”
“We will stop in Horta in the Azores to make a repair as quickly as possible. If everything is OK it should be done quickly. We should get into the port relatively easily and the repair is not complicated and it is not a big thing to repair.”
“ What is costly to us though is changing course, we were very happy with our option.
Anway we don’t want to give up, we want to stay in the race and we will do everything to get to Costa Rica. We have had better times but that is the way it goes.”

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British skipper Mike Golding is relishing his imminent return to racing on the Open 60 which will be known as ‘Mike Golding Yacht Racing’ for this edition of the biennial race.
“It has not been easy to get ready in time. It has been a heavy schedule with the Extreme 40 and preparing the ’60′ but it has been nice to get back on the Open 60 but the boat is going well.  With the re-fit and everything it has been maybe a little bit ‘lastminute.com’ but we are here and I think the boat is in good shape and we are in good shape and I am really looking forward to going racing again.”

Golding sounded buoyant and pleased as he brought Mike Golding Yacht Racing into Le Havre along with his Spanish co-skipper Javier ‘Bubi’ Sanso.

“It certainly is good to be here. It was never a foregone conclusion we would do this race, and it was on and off a bit, so it feels particularly good now arriving here. It really puts the stamp on our participation.” Golding remarked after completing an aerial photo and video shoot prior to entering the famous start port.

A small positive to emerge from Golding’s unfortunate dismasting while leading the last epic edition of the Vendée Globe is that the Open 60 has a number of new, replacement sails. Mike Golding Yacht Racing has a new mainsail, fractional spinnaker and new Solent headsail.

Despite the frailties of the global economy the IMOCA Open 60 has attracted a strong entry.

“To be honest I have not followed who has been doing what sailing through the summer. A lot of the Vendée competitors are back a nd I know a lot of the French teams have been doing a lot of training which will make them very strong, so it is a good line up for sure. A lot who did not complete the Vendée course are back for retribution.”

“I think the change of course will be interesting. The change to Costa Rica means there is no Doldrums. Historically we have done well in this race and so I am really looking forward to it. If it is ‘normal’ weather then it could be a good race.”

Of his co-skipper, Sansó, who sailed Golding’s previous IMOCA O pen 60, (ex-Ecover 2) to a narrow fourth place in the last Barcelona World Race with Pachi Rivero – missing out on the podium by a matter of hours to Golding’s 2005 TJV co-skipper Dominique Wavre – Golding affirms: “He is very good. We get on well. He is very stable and very tough and has good Open 60 experience, and having sailed the older Ecover, it is not all completely new to him.”

Sansó’s first few days on board with Golding have been a learning experience, but an enjoyable and positive one.

“The set up is similar in many ways to the Mutua Madrilena. Obviously there are a lot of improvements and the boat is more powerful and quicker, but it is very similar. We had up to 19-20 knots of breeze at times and some perfect sailing. I really want to do well in this race. It is such an opportunity to learn.”

An early initiation into the Golding signature dish, the breakfast fry-up is an unexpected luxury for Sanso:
“Mike cooked a great bacon and eggs t his morning. He eats well on board and I like that.”

Mike Golding TJV
1999 – third place (Co-skipper – Ed Danby)
2001 – second place (Co-skipper – Marcus Hutchinson)
2003 – third place (Co-skipper – Brian Thompson)
2005 – fourth place (Co-skipper – Dominique Wavre)
2007 – fifth place (Co-skipper – Bruno Dubois)

 About Mike Golding and Mike Golding Yacht Racing
Mike Golding is a British racing skipper who principally competes on the IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association) World Championship circuit.  Mike is also managing director of Mike Golding Yacht Racing (MGYR) Ltd, a business that offers yacht racing sponsorship opportunities and organises bespoke sailing events.

MGYR is a professional yacht racing business, founded in 2001 as a partnership between Mike and Jørgen Philip-Sørensen CBE, with a clear purpose to compete and win on the water and to deliver value to its sponsor partners in the boardroom.

In 2005/6 Mike was world champion in both the IMOCA and FICO (Forum International de la Course au Large) oceanic classes.  In 2007 Mike was awarded an OBE for services to the sport of sailing.

