The all-French crew onboard Groupe Edmond de Rothschild skippered by Pierre Pennec were on fire today hardly putting a foot wrong with three wins out of five races on day 2 of the Extreme Sailing Series at The Wave, Muscat. The Swiss team of Alinghi led by Tanguy Cariou and helmed by Yann Guichard, ably supported by the crew of Nils Frei and Yves Detrey, won the first race and were in the top three in the first three races which secured them second place overall. Home team, The Wave, Muscat struggled to begin with then posted a 2nd, 1st and a 2nd to grab third place by the end of the day, nine points ahead of Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing who were really consistent in their performance today.

Terry Hutchinson’s team on Artemis Racing didn’t quite have the day they hoped for, after ended up in a four-way tie at the top at the end of play yesterday. They have now dropped to fifth overall, just 2 points ahead of Sidney Gavignet’s Oman Air team. Some of the teams new to the circuit are finding the going a little tougher with little training time, they are at the beginning of the Extreme 40 learning curve. But that doesn’t seem to have dampened their spirits: “It was another fantastic day, it can not be better with the wind direction and the sea breeze we had today. I would say it’s a sailing paradise here in Oman,” said Team Extreme skipper Roland Gaebler. “There was a lot more action on the water, a lot of nose-diving but at least no capsizes but it was close thing.”

For Niceforyou skipper Alberto Barovier and his all-Italian team learning fast is the name of the game: “We are learning about the boat all the time, how to drive it, how to round the mark. You need to get the best of the day and learn the most for the future. We are a new team, new at multihulls, especially with this breeze. We never even took a reef before! We need to stay quiet, learn and take everything point we can and learn from all the mistakes we are doing.”

With up to 21 knots the 11-boat fleet raced the first race with a reef in the mainsail, and it was wet ride on board in a short, choppy sea state. The wind decreased slightly throughout the afternoon to around 16 knots but the 44 sailors handled the conditions well: “The starts have been very impressive so far,” said Gilles Chiorri, Events Director. “They are all very close together with two different strategies – some starting fast on starboard with right of way, whilst the others opting to find a space on port which them gave the advantage of one less tack on the first windward leg which saves them about 4 to 5 boat lengths which is a lot as the racing is so close.”

The 11-boat fleet have enjoyed some fantastic sailing conditions here in Oman over the past two days on the open-water courses, but from tomorrow Act 1 at The Wave, Muscat will be open to the public and, as such, the racing will be staged close to shore in front of the spectators within the confines of a ‘stadium’ race course. “I hope that everything goes well tomorrow, it will be a completely different game but we will try to stay out of the traffic, not to get into trouble or cause any,” said Roland.

Racing starts at 1400 local time (1000GMT) tomorrow with the Race Village opening to the public between 1100-1800 local time. An array of on shore entertainment has been arranged for the thousands of public expected to attend over the next three days.

Extreme Sailing Series, Act 1 at The Wave, Muscat
Day 2 Results after 11 races:*

1st Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, 101 points
2nd Alinghi, 91 points
3rd The Wave, Muscat, 89 points
4th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, 80 points
5th Artemis Racing, 76 points
6th Oman Air, 74 points
7th Team New Zealand, 64 points
8th Luna Rossa, 62 points
9th Team Extreme, 36 points
10th Niceforyou, 32 points
11th Team GAC Pindar, 21 points

• Provisional: Luna Rossa has requested redress after port/starboard incident with Niceforyo

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Day 1 of Act 1 of the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series delivered a class Extreme 40 result – four boats finished on equal points at the top of the leaderboard – The Wave, Muscat, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Artemis Racing and Alinghi.

The conditions too were near perfect at The Wave, Muscat with a breeze that was on the positive side of 10-12 knots for most of the afternoon which allowed six ‘open water’ races to be staged off the waters of The Wave, Muscat. The new ‘young gun’ on the circuit, Torvar Mirsky, ensured home team of The Wave, Muscat claimed the top spot with two first places and a second place, getting the defending champions off to the perfect start. “Amazing conditions today, Oman’s got warm weather and a beautiful sea breeze, perfect sailing conditions for these Extreme 40 boats. For us, it was an amazing performance beyond what we expected. I know a lot of people thought we would be up there but I wasn’t so sure. Our team are working really well together – Nick Hutton and Khamis have done a really good job to get myself and Kyle Langford up to speed on these boats and we’re all working well together.” But always waiting to pounce was Pierre Pennec, the new skipper of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, who showed his mettle today as his all-French crew stepped up to the mark.

Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis Racing crew, who demonstrated their strong form in yesterday’s practice races, continued in the same vein: “It’s the end of day 1 racing here in Oman and we’ve found ourselves in a four-way tie and I think that just sums up how the racing is, its just close and tight and everyone is battling for every point. It was brilliant, it’s the Extreme 40 delivered to the ‘tee’ today and, I think, from a novice in the multhihull world we are smiling! It was a really good day.”

Alinghi skippered by Tanguy Cariou and with Yann Guichard at the helm who, if you remember, put Groupe Edmond de Rothschild on the podium for the last two years in second place overall is looking forward to the public ‘stadium’ days which start the day after tomorrow: “It’s a good start, we just make 5 practice races in four days, so its good to be at the top of the rankings. It sets us up well for the next day and especially the ‘stadium’ racing when it will be great to have the public and to have some tough and tight races.”

At the other end of the scale, match racing pro Ian Williams new to two hulls had a baptism of fire on Team GAC Pindar – the best result an 8th place. The umpires were kept busy – a clear sign the 11-boat fleet are pushing hard already – handing out multiple penalties to the all-Italian team Niceforyou.

And as the new teams and crew accelerate up the learning curve and their confidence grows, the combat will become even more intense. As the day 1 leader put it: “It couldn’t be closer… There are a lot of really good teams here and a lot of newcomers to the fleet who are really competitive people, and we always knew it was going to be tight and the results show that.”

Extreme Sailing Series, Act 1 at The Wave, Muscat
Day 1 Results after 6 races:

1st The Wave, 49 points
2nd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, 49 points
3rd Artemis Racing, 49 points
4th Alinghi, 49 points
5th Oman Air, 42 points
6th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, 39 points
7th Luna Rossa, 38 points
8th Team New Zealand, 31 points
9th Niceforyou, 24 points
10th Team Extreme, 17 points
11th Team GAC Pindar, 9 points

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orld Champions and ocean racing record holders, will be squaring up against Olympians and America’s Cup hotshots, in the impressive roll call for the Extreme Sailing Series™ this year.  The full crew line-ups are unveiled today ahead of the first Extreme Sailing Series™ Act to be hosted in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman in February (20th-24th, stadium days 22nd-24th).

With a wealth of new teams and crew representing 15 nationalities, the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series season promises to be the most competitive yet with 11 boats manned with talent from every corner of competitive yacht racing – and the stats are impressive:

29 Olympians
12 Records set/broken
97 World Championships contended
11 Round the World navigations
69 America’s Cup sailed
4 Olympic Gold Medals
2 Olympic Silver Medals
2 Olympic Bronze Medals

Olympic and America’s Cup sailors dominate the teams this year – Terry Hutchinson (USA) Artemis Racing, Dean Barker (NZL) Team New Zealand, Roland Gaebler (GER) Team Extreme, Roman Hagara (AUT) Red Bull Extreme Sailing and Sidney Gavignet (FRA) Oman Air, are just some of the superstars for 2011 who will be raising the bar ever higher.

Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave, Muscat will inherit the ‘young-gun’ title from the skipper he is replacing, Paul Campbell-James. Campbell-James’ unabashed and aggressive style saw him grab the 2010 title from the more seasoned skippers and, no doubt, his new Luna Rossa team will be hoping for a repeat performance.  At the other end of the age spectrum the experience is mind-blowing – Olympian Roman Hagara has attended the Olympic Games six times, winning two gold medals and Team Extreme skipper Roland Gaebler won bronze. 2008 Yachtsman of the Year Terry Hutchinson and his Artemis Racing team have between them competed in the America’s Cup an impressive 15 times.
Terry Hutchinson onboard Extreme 40 Artemis Racing
Groupe Edmond de Rothschild will return for their third Extreme 40 season having finished second overall for the past two years, but this time the all-French team will be headed up by Pierre Pennec replacing Yann Guichard who is now driving for Alinghi. Pennec, who represented his country at the Sydney Olympics in the Tornado Class, has been instrumental in the team’s success to date and is relishing the chance of leading the team. Guichard, having made the switch to Alinghi, is in good company under the leadership of Tanguy Cariou (previously with Franck Cammas’ Groupama 40) and seasoned mulithull sailors Nils Frei and Yves Detrey. On team Niceforyou an all-Italian line-up, skippered by Alberto Barovier, will use their combined America’s Cup experience to the max. Team GAC Pindar will return for a full season in 2011, at the helm match racing supremo Ian Williams who is stepping from one hull to two in his first Extreme 40 venture.  This diverse range of competitive skills and experience is going to turn up the heat on the 2011 circuit making the outcome almost impossible to predict.

