Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series at Baltimore

Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series at Baltimore - Overall

by Volvo Extreme 40 class 4 May 2006 07:47 BST 28 April - 3 May 2006

Randy Smyth and his team on Tommy Hilfiger win the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series at Baltimore © Oskar Kihlborg

Volvo Extreme 40s help draw record crowds in Baltimore

The Volvo Extreme 40s made quite an impression during the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 stopover in Baltimore.

Nearly 350,000 people descended on the Inner Harbour for the waterfront festival in celebration of the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Baltimore and were treated to not only the sight of the mind-blowing Volvo Open 70s but also the amazing spectacle of the Volvo Extreme 40 catamarans.

The Volvo Extreme 40s are part of the in-port entertainment package for the Volvo Ocean Race and in Baltimore they certainly provided the entertainment as they whizzed around the inner harbour in front of crowds on the dockside and office workers hanging out of windows.

The racing, which started last Thursday, was a highly competitive affair and saw many lead changes, near collisions and protests.

After eighteen races, double Olympic medallist Randy Smyth and his all American team of Stan Schreyer, Jonathan Farrar and Richard Feeney took the overall victory, winning by nineteen points from Team Holmatro.

Smyth commented: “We have been racing together for a while now and I think this is what makes the difference but there is never a dull moment in these boats and especially when you are racing in the harbour like this – it is what these boats are made for.”

He continued: “I think the audience that we have seen over the five days that we have raced is one of the biggest that sailing has ever had in the United States and that is so exciting. These are just such cool boats and it is great to be able to show them off.”

Olympic medallist and class founder Mitch Booth steered Team Holmatro into second place, and despite being overtaken in the regatta halfway through, was delighted to be finish on the podium after a disappointing result in Rio de Janeiro.

Team Holmatro crew member and class Chief Executive Herbert Dercksen commented: “For me the most important thing has been to see so many people turn out to watch the racing. Sailing in this kind of arena has been fantastic and you get so much variety and lead changes and all of the sailors are thoroughly enjoying themselves out there. It has also been great to see the Volvo Ocean Race sailors competing and enjoying the class so much. This is what Mitch and I dreamt of, so it really is a dream come true.”

Dercksen concluded by saying: “At the end of the day the best guy won. We are pleased to have moved up the leader board and with how we raced but Randy and his team did a fantastic job.”

Filling the final podium position in Baltimore was Team Basilica skippered by James Grant and with British 49er sailor Alister Richardson at the helm. Team Basilica could not quite match their performance from Rio de Janeiro, but a third place in Baltimore still sees them second on the overall series leader board, six points behind Tommy Hilfiger.

The excellent improvement seen in Team Holmatro sees them move up from fifth place overall to third place after three events.

Whilst the Volvo Extreme 40 racing has come to an end, there is still plenty of activity going on in the Volvo Ocean Race Village. Tomorrow sees the Volvo Open 70s depart for Annapolis on a Parade of Sail, where they will remain until the leg six restart on Sunday 7 May which takes them from Annapolis to Portsmouth, England, via a three day pit-stop in New York.

The Volvo Extreme 40s will be unleashed again at the end of the month in Portsmouth, England. Racing in Portsmouth takes place from the 27 May to the 3 June and will conclude with the boats taking part in the Round the Island Race – a race 50 mile race around the Isle of Wight.

Overall Results:

1st Tommy Hilfiger, USA (1,1,1,1,2,4,5,3,1,1,4,4,1,2,1,1,1,2) 149 pts
2nd Team Holmatro, NED (2,3,3,2,1,1,1,2,3,3,1,2,3,5,3,2,5,3) 130 pts
3rd Team Basilica, GBR (4,4,2,5,5,2,2,1,2,2,3,1,4,4,2,DNF,2,1) 123 pts
4th Motorola-CHR, GBR (5,2,4,3,3,3,3,4,4,5,5,3,2,3,4,DNF,3,5) 98 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race, USA (3,5,5,4,4,5,4,5,5,4,2,5,5,1,DNF,DNF,4,4) 91 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:

Portsmouth, UK 27 May-3 June, 2006
Rotterdam, Netherlands 9-14 June, 2006

Report from Ben Faber, Basilica:

Team Basilica secures podium finish as they end in style on final day of Baltimore Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix

The all British Volvo Extreme 40 entry Team Basilica had a storming day’s racing on the final day of the Baltimore Grand Prix on Wednesday. Having snatched third place on the line in race one, the Hayling Island based team went from strength to strength, taking second place in race two and winning the final race. Despite the top performance, Basilica was unable to make up the eleven points it needed to claim second place from Holmatro, who finished runners-up to leg winners Tommy Hilfiger. The final results from Baltimore mean that Basilica remains in second place overall in the Grand Prix series standings on 20 points, six behind Hilfiger in first and one ahead of Holmatro in third.

Basilica got off to a terrible start in race one trailing the fleet in last position. However, a fantastic run to the finish line saw the British boat snatch third place from Motorola and Volvo Ocean Race. In the second race, Hilfiger led from start to finish as Basilica tried in vain to find a way past, eventually settling for second place. The crew’s persistence, however, paid off in the last race of the Baltimore leg as they exchanged the lead several times with Hilfiger before piping them to the line to snatch their third win of the leg.

Basilica skipper James Grant was very happy with his crew’s performance on the final day:

“We sailed extremely well today and although it was disappointing not to snatch second place from Holmatro, we can be very pleased with our performance overall in Baltimore. This third leg of the series has been a fantastic experience for all of us – an estimated 400,000 people were here over the weekend, making this the highest sailing spectator event ever in the U.S.! Whilst the conditions have been tricky, this has been a unique event – stadium sailing in the heart of the city – and given the competition we are delighted to have finished on the podium.”

Robin Gray, Team Director for Basilica, was pleased with the team’s third place and is looking forward to challenging Hilfiger in the next Grand Prix in Portsmouth:

“Sailing here has been a learning experience for all of us and with each day we have got better and better. Randy Smythe and Hilfiger had an unbelievable week and all credit goes to them and Holmatro for their terrific performances. A podium finish represents a good result for us and we will now set our sites on the next leg in Portsmouth. Sailing in front of our home crowd and on waters that we all know will be a great experience and we can’t wait to resume battle with all of the crews in the UK and look to overhaul Hilfiger at the top of the leader-board.”

Report from Vikki Cheung, Team Motorola, CHR

Tommy is Top of the Class in the Third VX40 Grand Prix

After a total of eighteen races, double Olympic medallist Randy Smyth, skipper of Team Tommy Hilfiger took overall victory, winning by a difference of nineteen points over Team Holmatro. Everyone agreed that the crowds in Baltimore were brilliant and with visitors of an estimated 350,000 the atmosphere in the Inner Harbour was electric. Many spectators, both of sailing and non-sailing backgrounds, were thrilled to have come to Baltimore for the Waterfront Festival, to then be treated to the sight of the awesome VX40 racing machines competing in close quarters. Today was the last day of racing for this Grand Prix, and the spectators were left to keep guessing who would cross the finish line in first place as the various teams in turn had to endure the agony of being stuck in wind holes at different stages of the races. Towards the end of the first race, there was so little breeze that the VX40 struggled to keep their momentum and three of the five boats were classed as “did not finish” as they all crossed the finish line at least six minutes after the lead boat, as stipulated in the race rules. In contrast, there were also many sudden gusts which wowed the crowds as the VX40s would fly their hulls.