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Mike Golding will compete in the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre race with Javier Sansó (ESP).  The 4730-mile race from Le Havre in France to Costa Rica starts on the 8th November.  Golding, who has competed in every edition of the biennial Transatlantic Race since 1999, was originally going to sail with Bruno Dubois, his long-term friend, team sail advisor and Managing Director of North Sails, France, but Dubois has elected to stand down in favour of the Spanish skipper.

Javier approached Mike a while ago to sail this Transat Jacques Vabre but as Mike and I have sailed together many times before, and I suppose in a way, I was the easy option!  But after further conversations with Javier, Mike and I agreed that we ought to give him the chance. And a race like the TJV is perfect – not too long and not too short!,” explained Dubois.

“It is a measure of the type of person that Bruno is that he has pursued the option to stand down.  The IMOCA Open 60 class has really begun to take off in Spain, helped primarily by events like the Barcelona World Race.  When we sold ECOVER II to Pedro Campos a couple of years ago it was really th e beginning and since then it has really moved on and there is now a good core of Spanish Open 60 sailors, and ‘Bubi’ is amongst the leading players,” comments Golding.

“He is an accomplished sailor in his own right with a Vendee Globe, a Barcelona World Race and two TJV’s under his belt already.” He added, “I very much hope that I might be able to share a bit of my own experiences, but I very much see this co-operation as a two-way street.

“The boat itself is in great shape and we are very keen to get back out racing again!  The new Transat Jacques Vabre course [to Costa Rica] will s ee a change in the dynamic of the race and it will be interesting to see how we all measure up again after the Vendee Globe.  ”

For his part Sansó is excited at the prospect of sailing with Golding.  “Mike and I have known each other for a while, albeit we have never sailed together before. I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved in his career and am very much looking forward to the opportunity to learn and develop my own Open 60 skills.”

Javier will join Mike for the final preparation sailing in the UK and the qualification passage.  Currently Mike’s IMOCA Open 60 is in Ocean Village in Southampton and has undergone a comprehensive refit over the past eight months.

Golding and Sansó are sailing the event unsponsored, and the team has benefited from the considerable support of Mike´s long-term business partner, Jørgen Philip-Sørensen.

“We are obviously now looking for a new sponsor to take us through the next IMOCA cy cle, and as such both Philip-Sørensen and I felt it was important to take part in this race as it is a key one to look at both our own, and the competition’s performance”, commented Golding. “By supporting this entry we will be able to not only do that, but also raise awareness of our search for a new sponsor.”

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Oman Sail Masirah has won the iShares Cup 2009, but it came down to the last leg of the last race on the last day of the last regatta at the iShares Cup Almeria in Spain, with Gitana Extreme-LCF Rothschild pushing Oman Sail Masirah right to the very last minute with a superb final performance. Pete Cumming and his crew held their nerve despite the strong comeback of Yann Guichard and the Gitana Extreme crew who took 2nd overall with Loick Peyron’s Oman Sail Renaissance completing the 2009 podium. Tens of thousands of spectators, the biggest stadium audience of the year, packed the port of Almeria to witness the heart-stopping tension of the final race of the season. No hull flying today, but heart stopping it still was!

Masirah completed a six-month trail of glory with a double victory in Almeria as thousands watched. All crew members put in a performance which overshadowed all efforts from other teams to not only take the victory in the Almeria leg of the iShares Cup but the title of 2009 iShares Cup champions!

Renaissance also battled hard until the last minute to take an admirable fourth overall in the Almeria leg ensuring a double Oman victory as they took third place in the 2009 iShares Cup series.

The culmination of six venues and 118 races all boiled down to the last race on the last day of the last venue as ten boats all lined up, but only three were in contention for the 2009 iShares Cup title.  The electricity in the air from the 40,000 spectators, including Her Excellency Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdulameer Bin Ali, Oman’s Minister of Tourism, His Excellency Eng. Sultan Hamdoon al Harthi, Head of Muscat Municipality and the Municipal Council as well as His Excellency Oman’s Ambassador to Spain was flowing as the start gun went for the first race. Masirah got off to a near-perfect start and led all the way and maintained their lead throughout the day. In the final race Masirah had a marginal lead, but not enough to rest on their laurels. In the last race Masirah wisely opted to keep the only other contender for the top podium position at this stage, Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild, in their sights to ensure their overall win.
As the finishing horn was sounded for Masirah’s finish a huge cheer went up from the crowded waterfront as the new heroes were given a standing ovation and applause.