Going into this season probably at least two thirds of the teams have the experience, talent and sheer nerve to win, and they could all climb on to the podium.  Paul Campbell James, helmsman of the 2010 winning team, now signed with Luna Rossa gives his assessment: “Artemis Racing and The Wave, Muscat again will be strong. They [The Wave, Muscat] have Torvar, who has done a bit of 49ering and a lot of match racing and they have Nick [Hutton] and Khamis [Al Anbouri] back with them. You can’t rule out Alinghi and Team New Zealand. It is going to be wicked season!”

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In Numbers:

-  9 events confirmed for 2011 circuit spanning North America, Europe, Arabia and Asia.
-   Mix of venues from iconic cities and unconventional ‘stadiums’, to established sailing destinations and emerging sailing markets.
-  10 top class teams representing 8 nations, and a dozen different nationalities of sailors.
-   5-day events offering a unique mix of ‘open-water’ racing and with high octane ‘stadium’ racing – high sporting integrity, but entertaining non-sailors and sailors alike too.
-  Fleet racing, figure of 8 duels, time trials, match racing and other formats of racing will continue to be used – but always short, sharp and punchy!
-  ‘Money can’t buy’ VIP experiences on and off the water – pioneering 5th man spots remain a key value of the event.
-  8-hour programme of entertainment (on and off the water) on every public-facing day.
-   12 x Optimists, 8 x 49ers, and at least 3 other classes of ‘support act’ over the season including windsurfers, kiteboarders,…
-  5-year vision and key developments planned for 2011

2011 Videos

In Detail: Changing the way sailing is seen

On the eve of the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril (Portugal), the Extreme Sailing Series™ unveiled a great package of interesting and varied host venues, and top level professional sailing teams and skippers for 2011. The award-winning and ‘ISAF Special Event’ circuit is going truly global as it enters its fifth year, with 9 events spanning 3 continents, over 11 months and 10 teams representing 8 nations. A core objective of the event remains to be the most commercially sound way for brands and host venues to benefit from the great offer that professional sailing can present. This philosophy has been at the heart of the product since its inception in 2006, with the vast majority of teams since 2007 being sponsorship funded. The 2011 package provides a global sponsorship platform, at a very accessible budget level, and with a queue of sailors keen to compete.

“The circuit has come a long way since 2007 when we had just 4 European events and 5 teams,” commented Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of organisers OC ThirdPole.  “We continue to attract new top sponsored teams, sailors and, importantly, major new venues where we can showcase the sport with our game-changing ‘stadium’ format.  The choice of venues for 2011 has been our core commercial team focus since the end of 2009. We are getting closer to the perfect mix of established iconic cities, premium venues, great sailing destinations and emerging (sailing) markets.

“We continue to maintain the mix of sporting integrity and entertainment. We have shown inshore sailing can actually be fun to watch for the non-sailor as well as the sailor! Part of the DNA of the circuit since the beginning, our 5th man spot remains one of the sport’s greatest assets – be it for sponsors clients, media, TV cameramen, or prizewinners drawn from the general public,” he concluded.

The 2011 global circuit, which kicks off in Muscat in February 2011 and concludes in Singapore in December, is entering a new phase of development as part of a five year vision, after a challenging but successful 2010. Turner explains, “iShares was acquired by BlackRock at the end of 2009, which meant an end to the founding partnership of the event. We committed to running a test event in Asia and what was another successful European season in 2010 without a main partner. That was a big investment for our OC ThirdPole business, but one we believed in,” said Turner.

“Going forward we now have some meaningful host venue partnerships, strong teams, and a long term business plan with funding in place which will allow us to continue to develop the Extreme Sailing Series™ across all areas over the next five years – on the water, the shore-side public entertainment package and the media platforms,” he promised.

In addition to the host venue partnerships, and local sponsors for each event, OMEGA returns as Official Timekeeper, Marinepool join as Official Technical Clothing Supplier, and Pol Roger as the Official Champagne Supplier for the series. Further partners at both series and local level to be announced in the New Year.

