[Source: iShares Cup] Coming into Round 2 of the iShares Cup, one could be forgiven for expecting the French teams to excel on their ‘home’ waters but the pre-event form hasn’t gone quite as planned. It was Oman Sail’s Masirah that stole the thunder today on the open waters of Hyères, posting four bullets out of six races leaving them at the top of the Day 1 leaderboard with 55 points. It was Frenchman Loick Peyron who had the best day out of the French contingent, helming Oman Sail’s Renaissance into third overall, and Franck Cammas, back at the helm of Groupama, climbed into 4th place. The sea breeze built to a steady 13-14 knots by race 3, the action ratcheted up a notch or two and BT skipper, Nick Moloney, summed it up – “it was very aggressive out on the race course today”. BT filled the 2nd place on the leaderboard by consistently posting 3rd or 4th places, and a final win put a big smile on the face of Mitch Booth, co-creator of the Extreme 40 Class, who had to replace an injured Darren Bundock at the 11th hour.

Highlights from the opening day of iShares Cup Hyères-TPM. Hyères, 3 July 2009. Video copyright iShares Cup

In Detail:

The sailors knew that the Hyères event would present a different scenario to the light winds of Venice. For starters, there is open water, although the short courses were kept well within visibility of the public, then there is the ‘sea breeze’ that builds throughout the afternoon as the land mass heats up. So with the conditions very different from Round 1 in Venice, the game has taken on a different complexion. iShares Cup Event Director, Gilles Chiorri: “By race 3 we saw a big wind shift and a lot more pressure so lots of speed and action on the course with the hulls flying all the time. The game is quite open – Round 1 winners Gitana won some and lost some but it was the two Oman Sail boats that were the strongest today. The courses are short so half of the game is 1 minute before the start and 1 minute after, then you just rely on the difficulties of the others to get back in the game. There were quite a few penalties today – 6 or 7 – the racing is quite aggressive.”

Oman Sail Masirah, skippered by Pete Cumming (centre) and helmed by Olympic medallist Chris Draper (right) lead Round 2 of the iShares Cup after Day 1. Hyères, 3 July 2009. Photo copyright Thierry Martinez

After six races, Oman Sail’s Masirah had monopolised the finish line and now lead with 55 points, only 1 point ahead of BT (46 points) and Oman Sail Renaissance (45 points). Chris Draper helm of Oman Sail’s Masirah: “It was a good day – we had a nice rhythm going and we just kept it going. We made sure we had a back-up plan if we didn’t get a good start – that happened a couple of times and that served us well. Great effort from the team, really good teamwork and we had our Oman compatriot Khamis [Al-Anbouri] onboard – he seems to be our lucky charm!”

Loick Peyron: “It was a glorious day, with ideal conditions on the water… and the boys (editor’s note: the Masirah crew) have really played it well. They were very clever on the starts, and generally they sailed better than everyone else, no doubt about that, hats off! As far as we’re concerned, I was looking for consistency and put my brains to work quite intensely. There was plenty going on to keep us entertained, and I’m very pleased with our team spirit.”

Groupama raced more consistently and claimed 4th place (38 points) but only one point separates them from BMW ORACLE (37 points) as James Spithill and his crew – despite winning the first race – then posted an 8th and 10th which proved their undoing.

Oman Sail Masirah, skippered by Pete Cumming (centre) and helmed by Olympic medallist Chris Draper (right) lead Round 2 of the iShares Cup after Day 1. Hyères, 3 July 2009. Photo copyright Thierry Martinez

There have been a few crew changes for Round 2 due to the other commitments of some of the ‘regulars’ within four teams. Aboard Gitana Extreme, Dutch offshore specialist Simeon Tienpont has been momentarily ‘lent’ by BMW Oracle to replace Hervé Cunnigham. Extreme 40 class co-creator Mitch Booth stands in for an injured Darren Bundock as BT skipper Nick Moloney explained: “Darren has been very difficult to replace but we have managed to replace an 11-times World Champion with a 10-times World Champion – a stroke of luck on our part!” On Holmatro, Australian Anthony Nossiter steps in to replace Gerd Habermüller on the bow – Anthony lists ’rounding Cape Horn nude’ as one of his three major achievements! Finally, Gilberto Nobili steps aboard iShares in replacement of trimmer Jonathan MacBeth.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: iShares Cup] Today’s practice races certainly delivered the goods ahead of the official start of the iShares Cup Hyères-TPM event tomorrow. The sea breeze built up to a steady 10-12 knots – more than enough to get the Extreme 40s hulls flying. The iShares Cup Raid – a 10-mile sprint to the island of Porquerolles – saw a French victory as Erik Maris skipper of LUNA snatched victory from James Spithill’s BMW ORACLE Racing after just 36 minutes of racing. Maris suffered a broken wrist playing football but his arm encased in a plaster cast does not seem to be an impediment! It was a tight finish to the line for the remainder of the 8 teams and iShares Cup inside reporter, Jocelyn Blériot, rode shotgun on BMW ORACLE Racing – see his report below. And English rugby stars, Tom May and Joe El-Abd, who now both play for Toulon, also came along for a ride…

