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America's Cup challengers join the iShares fleet at Cowes - twice

www.isharescup.com @ Tue Jul 01 09:26:00 +0100 2008

BMW ORACLE Racing will join the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week, with a two-boat Extreme 40 entry sailed by some of the world’s top sailors.

Legendary sailor Russell Coutts (NZL), will skipper one of the two Extreme 40s – Coutts is considered by many to be one of the greatest sailors of all time, having won an Olympic gold medal, three America’s Cups and multiple world championships. He will be joined by multihull expert Franck Cammas (FRA) in the afterguard, who has skippered the giant ‘Groupama’ trimarans to multiple ocean race victories and records.

On the second BMW ORACLE Racing boat James Spithill (AUS) will take the helm – the hugely talented match racer has a reputation for taking no prisoners at the starts so he’ll be one to watch on the 11-boat start lines in Cowes. Spithill will be joined by Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup-winning tactician John Kostecki (USA). The remaining four crew will be confirmed closer to the regatta, which takes place over August 2-4.

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BMW ORACLE Racing have entered two teams in the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week
© Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW ORACLE Racing

BMW ORACLE Racing, who are currently the challenger of record for the next America’s Cup, have been training hard in the Extreme 40s because the next edition of the famous match racing contest will take place in multihulls. BMW ORACLE Racing will challenge America’s Cup defenders Alinghi for the trophy, so the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week in August will be the first occasion the two teams have locked horns on the water since the Louis Vuitton Act 13 in 2007.

The highly competitive iShares Cup arena is the ideal practice ground for the BMW ORACLE crew, who are currently building a new multihull for the next America’s Cup – the two Extreme 40s recently competed at a special “Just the Best” regatta in Italy (20-22 June) where Spithill and Coutts faced off in the cats, with Spithill’s team earning the regatta victory.

“We are putting more time into racing the Extreme 40s now, as well as match racing,” Coutts said. “Until the new boat arrives we will keep pushing our learning curve on multihulls as much as we can.”

But with nine other teams on the water in the iShares Cup racing in Cowes the America’s Cup crews can’t expect to have everything their own way. As Event Director Gilles Chiorri explained, “Since the beginning of the season the fleet has been improving in power – in Lugano we had nine boats, then in Hyères we had 11 and there was much more action on the water with all the teams pushing harder.

“Having such a race between BMW ORACLE Racing and Alinghi will be very interesting – Cowes is after all where the America’s Cup began – and we know they have some very good crew in Franck Cammas, James Spithill and Russell Coutts. It will be very exciting for us to have such a high profile team joining us in the iShares Cup, but I am sure the other teams will give them a good run for their money.”

Sir Keith Mills, Team Principal of TEAMORIGIN – the British America’s Cup challenger for the next multi-challenger America’s Cup – welcomed the announcement, saying: “I am really pleased to see BMW ORACLE Racing joining the iShares Cup circuit and back on the water racing against two other America’s Cup teams, Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN, as well as the other competitors, it is sure to add increased interest in the circuit from a media and spectator point of view.”

TEAMORIGIN skipper Rob Greenhalgh, who is currently leading the iShares Cup circuit overall, added: “The addition of BMW ORACLE Racing to the iShares Cup is great news. The circuit has been fantastic so far with some really top teams competing including two America’s Cup teams so adding one more is sure to enhance the racing and increase general interest further. They are sure to be a strong team and it will be good to race against them.”

The other teams lining up for the third event of the 2008 iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week are: BT, skippered by offshore record breaker Nick Moloney; Holmatro, helmed by cat specialist Andreas Hagara; iShares, skippered by Olympian Hugh Styles; double British gold medallist Shirley Roberston on JPMorgan Asset Management, who won the first event of the circuit in Lugano; the innovative Oman Sail, skippered by Pete Cumming as part of a unique project from the Sultanate of Oman; Team Aqua, helmed by Kiwi match racer Cameron Appleton; and Volvo Ocean Race, skippered by Extreme 40 class innovator Herbert Dercksen.


MIXED FORTUNES FOR BT AT iSHARES CUP, HYERES

www.btteamellen.com @ Sun Jun 15 10:30:00 +0100 2008

Three race wins and a mix bag of results at the second round of the iShares Cup in Hyères, France, has left BT in fourth place overall in the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series after two events out of five.

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BT racing day 2, iShares Cup, Hyeres
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events

Conditions at the French round tested all the 11 Extreme 40s boats in winds in excess of 25 knots which at times resulted in plenty of near-misses. A full capsize TEAM ORIGIN and a spectacular pitch-pole by Tommy Hilfiger kept the crowds entertained, and across the 18 races five different boats managed to score one or more first place positions. At times it was a game of snakes and ladders on the leaderboard, as the teams struggled for consistency in the Bay of Hyères.