A circuit spanning North America, Europe, Arabia and Asia

The 2011 Extreme Sailing Series™ kicks off in the Sultanate of Oman in February, as part of the annual Muscat Festival, before heading to China for Act 2 (location to be announced separately). The gateway between Europe and Asia, and European City of Sport for 2012, Istanbul, will host the third Act before the Extreme 40 fleet travels to the United States of America for the first time, to Boston’s waterfront in time for the July 4th celebrations.

Cowes Week welcomes the Extreme 40s for the fifth consecutive year for Act 5, ahead of a return to the Sicilian port of Trapani, for the second consecutive year. The French round will be staged on Mediterranean waters in Nice before Almería, in Andalucia, Spain hosts the penultimate event and the 2011 circuit will be decided in Singapore in mid-December.

10 Teams Representing 8 Nations, with sailors from more than 12 countries, and from diverse backgrounds (Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup, Olympic Gold medalists, World Match Racing Tour etc..)

Diversity and quality are once again hallmarks of the Extreme Sailing Series line upTwo-times runner-up Groupe Edmond de Rothschild returns (skipper as yet unknown); new entry Luna Rossa has snapped up last year’s winning skipper Paul Campbell-James as helm, with the boat skippered by America’s Cup winning sailor, Max Sirena. Oman Air Masirah, returns, skippered by French Volvo Ocean Race veteran Sidney Gavignet; double Olympic Gold Medallist Roman Hagara enters for the second season with his Red Bull Extreme Sailing team.

Britain’s Ian Williams, two times winner of the World Match Racing Tour joins Team GAC Pindar; another new Italian entry, Team Nice, led by Alberto Barovier and 2010 winners, The Wave, Muscat return to defend their title, this time skippered by emerging star Torvar Mirsky.

Alinghi returns to the fleet after winning in 2008, skippered by experienced Extreme 40 tactician Tanguy Cariou; Paul Cayard’s Artemis Racing is skippered by American Terry Hutchinson and finally, new to the 2011 circuit will be Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Kiwi America’s Cup winner, Dean Barker, who experienced Extreme 40 racing for the first time at the final event in Almería this year.

Event Format and new Class Rules

In 2011, each Act will generally consist of five days of racing as opposed to four days in 2010, and three in 2009. Each Act will be true to the core aspirations of the Extreme Sailing Series™ ethos – mixing ‘open-water’ racing with ‘stadium’ short-course racing in front of the public, including all the various disciplines and courses used already from fleet racing to match racing, straight line duels and speed trials. A large investment will be made again in the on-water umpiring – essential for ensuring the fans know the results as they watch, rather than wait for post-event protests.

Turner confirmed, “We are committed to maintaining the highest sporting integrity, as we have done since 2007. Recently taking control of the Extreme 40 Class from the creators, TornadoSport, has allowed us to also develop the rules of both event and boats in unison, to ensure a more equal chance to win, and also drive down many of the costs for the teams. We’ve limited sails (and dropped the price), decreased support costs with a central Tech Zone and team, and are managing all shipping logistics centrally as well as a host of other detail changes that all affect both return on investment for team sponsors, and ensure sporting equality regardless of budget size.”

The new Class rules are published this week. A typical full budget for a competitive year long campaign will range between 450k and 650k Euros, plus a boat at c.100k Euros per year (charter or depreciated purchased cost over 4 years).

Developing further the public events side, the organiser has committed to providing an eight-hour mix of entertainment on ‘public’ days. On the water a number of support acts, like the Olympic 49er class, windsurfing and kiteboarding, will build up to the main Extreme 40 headline act. A strong local community and charity campaign in each venue will see children given the chance to get on the water each morning. Wrapped around the on-water competition will be a comprehensive on-shore entertainment programme within the race village from interactive entertainment to music, alongside bars and food outlets.  Music acts will also take centre stage under the Extreme Sailing Series ‘Sailing Remixed™’ banner at a number of the venues.

A global event such as this has a significant ‘footprint’. The environmental audit of the 2010 event is nearing completion, and will be used as the benchmark to improve all aspects of the event’s energy, waste and water footprint going forward. Initiatives from 2010, such as minimizing bottled water, are being analysed and evolved for 2011. This particular challenge has no finish line, but the race has begun.

And for the fans off-site, live commentary and audio from the boats will be streamed online, with possibility of live TV in some venues still under consideration. A new iPhone ‘app’ will also be launched during Q2, complementing a wide range of communication channels used by the event. Video online will continue to feature strongly, via YouTube and syndicated channels – especially for the short action clips the event is best known for. The current global TV programming platform will continue to be developed, but now also in HD format.

