iD Intranet Not Ready to ‘Kiss’ Championship Goodbye on Sold out Sunday
by Nick Vindin 25 Mar 2018 00:18 GMT
23-25 March 2018
Always tough at the pointy end! © Andrea Francolini
America’s Cup mariner Ed Powys has returned to sail for iD Intranet lured by the chance of snagging a breakthrough Championship Crown at the Expr3ss! SuperFoiler Grand Final.
The iD bowman missed the last regatta in Western Australia due to commitments with the Extreme Sailing series, but his countryman and fellow America’s Cup sailor Paul Campbell-James bombarded him with affectionate messages to coax Powys from Oman back to Sydney. “He kept messaging me and was putting kisses on the end of his messages so I was a bit concerned,” said Ed Powys, “I wasn’t sure about coming back because of that but I am here and he seems okay and I have Jasper 'Fang' Warren [iD’s mainsheet] to protect me.”
While iD’s skipper gives a different account of the exchange, there is no doubt the British duo will be going full gas in the series finale on Sydney Harbour this Sunday afternoon. “I am pretty sure he has been dreaming about weird things in the night, we will be working him extra hard,” said Campbell-James who revealed that Powys had a tough return to racing on iD this week. “Ed managed to get the boat right up his bottom,” said the iD skipper, “He came straight back into the front of the boat, hitting the SuperFoiler right in the wrong spot.”
Thankfully Powys wasn’t seriously injured and is pleased with the speed output of his crew since his return, “We have had some tricky times and it is nice to be out there on Sydney Harbour and ripping around.” The iD Bowman is expecting a busy day on the waterways ahead of the crowning of the first SuperFoiler Champion, where his crew remain in mathematical calculation for the overall glory, although Powys isn’t feeling any added pressure despite family and friends taking to the waterways to watch his final outing on the watermelon-coloured flyer. “I think they are going to come out on Sunday and there is going to be a lot of boats out there so it is going to be a good event out there,” said Powys, "We have been pretty amazed at the turn out – it is always nice to race in front of a big crowd and to put on a spectacle,”
Sunday’s VIP spectator fleet has sold out, with more that 400 guests expected to watch the first winner of the SuperFoiler crown and recipient of the newly minted Ben Lexcen trophy. After two days of racing just five points split tech2, Euroflex and Record Point in the battle for regatta supremacy in Sydney with Pavement, Kleenmaid and iD Intranet also still in calculation for the regatta win.
The Ben Lexcen Trophy will be awarded to the winner of the SuperFoiler series, with the champion of the Expr3ss! SuperFoiler Grand Final – Sydney set to receive 12 points to their overall total. The series climax will be livestreamed on www.superfoiler.com on Sunday 25th of March 2018 at 2pm AEDT.
Regatta Standings after Day 2
tech2 (29)
Euroflex (25)
Record Point (24)
Pavement (21)
iD Intranet (17)
Kleenmaid (10)
Ben Lexcen Trophy (Series Standings)
Euroflex (19)
tech2 (17)
Pavement (16)
Record Point (12)
iD Intranet (11)
Kleenmaid (10)