Capsize & collisions in gusty conditions on day 1 of the iShares Cup Kiel: “It was carnage out there…” said Oman Sail crew David Carr. Ecover’s capsized between races 3 and 4, resulted in a broken mast. The mast was cut away from the overturned boat, and both boat and mast were towed back to the iShares Cup pitlane. Ecover crewman Bruno Dubois received a nasty cut to the head requiring stitches. And then after a full on day of racing, in the final race, Loick Peyron’s Renaissance hit the new Wirsol Team Germany Kiel Sailing City resulting in major work overnight for both boats. It didn’t all go Oman Sail Masirah’s way today in the difficult and gusty conditions on Kiel Fjord but after 7 races on day of 1 round 4, Pete Cumming’s team are, once again, at the top of the leaderboard.

Mike Golding back on shore told the press: “Bruno’s had a scan and is being kept in overnight but otherwise he’s fine. It was a very quick capsize, the conditions had been very gusty and none of us were expecting to have a problem like that outside of the racecourse. We were between races and we had just boarded our guest and were heading back to the start area when a big gust came in, fully downwind, both bows went in and we just pitch-poled very, very quickly. All of us were in the water – even the experienced Extreme 40 guys were amazed at how fast the boat rotated. When we came up from under the net we saw Bruno had a head injury and were pretty shocked”

And about racing again: “We will right the boat next and we have a spare mast here so we will make an assessment of what’s here and try and get the boat back out on the racecourse. We’re here to be racing so we want to get the programme back on track.”

The conditions for racing on the short and tight courses on the Kiel Fjord were demanding and pretty nerve-wracking for the Extreme 40 crews as the wind gusted over 30 knots (56 km/h) – this is sailing at the sharp end of the sport. It required slick boat handling and 100% focus.

Oman Sail Renaissance skipper, Loick Peyron, collided with Wirsol Team German Kiel Sailing City in the final race of the day as they tried to bear away behind the local team resulting in a black flag disqualification: “A little puff of wind, then boom – no more rudder, we were flying with no tiller – so after that you have a few seconds to pray. It can be dangerous but that is part of the game. I think it’s the first time I hit another boat and I don’t like that.” After two race wins, the disqualification cost them second place on the leaderboard which has been occupied by Franck Cammas’ Groupama Extreme who sailed well, scoring one victory and no worse than 6th place.

iShares Cup Race Director, Gilles Chiorri explained the damage to the German team: “There is serious damage to the port hull of the aft beam –it is where the aft beam is moulded to the hull so they will have a long night of repair work. I am pretty confident they will be racing tomorrow”

Overall iShares Cup series leaders, Oman Sail Masirah skippered by Pete Cummings, and now also occupying the top of the leaderboard at the end of day 1 in Kiel, had this to say: “The wind strength went from 5 knots up to 25 knots – it would just hit like that. So, yeah, it was all on! It’s really brilliant racing though and you can hear the crowds cheering you down the racetrack. Really unfortunate for Ecover – it’s just really tight racing and everyone is pushing hard, and when you’re at this level that’s how it is. You’ve got to be on top of your game that’s for sure.”

Day 2 of Round 4 of the iShares Cup at Kiel is expected to be just as demanding, if not more with stronger gusts forecast.

iShares Cup Kiel Day 1:
Oman Sail Masirah 61 points
Groupama Extreme 51 points
Oman Sail Renaissance 47 points
Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild 46 points
BT 38 points
Team iShares 37 points
LUNA 36 points
Holmatro 32 points
Wirsol Team German Kiel Sailing City 22 points

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The 10 teams competing in the fourth event of the 2009 iShares Cup are ready for three days of fiercely contested Extreme 40 racing, which kicks off tomorrow, August 28th. With just one point separating the top two boats on the overall leaderboard, and some changeable conditions forecast, Kiel looks set for another exciting showdown between these legendary sailors.

“I’m looking forward to this weekend,” commented Ecover skipper Mike Golding. “Kiel is a great location, the racing will be fast and furious, and the conditions are expected to build over the weekend. We’ve had some good training this week, the mark roundings need to be clean and quick and we’ve focused a lot on this. I hope that we will see some improvements over this weekend and that we can close the gap on the teams ahead of us. It has the potential to be one of the best race courses so far!”

All the teams have been training as hard as possible – new entry Wirsol Team Germany Kiel.Sailing City have been sailing their Extreme 40 solidly for the past two weeks, while others have been setting up practice races. The teams are racing so seriously that yesterday there was even a collision in training, with LUNA sustaining damage, although they will be back racing today.