Renaissance sailed on the edge all day to score an equally credible third overall to bookmark the podium with the proud colours of the Oman flag. To have not one, but two teams, on the podium in such a high profile international event is testament to the support in Oman given to the teams and the aspirations of reigniting the maritime heritage of Oman. Her Excellency Dr, Rajiha Bint Abdulameer Bin Ali, was incredibly proud of both teams, “I am so proud to have been able to watch Oman Sail’s Masirah winning the series in front of thousands of spectators in Spain. I dedicate this victory to the wise leadership of His Majesty and his vision in bringing this project into fruition. I want to thank all the team in Oman sail and in particular the team on Masirah for reaching first place – it was not an easy victory. I didn’t realise how difficult this was until I came to Spain and watch Oman racing myself. My congratulations to the team.” His Excellency Eng. Sultan Hamdoon al Harthi was just as impressed by the victory that unfolded in front of him, “It is a matter of pride for Oman that Masirah and Renaissance dominated the iShares Cup, not just in Spain but also the entire series. To win first and third overall is a result of unprecedented performance.”

 
Two Omani trainees have supported the teams during the summer, both of whom will now be sailing for Oman Sail in the next series themselves. Masirah team member Khamis Al Anbouri summed up the mood of the team  “Winning the iShares Cup is just one of Oman Sail’s steps in encouraging young Omanis to start sailing and showing them the hard work required to achieve success. I am very proud to be part of this team and I look forward to competing now in the next series as a full crewmember. I would also like to thank my wife for all her support and encouragement as I strive to become the very best and to make Oman a household name. Congratulations also to Ahmad Al Harthy for his result this weekend- a truly proud weekend for Oman!”

 
Oman Sail Masirah has won the iShares Cup 2009, but it came down to the last leg of the last race on the last day of the last regatta at the iShares Cup Almeria in Spain, with Gitana Extreme – LCF Rothschild pushing Oman Sail Masirah right to the very last minute with a superb final performance.

Almeria’s usually strong winds never materialized, with light winds adding to the nerves of the 10 teams challenging for the Andulician final event of this benchmark season for the Extreme 40 Sailing Series.

Tens of thousands of spectators, the biggest stadium audience of the year, packed the port of Almeria to witness the heart-stopping tension of the double points final race of the season. No hull flying today, heart stopping it still was!

iShares Cup Almeria:
1. Oman Sail Masirah 132 points
2. Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 129 points
3. Groupama Extreme 112 points
4. Oman Sail Renaissance 96 points
5. LUNA 96 points
6. Team iShares 83 points
7. Holmatro 82 points
8. BT 79 points
9. Rumbo Almeria 73 points
10. Ecover 89 points

iShares Cup 2009 overall:
1. Oman Sail Masirah 53 points
2. Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 52 points
3. Oman Sail Renaissance 42 points
4. Groupama Extreme 41 points
5. Team iShares 27 points
6. BT 26 points
7. LUNA 26 points
8. Holmatro 24 points
9. Ecover 10 points

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The best breeze of the day filled in for the final three races today producing some extreme racing – close calls, collisions, penalties and a nail-biting, final double-points race – entertaining the 10,000 strong crowd lining the IJ-Haven. There were seven different race winners in this penultimate event, that was more about tactics than boat handling. Gitana Extreme sailed brilliantly under pressure to win the penultimate iShares Cup Amsterdam event ahead of Oman Sail Renaissance, whilst Groupama fought back to win the final race and fill the last spot on the podium in third. Overall series leaders, Oman Sail Masirah, put their day 1 disaster behind them, finishing 5th in Amsterdam to retain their overall lead, ahead of Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild and Oman Sail Renaissance, going into the final iShares Cup event in Almeria only two weeks away…