In 2010 Extreme Sailing Series has attracted coverage in over 120 countries in 13 languages including on CNN (Intl), UK Terrestrial station Channel 4, Bloomberg (Intl), Sky Sports (UK, NZ), Fox Sport (Australia), Sport+ (France) and ESPN (Brazil), with over 60hours of airtime for each programme in the five part series.

2011 Calendar & Host Venues:
Act 1: 22-24 February, Muscat, Oman (20-21 ‘open-water’ racing*)
?Act 2: 15-17 April, China (13-14 ‘open-water’ racing)
Act 3: 27-29 May, Istanbul, Turkey (25-26 ‘open-water’ racing)
?Act 4: 30 June – 4 July, Boston, USA (all days public event)
?Act 5: 6-12 August, Cowes, UK (all days public event)?
Act 6: 16-18 September, Trapani, Italy (14-15 ‘open-water’ racing)?
Act 7: 30 September – 2 October, Nice, France (28-29 ‘open-water’ racing)
?Act 8: 12-16 October, Almeria, Spain (all days public event)?
Act 9: 9-11 December, Singapore (7-8 ‘open-water’ racing)
* ‘open-water’ racing means that the Race Manager can use whatever part of the arena is best for racing – once the public village is open in ‘stadium’ mode there are sometimes constraints in this respect in order to ensure the fans can see all the action.

2011 Confirmed* Teams & Skippers:

Team Name/ Nat Skipper Name (Nat.)
Alinghi/ SUI – Tanguy Cariou (FRA)
Artemis Racing/ SWE – Terry Hutchinson (USA)
Emirates Team New Zealand/ NZL – Dean Barker (NZL)
Groupe Edmond de Rothschild/ FRA (As Yet Unknown)
Luna Rossa/ ITA – Max Sirena (ITA)
Oman Air Masirah/ OMA – Sidney Gavignet (FRA)
Red Bull Extreme Sailing/ AUT – Roman Hagara (AUT)
Team GAC Pindar/ GBR – Ian Williams (GBR)
Team Nice/ ITA – Alberto Barovier (ITA)
The Wave, Muscat/ OMA – Torvar Mirsky (AUS)
*initial entry period closed today, 13 December, however late entries may be permitted under the Notice of Race, up to a maximum of 11 boats, plus three wildcards for use by the organisation. The annual objective of Extreme Sailing Series™ is 8 quality teams.

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Just 97 days after Oman Sail’s A100 multihull Majan left her mooring in Muscat, the crew has completed tracing out the course of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race, crossing the longitude of cape Ras Al Hadd for the second time yesterday at 23:30 GMT.
 
Leg 5 has been a magical final journey between the Cape Piai (Malaysia) and Majan’s home, steeped in history and spirituality courtesy of India’s Cape Comorin – but also high on emotion for the crew: whilst en route towards home, Mohsin Al Busaidi received a phone call informing him of the birth of his daughter!

After an activity-packed stopover in Singapore, Majan set sail again and crossed the longitude of Cape Piai on the 27th of April, welcoming on board a new crew member, Ali Hamad Ambusaidi, who shared his enthusiasm with onboard reporter Mark Covell: “I have always wanted to sail in the Indian Ocean and see the long rolling waves”, he said. “I have also wished that one day I could sail on Majan. Now I get the chance to do both at once.”

After a slow start, day 2 brought speed back on the menu, and thanks to warm winds Majan was starting to stretch her legs on fabulously flat seas, which meant the crew could enjoy the trimaran’s power without any shaky movement, under a glorious full moon… “Hard to beat,” as Mark Covell put it! The next day brought even better news, as Mohsin became the father of a little girl named Thura, a happy event that Paul Standbrige, Majan’s skipper, had never had celebrated on board a boat before despite his packed racer’s career.

Mohsin’s patience was certainly put to the test since Majan soon became trapped in light airs like a “fly in a sticky web.” As Mark Covell reported: “There is so little wind and the sea lies so still and lifeless. It’s 40º on deck and 33º in the water. Eating a hot meal is the last thing you want and sleep is harder to achieve in your roasting bunk. Will we ever get to Muscat?” It certainly has been a long slog back home, and it eventually took 15 days and 19 hours to complete the fifth and final leg, cape to cape (Piai to Ras Al Hadd).