“We experienced a really bad crash yesterday. We had to lift the boat out of the water and our shore team worked all afternoon and all night long to make sure that the boat is ready for tomorrow! We should be back on the water this afternoon and will make sure that everything is ok,” explained Luna crew Philippe Mourniac.

Huge crowds of up to 100,000 spectators are expected to watch 40 World Champions, Olympic medalists, America’s Cup heroes and round the world record-breakers fight it out. “Thanks again to the city of Kiel for welcoming us back again this year. It was an absolutely phenomenal event last year and we are expecting as many spectators as last year. Hearing the crowd cheer is amazing and encourages us to provide the best competition and spectacle,” commented BT skipper Nick Moloney.

At the front of the fleet all eyes will be on Oman Sail Masirah and Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild, with just one point separating the two teams overall at the halfway point in the 2009 iShares Cup. “We are just one point off the lead but we have no particular strategy for Kiel,” said Gitana skipper Yann Guichard. “This event should be really windy and gusty, we will do our best to sail well but there’s nine other good teams, all really full on and nobody will let the victory go!”

Pete Cumming, skipper of Masirah, added: “When we look at the skipper and crew line up, we could think that our team is a lot less experienced. But we keep the same team since last year, we trained a lot and I think it’s the key to our success for now.”

A familiar face returns to the helm of Holmatro, where Extreme 40 class founder Mitch Booth takes over the reins. He got off to a great start by taking today’s first practice race win. “It’s good to be back full-time in the circuit and specially with Holmatro as it’s my original team,” he said. “It’s like coming back to the family. We are all good friends, we used to sail together and it’s always good fun.” Darren Bundock also returns to the helm of BT, having recovered from injury which saw him step aside earlier this season.

Racing begins tomorrow at 2.30pm, with up to eight races scheduled every afternoon and can be watched from the Kiellinie shoreline.

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The sun was shining, the wind was blowing and the crowds were cheering as both Oman Sail teams took control of the six races sailed on Monday. Masirah started the day with a dominating win over the fleet in the first race of the day but Renaissance was never far behind. After four races Masirah had done enough for the day as they could not be toppled from the top of the leader board, a position they had held since the first race of the first day. Renaissance had their work cut out for them as they were carrying a couple of poor results which their eleven top three places over the three days couldn’t balance out. Although they were never out of second or third place on the leader board, they had stiff competition from the team s below, out of which any of five of them could have leap-frogged them onto the podium.
The last race of the day counts for double points and it is this one that has, in past events in France and Italy, made all the difference to the final scores. Masirah played a safe game and took the boat home safely but it was Renaissance who was fighting for the difference between the second and third step on the podium with Gitana. Team Gitana and Renaissance were not only fighting for second and third for the Cowes iShares Cup, but also for second and third on the overall podium positions at the half way point of the iShares Cup circuit. Thus it was a nail biting finale for these two teams and the pressure was on as all the teams lined up for the start, only metres away from the thousands of spectators watching the action from the shore. In the end Gitana took first place and Renaissance could only manage a fourth, behind Masirah and Ecover. This sealed the podium places as Git ana took second and Renaissance took an admirable third.

Special guests on Masirah for the day’s racing were members of Formula One’s Brawn GP team. Each boat has a fifth man spot that gives an invited guest the chance to experience sailing at the extreme and get into the thick of it. Brawn GP CEO, Nick Fry, was on board for many of the races, ‘I believe that sport is a wonderful catalyst for pulling people together. To support sport at the highest level will encourage younger people and inspire them to be the best and I am sure that over time, more people from Oman, both men and women, will want to be part of this successful team. I applaud those in Oman that took this initiative which I am sure will bring major benefits over the coming years.’

Now that Cowes is over and the celebrations for both teams are finished, the Oman Sail team packs up both boats into their containers. Then both containers are loaded up and transported to the North German City of Kiel where the fourth leg of the iShares Cup takes place and Masirah will be hoping to maintain their dominance and Renaissance will be looking to knock them off the top spot and take some of the glory for themselves. The sponsors of Renaissance (Renaissance Services, Suhail Bahwan Group and The Wave) will continue their support of the team until the end of the iShares Cup circuit.

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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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It was an interesting day for all the teams on the water today in the shifting condition in Hyeres, and no more so than for the two Oman Sail teams. Overnight leaders Masirah started their day by recording their worst result of the series thus far but Renaissance, in contrast, scored their best. The sixth place for Masirah and second for Renaissance put them both at the top of the leader board but it was to be the last race of the day for Loick Peyron and his team as Mike Golding on Ecover put paid to his day. Golding misjudged a port – starboard crossing and took one of Renaissance’s rudders out of action; it took some skillful boat handling by Peyron to record the second place that they did.
It was an interesting day for all the teams on the water today in the shifting condition in Hyeres, and no more so than for the two Oman Sail teams. Overnight leaders Masirah started their day by recording their worst result of the series thus far but Renaissance, in contrast, scored their best. The sixth place for Masirah and second for Renaissance put them both at the top of the leader board but it was to be the last race of the day for Loick Peyron and his team as Mike Golding on Ecover put paid to his day. Golding misjudged a port – starboard crossing and took one of Renaissance’s rudders out of action; it took some skillful boat handling by Peyron to record the second place that they did.