The nine-boat Extreme 40 fleet saved the best till last at the iShares Cup Amsterdam event today to produce a thrilling three-lap finale that had the 10,000-strong crowd of spectators cheering the boats home all the way. The penultimate round of the six-stage European iShares Cup series, held on the confined IJ-Haven canal in Amsterdam, saw predominantly light airs but finally this afternoon, a good 8 knot breeze filled in to see the 40-foot catamarans lifting their hulls. It was perfect catamaran sailing – the excitement levels going into fifth gear for both sailors and spectators. As the breeze increased the size of the IJ-Haven racecourse seemed to decrease! The boats accelerating faster round the tiny racecourse and, not surprisingly, a number of collisions ensued.

For Oman Sail Masirah skipper, Pete Cumming, the team did the job they needed to do to keep the overall series lead, despite the unsettling experience of being seriously holed on the first day:
“That was a good day for us, we won the first and the fourth race and had average results in the three others. We have been up and down during the all events but I have to say that it’s hard to keep positive and motivated after the big crash we had on Friday. Our shore team did an amazing job to fix the boat. Tonight we are on equal points with Gitana in the overall series which keeps the pressure on for the last event in Almeria. The conditions will be very different to here, more like Cowes or Kiel and it’s what we like. It’s going to be a fantastic battle for the overall iShares Cup!”

The stage was set for the showdown between Gitana Extreme skipper, Yann Guichard, and Oman Sail Renaissance supremo, Loick Peyron, with Guichard coming out on top. “Since the first start today we were in the game and we sailed well despite the pressure of those last races. Once again, our teamwork was key to our success. That final race was under a lot of pressure, we knew that we could not let Loïck put more than two boats between us, and we finished right behind him! It was an ideal scenario, and we’re really happy with that new victory. As we foresaw, everything will unfold in Almeria. We really wanted to win in Amsterdam not to regret anything, and to fight for victory, The top three boats are now one point apart, and the fight between Masirah, Renaissance and ourselves will be amazing. I also wanted to congratulate the Oman Sail Masirah team, who came back strong despite their incident.”

Erik Maris’ crew on LUNA showed flashes of brilliance during round 5 scoring a race win and a second place that left them in 7th place; whilst Nick Moloney’s BT team struggled with boat speed and had to settle for 8th. Britain’s Mike Golding, who is gaining confidence in this extremely aggressive class, thrilled his supporters with a second place in the final race – Fraser Brown leaping to his feet rousing the crowd to cheer more! It was a great finish for this team who had such a traumatic time in round 4 in Kiel suffering an aggressive capsize that left their regular crew Bruno Dubois with a serious head injury.

The final round of the 2009 iShares Cup is only two weeks away, taking place in the Andalucian city of Almeria over the 10th-12th October. The finale promises to be best yet – read the story online.
Oman Sail Masirah and Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild are on equal points (43), Masirah in pole position based on winning three of the rounds so far compared to Gitana Extreme’s two victories, but Oman Sail Renaissance are just 1 point behind them and Groupama 10 points behind the leader. And there will be a big fight over the middle-ground with less than 3 points separating BT, Team iShares, Holmatro and LUNA. Don’t miss it!

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Today, Groupama won the last race hands down, enabling the skipper from Aix en Provence to regain his smile as he snatched third place behind Yann Guichard and Loïck Peyron, who take first and second place respectively. As was the case in Kiel, the French sailors are at the front of the pack with a French triple in the top spots once again!

If we look in detail at the points separating the top five competitors in the final ranking, it is easy to understand the tension which was palpable throughout the day! With the wind still a little undecided as to whether it was going to fill their sails, today’s five races were rather convoluted to say the least and rather reminiscent of the four race yesterday. Franck Cammas: “One thing for sure after these three days racing in Amsterdam, is that with Groupama 40, we still haven’t worked out how to deal with light conditions. In light wind we’re not so at ease. We aren’t able to follow the others. This was my first participation in the light stuff on such a narrow race zone. We unquestionably need to make progress! The minute the wind kicked in, things went better. In fact on Friday, thanks to the breeze, it was a good day for us!”