The Extreme 40’s practice for tomorrow’s start of the iShares Cup Hyères-TPM. Hyères, 2 July 2009. Video copyright iShares Cup

In detail:
Round 2 of the iShares Cup Hyères-TPM is all set to go – official racing starts tomorrow (Friday, 3rd July) at 14h00 local time through to Sunday, 5th July. Today saw a series of practice races for the ten Extreme 40s including the iShares Cup Raid – a 10-mile sprint to the island of Porquerolles and back. The beauty of the iShares Cup is the adaptability of the Extreme 40 fleet to race on open sea or on inland waters; racing short courses close to shore, trying speed runs or stretching their legs in a ‘raid’ format as they did today.

Following the official opening iShares Cup press conference at which Jacques Politi, Mayor of Hyères and Vice-President of TPM (Toulon Provence Mediterranée) welcomed the skippers to the region, the skippers were keen to get going. Franck Cammas, skipper Groupama: “I am impatient to race! The Extreme 40s are great to sail and Hyères should be more windy than Venice hopefully. I hope we’re not going to race too close to shore if it’s really windy as it might be a bit more ‘extreme’ than we like!”

The Extreme 40’s practice for tomorrow’s start of the iShares Cup Hyères-TPM. Hyères, 2 July 2009. Photo copyright Thierry Martinez

Although the weather forecast predicted light conditions for the next few days, the temperatures in Hyères results in the land heating up through the morning to create a good and consistent sea breeze for the afternoon. Shirley Robertson, skipper Team iShares, remembers the conditions last year: “Last year we had some big wind – I ended up on a stretcher with stitches! Going downwind with the big gennaker up and both rudders out the water – there’s not much you can do at the back except hang on – this is Hyères! I think this weekend we could have a few surprises…”

Well, perhaps the first surprise of Round 2 has been the victory of Erik Maris and his crew onboard LUNA, in the iShares Cup Raid and the second practice race.

As Loick Peyron, skipper Oman Sail Renaissance commented: “This iShares Cup is a very exciting game… Sailing in open water can change many things.”

iShares Cup Raid results (non-scoring race):
1 LUNA (Erik Maris)
2 BMW ORACLE Racing (James Spithill)
3 Gitana (Yann Guichard)
4 Groupama (Franck Cammas)
5 Oman Sail Renaissance (Loick Peyron)
6 BT (Nick Moloney)
7 Holmatro (Carolijn Brouwer)
8 Oman Sail Masirah (Pete Cumming)
9 iShares (Shirley Robertson)
10 Ecover (Mike Golding)

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Unless Alinghi and BMW Oracle reach an agreement towards the celebration of a multi-challenger conventional America’s Cup, one could say that the starting gun of the 33rd America’s Cup was fired early this afternoon in Valencia.

Obviously, the Challenger of Record have been training since many months on their monster 90ft trimaran but there was always a possibility, no matter how small, that the giant multihull could become obsolete and useless, in case of a negative outcome in the court case, and turn it into what could be the most expensive and high-tech hospitality yacht.

As we previewed during last week, BMW Oracle started earlier today their training on the Extreme 40 yachts, together with the French teams Groupama and Team Gitana. The Americans ware using two yachts, one helmed by James Spithill, and a second one helmed by Austrian skipper Andreas Hagara.

The Extreme 40 flotilla docked in the BMW Oracle base. Valencia, 6 April 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The two BMW Oracle Extreme yachts on their way to training. Valencia, 6 April 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The two BMW Oracle Extreme yachts on their way to training pass in front of the Alinghi base. Valencia, 6 April 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

When it was scheduled, we suppose quite some time ago, it was deemed necessary and relevant but yesterday’s decision of the NY Court of Appeals made it even more important, not to say primordial. We are talking about the joint training 2-week session BMW Oracle, Groupama and Gitana Team will start on Monday in Valencia, onboard their Extreme 40 catamarans.

The, as of yesterday, America’s Cup challenger will obviously make use of any opportunity to train as much as possible on multihull yachts, given the repeated statements from Alinghi that in case of a defeat in court they would face the Americans in a one-on-one race in giant multihulls.

Starting Monday, James Spithill will be on the helm of one of his team’s catamarans (we ignore who will be driving the second one), sparring with Franck Cammas on Groupama and Yann Guichard on Gitana Team. Valencia Sailing will be there, so stay tuned.