It was bitterly disappointing for him and his crew to see all their hard work lost due to no fault of their own.  Omani fifth man for the day Mubarak Al Battashi explained, ‘We knew that Ecover was going to hit us and all we could do was watch- everything happens so quickly on these boats. Loick did an amazing job of getting us to the finish line in second place. It is unfortunate that our day will be settled by a sailing jury in a room and not by us on the water. We look forward to tomorrow!’

Masirah didn’t have to win the penultimate race to take th em through to the next day as leaders but they gave the watching crowds a great show as they powered down with third placed Holmatro only to lose by 10 feet from them on the line. With 12 knots of breeze blowing, the Extreme 40′s had hulls flying which only made the battle for second place between BMW Oracle and Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild all the more exciting. BMW Oracle managed to take a well-needed first place but Gitana held on and took second place. Holmatro showed great form in the last few races and will see them go into Sunday’s final races as potential podium placers. Renaissance spent some time in the protest room but as it was an obvious error on the part of Ecover, they were awarded average points based on their results the day before. Fortunately they didn’t have a result worse than fifth throughout the day which gave them a well needed boost going into the last day..

Final positions for the day have Masirah in the lead with 110 points, Renaissance in second with 100 points and BMW Oracle take the final podium place of the day with 97 points.

The chasing pack are:
4. Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild,
5. Groupama – 85 points, 6. BT – 77 points
7. Holmatro – 63 points,
8.  iShares – 62 points,
9. Luna – 39 points
10. Ecover – 33 points

By the start of the last race the wind had started picking up and gusts of up to 20 knots were seen across the water. This is the upper limit of the Extreme 40 racing catamarans and it is the point when they start to offer edge of the seat racing for all the spectators. BMW Oracle pinned Renaissance down at the start and took them out to the far side of the course in an attempt to push them down the leaderboard and make BMW Oracle’s position stronger. BMW Oracle still managed to get to the top mark in second place and had successfully pushed Renaissance down to fifth as well as rattled the crew’s nerves. At the bottom mark Renaissance botched their kite drop and were left hobbled as several boats went past them. They recovered well and got to the top mark with two boats behind them and managed to hold that position to the finish line that was enough to beat Gitana Extreme overall by 3 points and the late charging Groupama by 4 points. BMW Oracle sailed a textbook race to take the finish gun by a strong margin over Groupama but it wasn’t enough to beat Masirah who took third place on the water but first overall with a safety margin of 10 points.
The top 5 places were separated by 30 points but third, fourth and fifth places had only 4 places between them. This means that it is all change at the top of the leaderboard as they pack up and head for Cowes on the first of August. BMW Oracle have taken the first place on the podium with 18 points from two legs after a second in Venice and second in Hyeres. Masirah and Gitana Extreme share second place tied on 17 points and Renaissance hold on to third (or fourth, depending how you look at it) with 16 points. Needless to say all the teams will be looking forward to facing off with each other in Cowes in the south of England in three weeks time and you can guarantee that BMW Oracle won’t want to make it three bridesmaids in a row!

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Fresh from their victory over a quadruple Olympic medalist and an America’s Cup challenger, Oman Sail’s Masirah Extreme 40 is on the top step of the podium after the first day of the iShares Cup. The conditions off the coast of the South of France matched the conditions off Muscat in which Masirah trained in and gave them four first places out of six races and a worst result of a fourth in the first race.
The team on Masirah was the same as that which won the Round the Island Race in the UK two weeks ago when they beat British Olympic sensation Ben Ainslie and America’s Cup mastermind Russell Coutts. Once again Khamis Al Anbouri was crewing on Masiarh and playing a full time role in the tactical roles and even had a few words to say on the podium, ‘There was a lot of teamwork involved on the boat today and we put together a lot of the things we have done in training. As one of the five people who worked hard to get the boat to the top step of the podium I am very proud. We still have a lot of work to do tomorrow and Sunday though!’ The helmsman of Oman Sail’s Masirah is Chris Draper, an Olympic medalist, who went on to say that ‘Khamis is our lucky charm’.