With the pressure of the ticking clock lifted, Mark Covell sat down at his keyboard one last time while Majan was making her way towards Muscat: “As is the same with so many ocean voyages, we’re happy to have finished safely, but sad that it’s all over. By the time we get to the dock 140 nm from here we will have logged 20,419 nm sailed. The sun is rising over us and more poignantly it’s rising over Oman. We are home!”

97 days after their departure, the crew will now be duly welcomed and celebrated by their team and the Omani public after tracing out this new and challenging course that links together the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Asia, ahead of the first official edition of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race planned for spring 2012. OC Events Asia, organisers of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race, would like to send Majan’s crew heartfelt congratulations for having superbly written the first chapter of a story bound to open new horizons!

 

Leg 5 in figures…

• Distance: 3,200 nm / 5,900 km

• Dock to dock:16 days 1 hours 00 minutes

• Cape to Cape: 15 days 19 hours 30 minutes

 

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Majan . The international crew on board Oman Sail’s A100 trimaran ‘Majan’ have celebrated their arrival in Singapore on the penultimate leg of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race. Majan left Fremantle (Australia) on the 9th April for the 2,700-mile leg to Singapore which has proved to be a ‘mild affair’ compared to the storm-fuelled leg from Cape Town to Fremantle with Majan surviving 70-knot winds in the Southern Ocean. The high-performance A100 trimaran crossed the finish line off Cape Piai, the fourth great Cape of the course, at 14:47 GMT on Sunday (18th April) completing the fourth leg that started from the Fremantle ‘city’ start line in 9 days and 10 hours and a Cape Leeuwin-Cape Piai reference time of 8 days, 15 hours, 12 minutes, then reached Keppel Bay Marina late evening. As Majan has traced out this inaugural Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course via the Maldives, Cape Town, Fremantle and now Singapore – the first race to link together the Middle East, Africa, Australia and Asia – the 105-ft multihull has generated a huge amount of interest. Every effort has been made by the crew to share the stopover and promote this new race, ahead of the official edition in spring 2012, with the media, VIPs, school children and local government. The Majan crew have engaged with the locals at every stopover giving talks at the local yacht club, opening up Majan to the public with some enjoying the privilege of sailing on board. Singapore in particular has close maritime ties with Oman and shortly after Majan departs, a second Oman ship will be arriving. The Jewel of Muscat is a recreation of a 9th century AD 60-ft trading vessel that was hand-built with 70,000 stitches and without one nail on a beach near Oman’s capital Muscat. Launched into the Oman Sea for the first time last November, the ship was named at a special ceremony in Muscat attended by an official delegation from the Republic of Singapore before setting sail on 16th February. The Jewel of Muscat has already stopped in India and will now stop in Sri Lanka and Malaysia before arriving in Singapore in July. As part of Oman’s programme to reignite its maritime eminence, the Sultanate will be giving the Jewel of Muscat to the People of Singapore as a gift to heighten the awareness of the old trading routes between the two countries.   Back on the high speed trimaran, Majan’s crew got off to good, albeit upwind, start to Leg 4 as they headed south to Cape Leeuwin – not easy when you’re next destination lies to the north! Omani crew, Mohammed al Ghailani, wrote: “I always find the first 48 hours at sea very hard. As soon as my body and sleep clock has become accustomed to the timing, I am happy again. When you have your sea legs you have stopped feeling sick. We had an upwind start again, and yes I was very ill!” After Cape Leeuwin the ride got easier as Majan pushed northwards, however, four days into the leg drama struck.   Media crew, Mark Covell, takes up the story: “Mohsin [Al Busaidi] was steering in around 15 knots of breeze and we were sailing downwind off the north-west corner of Australia, under our huge cuban-fibre gennaker, the G1. Suddenly, the halyard snapped about a foot below the top of the mast sending the sail tumbling over the side in the dark. Mohsin, Marc [Lagesse] and Sidney [Gavignet] were on watch at the time. Quick thinking by Mohsin, meant little damage was done as he turned the boat down, slowing us right down, and shouted for Paul to come up on deck. This was quickly followed by a call for ‘all hands on deck’. It took about twenty minutes to haul the sail back on board.” Thankfully no lasting damage was done and two days later the cry of ‘Land Ahoy’ went out as Majan came within sight of Jawa and Sumatra: “We have sailed in open ocean most of the time since we left Oman so this feels a bit strange for us,” wrote Mohsin. “Now we are having to navigate round obstacles, instead of sailing for days on one heading. No more long and open ocean swells and weather systems. This is flat water, island-hopping, coastal racing!”   Close to land and getting ever closer to the Equator, the wind dissipated in the soaring temperatures but with the bad comes the good: “A multihull can handle very big waves but give Majan flat water and she purrs along like a happy cat stretched out in the sun. So far, we have made better progress than expected. The forecast has been for very little wind by day and a touch more by night. We did have a hot and painful 4 hour stretch of under 3 knots – but last night we fed off the updraft of a large thunderstorm about 10 miles away. As the hot are was sucked up into the system, it drew air past us giving us a solid 15 knots for most of the night,” reported Ghailani. Now the Majan crew can relax for a while ahead of their scheduled departure from Singapore on the 27th April on the final leg of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race, homeward bound to Oman. About Cape Piai: Marking the southernmost point of mainland Asia, Tanjung Piai (or Cape Piai) is located in the Johor district of Malaysia, that opens on the eponymous Strait, and across which the Singapore skyline is visible. The Cape itself, set in the preserved environment of the Johor Regional Park, is surrounded by spectacular mangrove forests and has become a touristic destination. Piai is also the point at which the Johor Strait joins the famous Strait of Malacca, which has made the headlines over the past decade due to piracy. Coordinates: 1°15’ N – 103°30’ E.  Article Photos Courtesy Mark Covell / Majan / Oman Sail