BMW Oracle’s 2 Extreme 40 yachts together with Groupama and Gitana Team getting ready for the upcoming training session. Valencia, 3 April 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Groupama and Gitana Team Extreme 40 yachts getting ready for the upcoming training session. Valencia, 3 April 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

BMW Oracle’s 2 Extreme 40 yachts getting ready for the upcoming training session. Valencia, 3 April 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

We are now well into the 3rd year where news, directly or indirectly, related to the America’s Cup is either about lawyers and judges in New York or multihull yachts, either small or monster ones. Today’s post is about a smaller one, 40 feet long to be precise.

BMW Oracle’s Extreme 40 catamaran was put back on the water and it seems it won’t be long before they sail off the Malvarosa beach. With the court decision expected any time now, the Americans must train as much as possible on multihulls. We don’t know whether James Spithill is in town but since the test sessions in San Diego have come to an end and the 90-foot trimaran is being modified, it is highly likely. We’ll keep an eye. In any case, Franck Cammas and his Groupama crew will also be coming to Valencia to train together with the Americans.

BMW Oracle’s Extreme40 catamaran is back on the water after the winter break. Valencia, 24 March 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Meanwhile, Team Container’s STP65 is getting ready in the Luna Rossa base for her second training session in Valencia. As for the Luna Rossa STP65 boat, she is still inside the shed on her cradle, although we don’t know whether a new mast will arrive in time for the Italians to be ready for their first 2009 regatta, next month in Palma.

Team Container’s STP65 yacht is getting ready for her second training week. Valencia, 24 March 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: iShares Cup] The award-winning iShares Cup continues to grow and the organiser OC Events is delighted to confirm a sixth and final event to the 2009 iShares Cup Sailing Series. The southern Spanish city of Almería in the region of Andalucia will play host to the final round of the 2009 Extreme 40 Sailing Series between 10 and 12 October.

The iShares Cup Almería official announcement took place in the Port of Almería on Friday, 6th March where OC Events CEO Mark Turner, together with Luciano Alonso, Minister of Tourism, Trade and Sports of the Andalusian government, spoke in front of an audience of 200 people, representing media and VIP guests. According to Luciano Alonso, this event is “very attractive” since it will be the first time an iShares Cup Extreme 40 event will take place in the Andalucia region, but also in Spain, and “will position Almeria as an international reference on the world map of sailing”.

The port of Almeria

The iShares Cup finale will take place right in the heart of the port in Almería, the most Eastern city in Andalucía, and will be a key focus in the sporting calendar for the Government of Andalucía who have agreed a five-year deal with OC Events to host a round of the iShares Cup. This is part of the Andalucian government’s long-term strategy to host major sporting events in their region. Large crowds are expected to descend on the port of Almeria as 12 October is a national holiday in Spain. OC Events is working closely with the City to finalise details not only for the spectacular racing, but also creating an inclusive public entertainment package for the general public.

The iShares Cup races are all between 12 and 20 minutes long on tight race courses that are designed to give the best possible viewing opportunities to the general public as well as providing challenging and testing conditions for the top skippers and crews taking part.

The 2009 iShares Cup will visit:

Event 1 – Venice, Italy, 15th to 17th May
Event 2 – France, 3rd to 5th July
Event 3 – United Kingdom, 1st to 3rd August
Event 4 – Kiel, Germany, 28th to 30th August
Event 5 – The Netherlands, 25th to 27th September
Event 6 – Almería, Andalucía, 10th to 12th October

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Oman Sail] The guests on the beach at the Mina Seyahi in Dubai were given a fantastic show today as four Extreme 40s raced within metres of the shoreline on Day 1 of the Arabian Extreme 40 Challenge – Act 1 Dubai. The conditions were perfect for these spectacular 40-foot catamarans: flat waters and a 12-15 knot wind that saw the boats flying hulls and giving an exhilarating ride for the the VIPs and journalists onboard in the sixth-man position.

“What a brilliant day,” said Pete Cumming, Skipper of day 1 leaders Oman Sail. “We definitely have the advantage as we have been training as a squad for the past few months, but the other teams still pushed us hard today. It was a big learning curve for everyone, if you didn’t gybe in time, you’d end up on the beach!”

The Arabian Extreme 40 challenge has been brought to the GCC region by Ellen MacArthur’s company OC Events to showcase these awesome catamarans and look at the possibility of bringing the professional circuit to Dubai in the future.

Oman Air Extreme 40 Skippered by Shirley Robertson racing on day 1 of the Arabian Extreme 40 Challenge. Dubai, 27 November 2008. Photo copyright Mark Lloyd / Oman Sail

Two members from the Oman Sail core crew raced on each boat including Khamis al Anbouri on the second Oman Sail Extreme 40, Oman Air, newly sponsored by the airline. “What a brilliant day!”, he said through a beaming smile. “To race alongside the world’s top sailors as part of their team is an awesome experience.

