Extreme Sailing Series Act 7 at Nice - Day 2
by Extreme Sailing Series 20 Oct 2012 07:59 BST
18-21 October 2012
Racing on day 2 of Extreme Sailing Series Act 7 at Nice © Lloyd Images
'Severe damage' to Series leader The Wave, Muscat who are in a race against the clock to get back on the water
It was a full pressure day at the Extreme Sailing Series in Nice, France, as the gusty conditions, short courses and reaching starts tested some of the world's best sailors to their limits – including current Series leader Leigh McMillan whose team The Wave, Muscat found themselves limping back to port after a collision on the start line in the final race of the day with Alinghi and Red Bull Sailing Team. The crash, which could be heard by the gathering spectators on shore at the Promenade des Anglais, also left the Austrians out of racing and both teams have a long night of repairs ahead to be back on the water tomorrow.
15 knots of breeze and gusts that reached 23 knots by the final race combined with a tight start line is what the sailors attributed today's drama too at the Bay of Angels. In the final race of the day as the eight Extreme 40s charged to the start line at full pelt, the Swiss team Alinghi careered into The Wave, Muscat resulting in serious damage not only to the Omani boat's hull but also causing them to smash into the Austrian team Red Bull Sailing Team. For McMillan, whose team craned their Extreme 40 out of the water in the evening to make essential repairs, the damage could potentially have serious consequences in his bid for the Series championship with vital points up for grabs in this penultimate event of the year if they are not back on the water tomorrow.
McMillan explained: "We didn't have much room to manouvre on the start line so there were a lot of incident close calls. The last race was just getting too tight on the start line and there was a big incident, I couldn't say at this stage whose was at fault but I can say the damage to our boat is pretty severe. We are going to be up all night and probably still working on it in the morning. Hopefully we will be back on the water for the afternoon's racing."
The Austrian double Olympic gold medallist Roman Hagara's team will also be craning out their Extreme 40 Red Bull Sailing Team tonight – and Hagara says missing a day of racing is out of the question. "It was quite a good day for us until that last race. It just came down to one bad race. The boat has a big hole in it and it will be a long night for us as we try to repair the damage. We have to get it fixed by tomorrow, we need to race and we will do everything possible to repair the boat." Both Red Bull Sailing Team and The Wave, Muscat were awarded average points for the final race they missed, leaving them both in podium places in first and third respectively, while Alinghi were deducted six points.
Morgan Larson's team on Oman Air did well to stay out of serious trouble – just. Despite losing trimmer Andy Maloney overboard, and narrowly avoiding a capsize in ninth race after a big bare-away at the first mark, Larson led his team to three race wins, and sit in fourth place overall. "It felt like it could have gone either way, I even said to the guys, "I think we're going over, hang on!" We kept hiking at the back, the boat fell down and off we went!" explained Larson. "We lost Andy over board, a laser sailor who has spent his whole life in hiking straps, because he missed the hiking straps but when you push that hard it is going to happen. All in all we held it together and it felt good out there."
Pierre Pennec seems determined to repeat history and win the Act in Nice for a second consecutive year and with that win his first Act of the 2012 Series. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild rarely finished out of the top three today and two race wins leaves them just 0.7 of a point behind Red Bull Sailing Team in second place. "It's great sailing in the breeze. This has been the first day of big wind racing we've done since the beginning of the season and it really gives the crew a chance to show their physical and technical abilities. Tactically, our goal was to avoiding other boats as much as possible on the start line, and I am thankful that we don't have any repairs to do tonight."
The local boat Team Extreme Ville de Nice are another who find themselves with a night of repairs ahead after snapping their tiller extension in race eight as skipper Erik Maris explained: "The day was fun – windy, sunny and more manageable conditions then yesterday. The starts were really difficult and race eight was fatal for us as it broke our steering system so we had to abandon that the last few races of the day. We should be back tomorrow."
