Ready for Round 2 of the iShares Cup
June 12, 2008 by www.isharescup.com | 0 comments
. French sailing legend, Francis Joyon, sails with Extreme 40 fleet during practice day . Mistral conditions forecast for the first day of racing tomorrow in Hyères - it's going to be belt and braces racing! . Multihull French star, Fred Le Peutrec, racing onboard iShares bringing some invaluable local knowledge with him . Going into Round 2 of the iShares Cup, Britain's Shirley Robertson, leads in the Overall Standings but the conditions here and improved boat handling by the teams means this second event is really wide open . USA team Tommy Hilfiger back in the Extreme 40 fold and the French team of TWINS, making a one-off appearance, take the total number of Extreme 40s to 11 for this regatta
In brief:
. French sailing legend, Francis Joyon, sails with Extreme 40 fleet during practice day
. Mistral conditions forecast for the first day of racing tomorrow in Hyères – it’s going to be belt and braces racing!
. Multihull French star, Fred Le Peutrec, racing onboard iShares bringing some invaluable local knowledge with him
. Going into Round 2 of the iShares Cup, Britain’s Shirley Robertson, leads in the Overall Standings but the conditions here and improved boat handling by the teams means this second event is really wide open
. USA team Tommy Hilfiger back in the Extreme 40 fold and the French team of TWINS, making a one-off appearance, take the total number of Extreme 40s to 11 for this regatta
In detail:
The iShares Cup fleet of 11 Extreme 40s are readying themselves for Round 2 of the Extreme 40 Sailing Series in Hyères (France), and preparing for some tough racing over the next three days.
An early indication of how testing the French leg of the circuit might be came yesterday, when Holmatro suddenly capsized whilst training in around 25 knots. Crewmember Mischa Heemskerk recalls what happened: “We were sailing with two reefs in the main so the boat was pretty under control, but we went for a bearaway, dug the nose in and the rudders came out of the water.
“Andreas [Hagara, helmsman] knew what was happening because he’d lost the steering, and I knew what was happening so I held on, but the other guys didn’t.”
Bowman Gerd Habermuller was sent flying into the water, hitting the boat on the way down. He was taken to hospital nearby for treatment but released later the same evening, and will be replaced by Ed van Lierde for the rest of the regatta.
Things calmed down a little for today’s informal races and media day, giving French star sailor Francis Joyon a chance to join the Extreme 40s for the first time. “It was a really great day! I discovered a new boat, learn how to steer it, how to allow it to fly. It’s powerful and fast, exactly what I like!” he enthused.
Francis Joyon sailing onboard iShares for the media day of Round 2 of the 2008 iShares Cup
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events
The round the world legend sailed on board iShares during training in the morning, before taking part in some informal races in the afternoon. “This afternoon was more serious with three races on three different boat. Shirley Robertson on JPMorgan Asset Management allowed me to be a crew in the second race so I really discovered the pressure during a race.”
Of the three races Team Aqua scored two firsts to win the practice day, with Alinghi second overall and Holmatro third – bolstering predictions that the racing for this second event could throw the form wide open. JPMorgan Asset Management, who won the first event of the iShares Cup Sailing Series in Lugano (Switzerland), finished the day in fourth overall.
There will be more French interest on board iShares for the rest of the event, as cat champion Fred le Peutrec is part of the crew. Le Peutrec is downsizing from the 105ft trimaran ‘Groupama 3’, which he helmed on their Jules Verne round the world attempt last year, but enjoyed his first taste of iShares Cup racing: “My first impressions are that the class is very well organised and very professional. I’ve met most of the guys onboard before so am very happy to see them again. The first thing with the monotype [one-design] is that it will be very close boat-by-boat racing so I’m really impressed.
“I’m getting a good feel for the boat, it’s very powerful especially in winds like we had yesterday, we were very close to sailing on one bow most of the time! So it could be an impressive spectacle.”
Le Peutrec is looking forward to being part of the crew for the second event of the series, where he hopes to bring a little local knowledge to the team. “I’m going to be tactician and mainsheet trimmer. I spent 10 years on the Olympic sailing team on Tornados so I used to sail here a long time for the Olympic series, and training also in winter time, because in Brittany it’s a bit hard sometimes so we came here a lot. I’m really happy to be here again.”
The French TWINS team join the iShares Cup racing at Hyeres, bringing the fleet to 11
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events
It was also a chance to see the new French team, TWINS, on the water for the first time. But will the local teams have an advantage reading the breeze in the bay of Hyères? Or will the crews with best boat handling skills cope with the conditions?
“Hyeres will undoubtedly be interesting weather-wise. If we get a full blown Mistral the crews will have a bit on for sure! With the race track positioned as it is right against the harbour wall no matter what weather we get the crews will find it a challenging obstruction and the spectators will find it the prefect viewing platform,” explained Alan Hillman, Race Director for the iShares Cup.
Team Aqua scored two wins on the media day before Round 2 of the iShares Cup in Hyeres
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events
For the first day of racing tomorrow Friday June 13 around 20-25 knots of breeze is forecast from the north-west, so the teams are preparing for a day of racing in the Mistral wind – mainsails are having reefing points put in to allow the crews to reduce sail area, and several teams are getting in some last minute practice with the small storm jibs. Six races are scheduled tomorrow afternoon, starting at 2pm local time.