Saturday will see up to ten races sailed on the water right in front of the breakwater of Hyeres, in the province of Toulon. Last year was the first time Hyeres featured on the iShares Cup circuit and saw some of the most exciting sailing ever seen on Extreme 40′s. This year the weather forecast is slightly tamer and there is less chance of seeing the thrills, spills and capsizes of last year.

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Yann Guichard’s crew on Group LCF Rothschild end the weekend with the overall win of the Venice event.  The French team proved omnipresent in the leading group, making very few mistakes and gradually capitalising on points to move closer to final victory after each race. The wind direction today forced the Race Committee to set-up oblong courses leaving few tactical options to the skippers, and more than ever winning the first mark was key – any hesitation or imperfect placement on the startline was immediately sanctioned by a costly result. Show-wise, it was absolutely perfect with the boats coming under gennaker, flying a hull, just metres away from the race village!

Loïck Peyron’s Renaissance (Oman Sail), had a great start to the day and won two races in a row before collapsing in the final confrontation, while the Groupama 40 boys were on good form as well, posting a first win today then a second place while Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild and BMW ORACLE Racing were having a ‘shocker’ in race 14. At the end of the latter, Renaissance was third only two points away from the America’s Cup team! Pressure was building up, with the perspective of the last race of the day counting for double points. By that time Renaissance had moved into second place, and tension was high as anything could happen for second, third and fourth places! And indeed, it did. Renaissance’s risky start option did not pay off and Peyron ended up at the back of the fleet whilst Ecover was leading at the first mark… before being relegated to the last place in the final race with so many points at stake! BT captured the last victory of the iShares Cup Venice event in front BMW ORACLE Racing while Gitana Extreme – Groupe LCF Rothschild came third and secured overall victory.

Yann Guichard: “It’s a great feeling to win here, I guess we were coming knowing we were somewhere in the top five, but winning the first event is fantastic! We concentrated on our starts, communication within the team was excellent and we did not lose our focus. There is a lot of pressure on the helmsmen as the boats are very close, and it’s very demanding physically for the crew but we were working perfectly together. That’s one in the bag, and five to go! We really enjoyed the format, I think it’s been great for the spectators as well. We’ll go back to training soon, as the next event in Hyères will probably be more windy and a bit different, but we’re looking forward to it.”

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Oman Sail’s Extreme 40 Teams Are Gearing Up For The Inagural Extreme 40 Event In Venice Tomorrow. iShares Cup begins in Venice on Thursday with Oman Sail debuting their second team.

The waterfront of Italy’s most romantic city will become even more attractive towards the end of the week as ten teams arrive for the first date of the iShares Cup Tour. The iShares Cup has been described as the sailing equivalent of cricket’s Twenty20 cup and takes place on Extreme 40 catamarans, one of the fastest and most exciting classes in the sport. There are 10 teams 2 of which are from Oman, Masirah and Renaissance, with both sporting the branding of Oman as well as Omani sailors.
 
Masirah is the flagship of the Oman Sail project in the iShares Cup and successfully competed last season and took fourth place overall in the season finale in Amsterdam. It was at this event that also saw the crew of Masirah display the colours of Oman on the podium for the first time. This season sees the crew of Masirah hoping to improve on their position from last year with a final position in the top three. As one of the only boats in the iShares Cup with the same crew as last year they will prove a strong team to beat.

Renaissance is the second Extreme 40 representing Oman and is already creating headlines due to the inclusion of ‘Mr Multihull’, Loick Peyron, as skipper and helmsman. Renaissance represents the development of global commerce based in Oman and is sponsored by local companies Renaissance Services and Suhail Bahwan Group. Loick Peyron was chosen to skipper Renaissance because of his status as one of the world’s best and most renowned sailors. He and his crew of fellow international sailors spent several months sailing their Extreme 40 with Masirah off Muscat and has become a spokesman for Oman and her natural beauty. Joining Loick Peyron on Renaissance are Julien Cressant, Peter Greenhalgh and Greg Homann.

Joining both international crews in Venice will be two Omani sailors who have spent the past year training on the Extreme 40′s to bring themselves to an international standard. Mubarak Al Battashi and Khamis Al Anbouri both have Naval backgrounds and completed a thorough selection process to gain their places on the boats. They will alternate the boats they compete on as the iShares Cup travels from Venice, Italy to the other venues on the tour.

The schedule for t he iShares Cup events is as follows:
Event 1 – Venice, Italy, 15th-17th May

Event 2 – Hyères-TPM, France, 3rd-5th July 

Event 3 – Cowes, United Kingdom, 1st-3rd August

Event 4 – Kiel, Germany, 28th-30th August

Event 5 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 25th-27th September

Event 6 – Almería, Andalucía, 10th-12th October

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