GAC Pindar and SAP Extreme Sailing Team showed moments of real brilliance today both claiming race wins throughout the day currently sitting in fifth and sixth respectively.
For three of the fleet, tonight is all about making repairs and getting back on the water tomorrow in time for the penultimate days racing which is due to start at 1300 local time. All the action will be streamed LIVE on the official event website and on the YachtsandYachting.com homepage from 1430 local time and if it is anything like today, you don't want to miss out!
Thrills, spills and a long night for the Oman Sail X40 shore crew (from Oman Sail)
A long night is in store for The Wave, Muscat after their boat was 'T-boned' on the start line of today's last race of the Extreme Sailing Series in Nice.
It was an up and down day for Leigh McMillan's team, as they attempted to avoid disasters hoping to preserve their overall lead in the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series championship. But this proved tricky with a start line positioned within metres of the beach, leaving little manoeuvring room and with the wind both gusty and shifty, peaking at around 25 knots towards the end of the afternoon.
Coming into the start of today's tenth and final race, there was a four boat pile up as the teams attempted to jockey for position on the line. Amid this, Alinghi attempted to duck The Wave, Muscat's transom but instead ended up driving their bow into the stern of the Omani boat's port hull, creating a hole from the deck to below the waterline in the delicate area between the aft beam and the rudder.
"We spun around really aggressively and we went really hard into Red Bull," said McMillan of what then happened. "At one point I thought we might do a full spin."
After pulling back into Nice's Vieux Port, The Wave, Muscat was craned ashore. Meanwhile the Oman Sail shore team led by boatbuilder Joe Lees is preparing to be up all night in order to repair the giant gash in the carbon/Nomex hull.
"The damage is pretty severe," says McMillan. "It goes well under the water line and it is a fairly loaded area structurally. I don't think we'll have it ready for the morning, but fingers crossed for the afternoon. We have to leave that for the boatbuilders to see what they can do."
After a jury hearing The Wave, Muscat was awarded average points for race 10, leaving them third overall, while Alinghi was penalised six points. Fortunately tomorrow morning's racing has been cancelled so if the repair work goes to schedule, The Wave, Muscat should not miss any racing.
"It was really exciting out there today – really windy," commented The Wave, Muscat's Hashim Al Rashdi. "It is the first time in the Series we have raced in 20-25 knots. We had a good day up until the collision on the start line – it is going to be a busy night for the shore crew and probably tomorrow morning too, but we'll be back racing tomorrow afternoon and will hopefully climb back up the ranking again with some good results."
Two thirds of the way into the afternoon, the results were looking grim for Oman Air holding sixth place overall in the eight boat fleet. However American skipper Morgan Larson and his team put in a strong finish, winning today's final two races to elevate them to fourth place overall.
While Oman Air finished the day without damage, it was not without incident. Most alarming was a near pitchpole, when a gust hit during a bear away, causing them to bury both bows deep into the water. "We stood on our nose for a while and got a feel of air under the rudders," recounted Larson. "There was nothing I could do, but luckily we had enough weight back and the stern fell back down. So it was an exciting day for us and it was just great to get through it without a hole in the boat like the guys on The Wave."
While they managed to pull it back from the brink, on another occasion they managed to make a swift recovery when their '5th man', New Zealand Olympic Laser sailor Andy Moloney, went swimming. "Andy missed the toe strap coming out of the leeward mark and went over the side," said Larson. "But it was good – he swam back and got back onboard quickly and we only lost a couple boats." Otherwise the American skipper praised the crew work of his team mates including Will Howden, Charlie Ogletree and Nasser Al Mashari.
Oman Air's Nasser Al Mashari said that he enjoyed today's conditions, the windiest he has raced in all season. "We had a good end to the day. I enjoy all this wind. We are very strong in it. I hope tomorrow it will be the same." He has previously experienced what it is like to capsize, last year in China.
Racing is set to resume at the Extreme Sailing Series Nice at 1300 CET. Conditions tomorrow are still forecast to be brisk, but a little less than today.