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After a busy and very successful Australian stopover, Oman Sail’s A100 trimaran ‘Majan’ left the dock this morning, en route to Cape Leeuwin where she will embark on the penultimate leg of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course that the Majan crew are tracing out for the first time. As media crew Mark Covell reported by phone shortly after having hoisted the sails, “We are sailing in bright sunshine, on a very bumpy windward beat towards Cape Leeuwin, with Australia on our port side.” The Majan boys are in for a few rough hours before being able to head North with the wind gently pushing them!”
 

Mark Covell continues: “We left the dock waving goodbye to a large group of spectators who had turned out to send us on our way. Then we were followed out to our city start line by a couple of local boats. We are in about 15 knots of wind heading South. When we reach Cape Leeuwin, we will re-cross our finish line from Leg 3, and then pick up our Indian Oceans 5 Capes Race course, and turn and head northwards up towards Singapore. We should reach the line in the early hours of the morning, which is a shame as we wanted to see the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. It’s one of the three major Southern Ocean Capes, along side Cape Agulhas and Cape Horn.”

 The 15-day stopover has seen a lot of activity aboard Majan, with some technical refinements being implemented, but mostly an impressive array of guests, spectators and VIPs turning up to see the giant trimaran up-close and to learn more about the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race ahead of the first official race planned for 2012. On the public side, people were invited to view Majan at the Fremantle Sailing Club. Crew member Mohammed Al Ghailani was there: “By 4pm groups of individuals and families started arriving; it was beyond our expectations. Over 150 people came to see Majan and were shown onboard! The amazing turn out of individuals, families, teenagers, children and professional sailors actually made our day. Every one was impressed not only with Majan, but with our beautiful country and the vision and mission of Oman Sail as a project. It made me so proud being part of this race and representing my country. It has also confirmed to me that the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race is not just a race, it’s a unique race linking nations and humans from different races and cultures, making this world a better place.”

 Coming back to Fremantle after a well-deserved break in Oman with his family, Mark Covell consigned his impressions in his blog: “My first impressions are that the boat has been tweaked and perfected taking Majan even closer to race spec (…) The next few days it’s all about the media,” he added. Reporters and press from Fremantle’s broadcast and print media took up the opportunity to sail on the A100 including Channel 10 News, ABC Radio and the West Australian: “We have invited an eclectic mix of Australia’s travel, yachting and consumer media to sample the dynamic sailing experience of Majan. From two scheduled sails we ended up with 3! 18 guests experienced a sail on an A100!” Mona Tannous, Manager of Oman Tourism in Australia & New Zealand was one of the guests in Fremantle. “The first group of guests have just come off the boat, totally raving about the experience. I myself was dumbfounded yesterday when I finally saw her in ‘real life’ so to speak,” she said.

Next port of call… Singapore, where hopefully the giant trimaran and her crew will receive a welcome as warm as the one they just experienced in Australia!

