Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series at Portsmouth - Day 1
by Volvo Extreme 40 class 29 May 2006 09:27 BST
15 knots gives perfect racing for the VX40 fleet in Portsmouth © Andrew Dare Photography
Full house for Basilica
It has been a brilliant first day for the Brits onboard Basilica today. Four wins out of four races on the Southsea front produced a jubilant crowd of cheering spectators for the UK entry.
The recipe of constant winds of 15 knots added to sunny spells, gave the competitors a chance to really race the Volvo Extreme 40’s around the track and the spectators a great view on the first day of the series in Portsmouth. The catamarans sailed four races this afternoon with plenty of spills and thrills to keep everybody on their toes.
The first race started with fury when Motorola (Conrad Humphreys) being helmed today by world famous multihull and monohull sailor Brian Thompson got caught out on the wrong side of the committee boat and ended up a minute late for the start of the race. Unfortunately for them they never caught the rest of the fleet who sped off round the windward, leeward course.
By the end of the two laps Basilica skippered by James Grant and helmed by Alister Richardson was out in the lead and finished just under a minute before Volvo Ocean Race helmed by the class designer Yves Loday. Third place was tightly fought over as Team Hilfiger (Randy Smyth) and Holmatro skippered by Andreas Hagara tried to out-gybe each other on the last downwind leg. The fight eventually ended in Smyth pippin Hagara to the post by five seconds, each boat pushing to the absolute limit.
After a short break the second race was underway with Motorola port tacking the whole fleet on the line timing their run up, to perfection. They led the fleet with Basilica snapping at their heels and looked likely to finish in first until the second downwind leg. Basilica overtook them and to make matters worse the crew had problems furling the gennaker as they rounded the mark forcing them to sail off downwind to gain control of the sail. Unfortunately the problems led to them never finishing the race, which at the start looked in the bag.
Motorola was not the only yacht to have problems with their gennaker this afternoon. In the third race the Volvo Ocean Race crew had the same issue, forcing them to lose a lot of ground on the four other cats and finish last. Basilica again wowed their fans by taking first, with Holmatro close on their tail to give them two second places.
By the fourth race every cat looked like they were up to full pace with some spectacularly close manoeuvring, especially at the start as they vied for their spot on the line. Basilica and Team Volvo Ocean Race crossed the line simultaneously and by the first mark Volvo Ocean Race had just nudged into the lead. Regrettably on the downwind leg the cat came up too high and let the three following boats squeeze under them. By the time all four cats came to the bottom mark there was only twenty seconds separating them and not much space. After some frantic shouting of rules, they all came away uninjured and either tacked towards the shore or out into clear air but less breeze.
Motorola was the last to round the bottom mark but while the other cats were busy watching each other, Team Motorola with some clever moves worked their way back up the fleet into second, their best place all afternoon.
The boys on Basilica are obviously jubilant this afternoon after their wins, skipper James Grant couldn’t keep the smile of his face. “Today we exceeded all our expectations. We felt really positive going into the regatta. Our boat is better prepared at the moment than ever before. I think we have raised the bar today and as long as we keep a few boats in between us and Randy (Smyth) on Hilfiger we’re happy.”
It will be very interesting to see if the Brits on Basilica can keep up their momentum on the next day of racing on Tuesday with a lay day in between which many of the teams will use for practise. Or will the Americans on Hilfiger come back with vengeance?
Racing recommences on Tuesday 30th May at 14:00 (local).
Results after Day 1: (after 4 races)
1st Basilica, 40 pts
2nd Holmatro, 26 pts
3rd Tommy Hilfiger, 24 pts
4th Volvo Ocean Race, 21 pts
5th Motorola-CHR 17 pts
Overall Series Rankings: (after three events)
1st Tommy Hilfiger 26 pts
2nd Basilica 20 pts
3rd Holmatro 19 pts
4th Motorola-CHR 18 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race 16 pts
Remaining Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series Dates:
Rotterdam, Netherlands 9-14 June, 2006
Team Basilica Report: (by Ben Faber)
Clean Sweep for Basilica on day one of Portsmouth Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix
The large crowds gathered on Southsea promenade had plenty to cheer for on the first day of the Portsmouth Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix on Sunday, as the all-British boat Basilica won all four of the day’s races to propel them to the top of the leader board in the fourth leg of the VX40 series. The team from Hayling Island Sailing Club produced a scintillating performance to lead from start to finish in each race and dominate the field, leaving their rivals with everything to do over the next few days.