“It was really hard work today; constantly thinking, listening and reacting to the wind shifts or the calls from the skipper. It was also hard learning new accents. We’ve got used to Pete and Chris’s English and now to hear a New Zealand accent from Fraser Brown or the soft voice of Shirley Robertson, it’s really hard to adjust! I’ve never raced in Arabian waters, nor in such fantastic wind conditions, so it is really exciting. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

“I’m really proud of the Omanis who raced today,” Pete continued. “All the other skippers have told me what a fantastic job they’ve done today, gelled well with their teams and have worked extremely hard.”

Fleet racing on day 1 of the Arabian Extreme 40 Challenge. Dubai, 27 November 2008. Photo copyright Mark Lloyd / Oman Sail

Shirley Robertson agreed, “The Oman Sail core crew have been trained really well. They are physically fit, keen to learn and their dedication to sailing is evident. It was a a great fun day on the water. Dubai is one of the most perfect locations to go sailing, a fantastic amphitheatre, good wind and I’m really happy with the way our team performed. The whole team gave as much at the beginning as at the end and worked really hard. We’ll be looking to step up a gear tomorrow to put pressure on Oman Sail for the top spot.”

It was a first for French multi-hull legend Karine Fauconnier as she raced an Extreme 40 for the first time. “Wow! Well that was a great first day. It is so much fun to race a brand new type of boat, but high pressure too. My crew and I had sailed together for the first time just yesterday and so we were having to learn not only about the boat, but each other. I’m not happy with our results today as I am very competitive and here to win, but I knew that these were top class sailors and I wouldn’t be able to just turn up and walk away with first prize. I’m determined that we are going to fight our way up the leaderboard tomorrow.

Oman Sail took five first places in the six-race day, with iShares, skippered by Hugh Styles in second place, followed by Shirley Robertson and Oman Air on 13 points and TEAM AQUA on 9. Each race lasted approximately 15 minutes in the short, sharp races that have epitomised the professional Extreme 40 European circuit this summer, the iShares Cup.

Racing on day 2, Friday 28 November, will take place from 2.30pm local time with up to six races and the final day of racing will be on Saturday 29 November. The boats will then be packed up and trailered to Muscat for Act 2 of the Arabian Extreme 40 Challenge for the Oman Air trophy.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] The Extreme 40 Series will be part of the on-the-water entertainment package at selected stopovers during the 2008-09 race.

The Extreme 40s will feature in Alicante, Singapore, Qingdao, Boston and Stockholm with fleets of up to 10 boats.

The Extreme 40 is a new generation of mid-sized sports catamaran. The brainchild of Tornado Sport founder, Herbert Dercksen, it is a strict one-design catamaran that has been purposely designed and built to race inshore and short offshore regattas.

The concept is simple, it is easy to sail, lightweight, easily transportable and like the Volvo Open 70’s that will compete in the race, it is at the forefront of sailing technology.

In each port, the racing will take place between the in-port race weekend and the leg start weekend.

In the previous Volvo, the Extreme 40 series included over 80 races, in five countries, during seven months. Knut Frostad, Chief Executive Officer of the Volvo Ocean Race, said: “The inclusion of the Extreme 40s is based on the excitement the series generated in 2005-06.

“At stopovers during the previous Volvo, the Extreme 40s provided some fantastic racing and they are sure to catch the eye of visitors to the race village again this time round.”

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

James Spithill and Russell Coutts, helmsman and CEO of BMW Oracle respectively, warmed up in practice races yesterday, on the eve of the “Just the best” exhibition regatta they start later today. The two star sailors race on Extreme 40 catamarans, in two teams named “Blue” and “White”.

Here’s a short and rather mediocre video from the practice race or better said, a 30-second glimpse of the two catamarans sailing in straight line, filmed from 500 meters away. They could have done better than that!!!

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

The Alinghi White Extreme 40 catamaran capsized in the Lugano lake, where the opening event of the 2008 iShares Cup is taking place.

Alinghi White Extreme 40 capsizes in the opening event of the 2008 iShares Cup. Lugano, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events

Alinghi White Extreme 40 capsizes in the opening event of the 2008 iShares Cup. Lugano, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events

Alinghi White Extreme 40 capsizes in the opening event of the 2008 iShares Cup. Lugano, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events

Alinghi White Extreme 40 capsizes in the opening event of the 2008 iShares Cup. Lugano, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events

Alinghi White Extreme 40 capsizes in the opening event of the 2008 iShares Cup. Lugano, 30 May 2008. Photo copyright Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back