Leg 4 preview – Cape Leeuwin / Cape Piai
Majan will have to re-cross the longitude of Cape Leeuwin in order to get the clock ticking on that fourth leg, since the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course is strictly a “cape to cape” affair! As Sidney Gavignet explains, “It will take us a good 10 hours to get there, with the wind on the nose. It will not be very fun, but it’s good to study the behaviour of the boat upwind. The following portion should be more pleasant, with downwind conditions for a few days. From Sunday night, the breeze seems to vanish. The end of the leg might be a bit on the quiet side.” Majan will head North, leaving Australia to starboard before taking the Sunda Strait, separating Java and Sumatra then crossing the Equator and finally arriving in Singapore. The initial ETA is between the 19th and the 21st of April…

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Oman Sail’s A100 trimaran ‘Majan’ arrived in Fremantle the 24th of March 2010 at 10:00 (Local Time – 2:00 am GMT), after having crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, the third cape of the Indian 5 Ocean Capes Race and the finish line of Leg 3 on Monday, 22nd of March at 04:10 GMT. It has been yet another eventful leg for the A100 trimaran and her crew as they trace out this new race course ahead of the official edition in 2012, and an Indian Ocean crossing that will leave its mark durably on the minds of the Oman Sail team members.
 

For most sailors, even the most seasoned ones, the odds of one day getting to the very top of the Beaufort scale are quite low. But “thanks” to the Indian Ocean’s wrath, Majan’s men have been through a hurricane on their way to Cape Leeuwin and as Mark Covell puts it, “The experience of 70+ knots is now something that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.” It might be hard to figure out seen from dry land, but winds that strong and the resulting sea state definitely give the term of “survival” its legitimacy, both for men and machine. The A100, designed to withstand the fiercest conditions on all the world’s oceans, has proven its worth and the teams who have worked on her build and assembly, both at BoatSpeed Australia and at Oman Sail’s dedicated facility, should today feel very proud of the work carried out. Majan’s crew led by Paul Standbridge and including Sidney Gavignet who will go on to race in the solo Route du Rhum this November on ‘Majan’, relied on the boat to make it through the hurricane, and as they made it safely back ashore it is thanks to their outstanding seamanship, but also thanks to the inherent reliability and seaworthiness of the trimaran.

Extreme team-bonding
One can only imagine the unspoken anguish, the heavy silences, the anxious glances at the mast, the shrouds or the beams connecting floats and central hull – “Please don’t break!”, can we easily imagine the sailors silently addressing the boat whilst she was taking a major beating. In that kind of situation, each wave slamming on the structure and each gust taking the rigging to unprecedented stress levels is physically felt by the crew, with that horribly sinking feeling that yes, the breaking point is near – and if things break, there goes the solid ground under your feet. On a multihull, that feeling is amplified by the awareness that flipping over can be easily done without great seamanship… the boat heels at the top of 8 to 10-metre waves, and there’s no lead bulb to keep her upright. The magic of flying machines does have its drawbacks, and multis have, as Loïck Peyron once put it, that “strange tendency to be much more stable capsized than upright”. Quite a scary thought when you’re thousands of miles away from land.

The fury of the elements was bound to take its toll on the Omani crew – Mohsin Al Busaidi may be the first Arab to sail non-stop round the world but the most breeze he saw was 55 knots and for offshore ‘novice’ Mohammed Al Ghailani, he was certainly not lost for words when it was time to describe the experience: “I felt very scared at first. All the parts coming together were too much for me. The wind, the rain, the noise all built up, I didn’t like it. I sat in the cockpit with Mike and Paul. They made me feel much better because they were okay and not frightened. I was in all my wet whether gear and I still felt cold and wet. When I took it off later I was dry but the water in the air made me feel soaking wet and cold. I didn’t sleep at all on my off watch and that always makes things hard.”

11 days, 18 hours and 48 minutes after having crossed the starting line of Leg 3 in Cape Town, Majan cut through an imaginary line south of Cape Leeuwin, the southwestern tip of Australia. They had to cope – somewhat ironically – with a light patch on the final stretch towards Fremantle, just after turned the “left indicator” on. Fortunately the breeze picked up rapidly and by early afternoon (GMT) the crew was back at more than 16 knots, looking forward to a decent hot meal and a night in a comfortable bed, with its four fleet firmly planted on the floor!

 

About Fremantle

Located 12 miles southwest of Perth, at the entrance of the Swan River, Fremantle was established in 1829 and is renowned for its quality of life. With its active fishing port, the city offers a wide variety of restaurants and seafood cafés, and its cultural life also attracts a lot of visitors. Official stopover of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race, Fremantle has a strong nautical tradition, having hosted the 1987 America’s Cup and will next year welcome the ISAF Sailing World Championships.

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