The famous quote by competitors that says that “anything can happen in a race prior to crossing the finish line” is something that certainly applies to Franck’s crew this weekend: “With Groupama 40, we won the lottery in the last race. Our rivals weren’t as strong which enabled us to overtake two of them and make it to a podium finish, which certainly wasn’t something we could have envisaged at the end of the previous race!”

The skipper from Aix en Provence clearly already has his mind geared towards the last event of the season: “In Alméria, it’s likely to be windy and it will be a whole different ball game! Roll on Spain!”

Finally, it is important to salute the performance by Yann Guichard and his men, outright winner in this Dutch stage. Bagging three victories of the 17 races contested, Gitana Extreme- LCF Rothschild Group climbs to the highest step of the podium and above all is tied on points with Masirah in the general championship ranking.

Suffice to say that the next meeting for the Extremes 40s will take place in Alméria, Spain, on 10th, 11th and 12th October and it is going to have a decisive role in this championship! This sixth event will round off the iShares Cup 2009.

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In race 4 of the first day of the iShares Cup Amsterdam, a collision between Oman Sail Masirah and BT on the first windward leg has put Masirah out of action. A port/starboard incident, saw BT trying to duck Masirah but to no avail. Oman Sail Masirah are waiting anxiously for the crane to haul them out. A big blow for Pete Cumming and his crew who are the overall iShares Cup series leader going into this penultimate round, and they will be looking for redress for the races they miss today. In the strongest breeze of the day so far, gusting over 10 knots, there was plenty of action from the start with LUNA, over the line at the start searching to go back made contact with BT, who had been forced to tack on top of them as Holmatro called starboard. On this tight racecourse here in Amsterdam the building breeze makes the racing even more fraught. Race 4 was won by Gitana Extreme with Franck Cammas on Guichard’s heels but this win puts them at the top of the iShares Cup Amsterdam leaderboard, halfway through today’s racing.

Pete Cumming takes up the story: “It was the first beat of race 4 and it was a clear case of port and starboard. BT were coming in on port and we could see from about 10 seconds out they were going to hit us. The wind had got up and we knew as they accelerated, the bows dug in and holed us under the waterline and the crack goes right underneath. The damage is about 2-foot forward of the back beam on the port hull and it compressed the whole side of the boat in – it’s quite a big job to rebuild that. We didn’t have our best races in the first couple today so we’ll get average points from those races – we’ll just have to see how it goes. It’s an unfortunate situation and we’ve ended up sitting on the shore with our boat full of water.”

A total of 8 races were staged today on the tiny IJ-Haven – the racecourse just 750-meters long and 250-meters wide – on the start line you could literally step from one boat to the next and then on to the canal wall! There is only just enough room for the nine-boat fleet to line up and as soon as they cross the line, the boats, just a few feet from the concrete walls, are yelling for water causing a domino effect across the fleet. The conditions were generally light but on a fairly regular basis the breeze built up to over 10 knots making the IJ-Haven become a hazardous place to be, although the crowds loved it! There were plenty of penalties and at least one other collision and probably a few more scrapes and close shaves that were not visible from the shore.

Team iShares skipper, Shirley Robertson, who scored a win in the penultimate race today and lies in 5th place overall: “Many of us remember the first year we came to Amsterdam… it was pretty windy and it brings back all of those memories of all the points around the canal where you had a few moments! You just have to sail slightly differently and be prepared to see things that you might not before – look for opportunities and be a bit punchy!” It was certainly a case of avoiding the wind holes and taking advantage of the gusts, which resulted in many place changes throughout the fleet. Two wins apiece for Oman Sail Renaissance (Loick Peyron)and Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild (Yann Guichard) and individual race wins for Holmatro (Mitch Booth), Groupama (Franck Cammas), iShares (Shirley Robertson) and LUNA (Erik Maris) have kept the points close on the Round 5 leaderboard. Only 2 points separate Loick Peyron from Guichard and Guichard from Cammas, and 1 point between Mitch Booth, Robertson and Maris (see leaderboard for full results).

Forecast is for slightly lighter winds tomorrow which may reduce the ‘incident’ rate but at this crucial stage of the race, no one is giving an inch and that counts here on the IJ-Haven!

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