Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series at Baltimore - Day 1
by Volvo Extreme 40 class 29 Apr 2006 08:59 BST
28 April - 3 May 2006
Clean sweep for Tommy Hilfiger on inaugural day of Baltimore Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix
It was a clean sweep for Tommy Hilfiger on the first day of the Baltimore Volvo Extreme 40 grand prix series.
Randy Smythe and his all American team scored straight wins in the four races that took place in the Inner Harbour within a stones throw of the shoreline and underneath the towering office blocks that line the waterfront.
Spurred on by wanting to impress their sponsor, the fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who took an afternoon out of his busy schedule to enjoy zipping around the Inner Harbour with his victorious team.
Smythe and his team did a good job of reading the tricky wind conditions which saw the breeze go from nothing to 15 knots within minutes. After four races Tommy Hilfiger has established a healthy twelve point lead over second placed Team Holmatro skippered by Tornado Olympic medallist Mitch Booth.
After day one Team Motorola-CHR is placed third overall one point in front of Rio grand prix winners Team Basilica.
Herbert Dercksen, CEO Volvo Extreme 40 commented: “Today was amazing. I felt really proud as this kind of racing is exactly what we designed and built the Volvo Extreme 40 for.”
“At one point we looked up at a neighbouring office tower block and there were people waving out of the windows on five floors.”
Tomorrow sees the teams enjoy a lay day whilst the Volvo Open 70’s that are competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 take part in the in-port race. The Volvo Extreme 40 racing recommences on Sunday and continues through until Wednesday 3 May.
Day 1 Results:
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Tommy Hilfiger | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 40 |
| 2 | Holmatro | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 28 |
| 3 | Motorola-CHR | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| 4 | Basilica | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
| 5 | Volvo Ocean Race | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 19 |
Report from Vikki Cheung, Team Motorola, CHR
Tommy Hilfiger scores a Hat Trick in the opening day of racing in the VX40 Grand Prix
Today was the first day of racing for the third VX40 Grand Prix Series, hosted by the city of Baltimore. With a reaching start and the first mark located right in the Inner Harbour, several thousand spectators were treated to a spectacular sight of the VX40s flying their hulls in close quarters. The wind conditions towards the top mark, just outside the harbour was a good force 3 from the north, however, within the harbour, the wind was shifting all the time and swirled within the harbour, testing the teams to their limit. Extra excitement was added by the fact that the VX40s had to dodge the other traffic in the harbour including the water taxis, and tall ships criss-crossing the harbour continuously.
The positions within the fleet changed throughout each race, however Randy Smyth helming Team Tommy Hilfiger was on top form, and took the pole position for all four races, thus maintaining their first position overall. Team Motorola-CHR sailed well but had a mixed bag of results, with a bad start in the first race, they took 5th place after battling with Basilica for 4th all the way. A much better start in the second race saw Motorola-CHR take the lead from the first mark and they dominated the race. However, Tommy Hilfiger found a patch of pressure on the final lap and pipped Motorola-CHR to the post. In the third race of the day, the leading boat changed continuously as the shifty conditions within the harbour. In the last run up to the finish line, Tommy Hilfiger found the little extra to squeeze in front of Basilica. In the fourth and final race of the day, Tommy Hilfiger were over the line and had to restart; Motorola-CHR sailed well, leading the fleet for the first two laps. However, they were to be faced with some bad luck as on its approach into the harbour, a fire boat stopped to watch the action, only to block Motorola-CHR and Basilica’s path. Both boats had to change course to go around the obstacle, allowing Tommy Hilfiger and Holmatro to come around behind them and avoid the fire boat. A hat trick was scored by Team Tommy Hilfiger who crossed the finish line in first place in the last race of the day – Tommy Hilfiger will be pleased with today’s results as the man himself has come to Baltimore today!
Johnny Lovell (Helmsman, Motorola-CHR):
Commenting on sailing the with Motorola-CHR VX40 catamaran “It’s a blast, a totally different game to racing Tornados but a lot of fun. We sailed well together, in three out of the four races we led for at least a lap, we just seemed to have had some rotten luck; but I think we did pretty good for our first day.”
Report from Ben Faber, Basilica
A frustrating start for Team Basilica on day one of the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix in Baltimore
Difficult conditions in Baltimore harbour on Friday saw Team Basilica struggle on day one of the VX40 Grand Prix. The all-British owned, sponsored and crewed entry came fourth in the opening two races as the conditions across the course varied from blustery to dead wind. The team, led by skipper James Grant, recovered to take second place in the third race before a dramatic encounter with a harbour boat led the team to finish fifth in race four. The results mean that after day one Team Basilica, currently second overall in the VX40 series, lie in 4th place in this Grand Prix.
A challenging day on the water saw Basilica frustrated by a series of slow starts and despite regaining ground in each race, the team were unable to maintain a leading position. The built-up nature of Baltimore harbour meant that wind holes were as common as strong gusts, and all five boats took time to adjust to the conditions. Series leader Tommy Hilfiger took the honours on the day with four first places and 40 points, but the Grand Prix nevertheless remains open with any of the teams still capable of winning.
Basilica skipper James Grant reflected on the day’s racing: “Conditions today were extremely difficult as we expected. Racing in such a built up area is new to us and takes a while to get used to because the wind can be very deceptive. Nevertheless, the crew remain very positive. It is only day one of the regatta and we have plenty of time to pull ourselves up the leader-board. ”.
Having finished the third race in second place following a dramatic sprint to the line with Hilfiger and Holmatro, Basilica was also looking strong in the final race. The team was leading until half way through when a boat in the harbour came in between it and Motorola chasing in second, causing the British boat to loose ground.
Bowman Jonathan ‘Boycey’ Taylor, who is set to join up with the Ericsson Volvo Ocean Race team for Saturday’s in-shore leg, said of the performance: “It is disappointing not to have won any races today but we are not going to get ourselves down. We probably weren’t quite as aggressive as Randy (Smyth, skipper of Tommy Hilfiger) today and that was the difference, but we have been improving throughout the series and we are looking forward to scoring some more points next week”.
The VX40 Grand Prix series takes a rest day on Saturday when the Volvo Ocean Race boats take to the waters for their in-shore leg. The series will resume on Sunday 30th when Basilica will be looking generate to some winning momentum with at least three races scheduled to take place on each of the four remaining days of racing.