With Saturday’s racing cancelled as a mark of respect for the funeral of ABN AMRO TWO sailor Hans Horrevoets, Sunday marked the start of the Portsmouth VX40 Grand Prix. After the difficult conditions in Baltimore during the last leg, the open waters of Portsmouth harbour were a welcome sight for the Basilica crew, and on their home patch they left the other boats trailing from the start in front of the ecstatic gathered supporters.
A close encounter with series leaders Tommy Hilfiger in race one saw Basilica pull ahead and gain a lead that they never lost. The second race was even closer as Basilica chased Motorola for first place but the British boat was gaining by the minute and closed down the leaders before accelerating away from the field to claim the win. With confidence clearly high, Basilica continued to dominate and won the final two races with over a minute’s clear water between them and the second placed boats.
Basilica skipper James Grant was understandably delighted with the day’s results:
“We could not have asked for a better start to this Grand Prix than we made today. We sailed near-perfectly this afternoon and after the difficulties that we experienced in Baltimore it is great to be at the top of the leader board after day one. We know, however, that the job is not even half done yet. Our rivals will be determined to make up ground on us next week and we will not be complacent. There is a lot more racing yet to take place and we will be looking to repeat this performance throughout the week.”
The VX40 racing takes a break on Monday for the Volvo Ocean Race in-port race but will resume on Tuesday 30th with three more days of racing still to come. Team Basilica currently lies second overall in the series standings, six points behind Tommy Hilfiger. With the final Grand Prix still to take place in Rotterdam in mid-June, there is everything to sail for and the series looks to be heading for a very close finish.
Team Motorola - CHR Racing Report: (by Vikki Cheung)
The first day of clear skies for over a week greeted the teams for the first day of racing in the fourth VX40 Grand Prix Series off Southsea Seafront, Portsmouth. Breezes of force 3-4 made perfect conditions for the VX40s to show the spectators on the seafront what these carbon fibre racing machines are capable of. Outside the confines of Portsmouth harbour, the fleet were able to spread their wings and fly their hulls.
Team Basilica showed the rest of the fleet its strengths and took pole position in all four of today’s races. They had the upper hand with their local knowledge of the conditions in The Solent where the crew usually train and race. Team Tommy Hilfiger consistently took third place in all the races, whilst the rest of the fleet had a mixed set of results.
Team MOTOROLA was hit with a run of bad luck, in the first race they were squeezed out of the starting line resulting in a poor start from which they never recovered. In the second race they had a much better start and were leading the first two laps, when disaster struck and the gennekar halyard broke leaving them unable to furl the sail. They were forced to go off course to prevent damage to the gennekar itself and managed a temporary repair with the sheet. In the third race, there was a tussle close to the windward mark between MOTOROLA and Volvo Ocean Race, and contact was made between the two boats. Volvo Ocean Race was penalised and had to make a 360 degree turn. In the fourth and last race of the day, MOTOROLA was able to stay clear of trouble and with some close racing between themselves and Tommy Hilfiger, were able to increase their lead over the current series leaders, to take second place.
The MOTOROLA employees loved the experience of sailing on the VX40 and had to draw straws to see who would be sailing at the 5th crew during the afternoon’s racing! Tomorrow there will be a lay day for the VX40s as the Volvo 70s will be competing in their in port race. VX40 racing will resume on Tuesday.
Brian Thompson (Helmsman, Motorola-CHR) “The VX40s are fantastic - really, really sporty boats. In the 15 knots of wind we had today they were fully powered up and on the edge of capsizing the whole time – they live up to their name! For today’s racing, we were a new team, neither Duncan or myself have sailed these boats before and didn’t know how the rest of the fleet sail, so we were a little bit behind. We had a bit of bad luck, in the second race the gennekar halyard broke, and in the third race another boat got in our way, but without that we could’ve had a better result. But by the last race we were on the pace and were doing well. When Leigh and Will come back tomorrow, no doubt they will be able to pull Motorola back up the standings.”