Regular BT crew, Steve Mitchell, who was unable to race in Hyères, offered this advance just before the start: “Stay out of trouble and let the others make the mistakes, hang around and keep your nose clean!” That advice proved hard to put into practice! Although in the first day BT came charging out of the blocks to score two race wins back-to-back. After that the BT crew of Nick Moloney, Andrew Walsh, Ed Barney and replacement crew Nigel King recorded a mix bag of results.

From Nick Moloney:

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Racing at Hyeres, France, Round 2 iShares Cup
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events

Yesterday we had so many awesome starts in third or fourth around the top mark in really good shape, and then we just lost on stupid things happening to us. There was a lot of cowboy antics happening on the course and we suffered from a lot of that. We ended up getting rammed into a mark when we were in the right and came last when we were second in that race. A lot of things didn’t go our way and we reckon adding it up last night we lost 25 points yesterday from positions we were in at the top mark, and with those 25 points. Sure we gave a few away as you lose a spot here and there but still we would have been second or third overall going into last night.

“And then this morning we came here feeling really good and that we’d have a good day and get back in shape, but nothing went our way at all. That’s the game, you know! We were looking at each other thinking hopefully it’s all over now and all the bad races are out of the way. Even when we locked on and thought we could sail into a good position, today we couldn’t even get there. That’s worrying but the encouraging thing is we’ve won more races in two regattas than we did all year last year, and we still finished third last year. We’re fourth overall in the overall series now so we’re in a good spot.

“We’re looking forward to the third round in Cowes – last year we finished second there. The best thing about Cowes is that there is a big gap between now and Cowes and we’ve scheduled a week’s training with a coach. That’s always been our objective to start the year from now and we really feel that that coaching will do us good in Cowes so hopefully we will get a good result and put us up there for a shot at the last two events.”

The final day proved to be a showdown between America’s Cup teams Alinghi and TEAM ORIGIN. It went to the wire in the double-points final race that was won by TEAM ORIGIN but Alinghi skipper Ed Baird and his crew did enough to finish in fourth place to the second round of the iShares Cup.



iSHARES CUP OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER 2 ROUNDS:

1st TEAM ORIGIN (Rob Greenhalgh) 19 pts
2nd Alinghi (Ed Baird) 15 pts
3rd JPMorgan Asset Management (Shirley Robertson) 14 pts
4th BT (Nick Moloney) 13 pts
5th iShares (Hugh Styles) 13 pts
6th Holmatro (Andreas Hagara) 11 pts
7th Volvo Ocean Race (Herbert Derckson) 10 pts
8th Oman Sail (Pete Cummings) 9 pts
9th Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton) 9 pts
10th Tommy Hilfiger (Randy Smyth) 1 pt

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BT crew celebrating going into the lead after day 1 of racing at Round 2 of the iShares Cup, Hyeres
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events


Alinghi triumph in spectacular Round 2 of the iShares Cup

www.isharescup.com @ Sun Jun 15 10:23:00 +0100 2008

In brief
. America’s Cup defenders Alinghi win the second event of the iShares Cup Sailing Series in Hyères, France
. The 18-race series goes down to the wire, with two America’s Cup teams duelling for the title in the double-point final race
. Current iShares Cup champions TEAMORIGIN second, giving them the overall lead in the series with three events still to go
. Gusty Mistral winds bring three days of thrills and spills with spectacular capsizes and near-misses

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Jour 2 – Hyères : Alinghi vainqueur de l’étape de Hyères de la iShares Cup 2008
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events

In detail
After three days of spectacular racing held in some of the biggest breezes ever seen in the iShares Cup it was all to play for going into the final double-point race.

On the last day of racing in Hyères, France, it was the two America’s Cup contenders, Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN, who dominated the fleet, each winning three races – at one stage just three points separated the two.

The British TEAMORIGIN started the day best with two wins in gusty 20-knot conditions that saw several boats narrowly avoiding a capsize. TEAMORIGIN, skippered by reigning iShares Cup champion Rob Greenhalgh, demonstrated their Extreme 40 experience to control the first two races – Alinghi constantly looking for a route through to regain the lead in race two, but Ed Baird and his crew just couldn’t get past.

But as the wind eased over the afternoon it was America’s Cup winner Ed Baird on Alinghi who came to the fore, taking three wins in a row. In the fourth race of the day TEAMORIGIN fell to seventh overall, and it looked like their chance might be over, but they recovered well to score finish second behind Alinghi in the penultimate race of the series.

The 18th and last race of the event set the scene for a spectacular finale – the finish line placed just yards in front of crowds of spectators gathered on the breakwater. With just a dozen points separating the two leaders and the final scores counting for double TEAMORIGIN were still in the hunt, and flew off the line to take the lead. Alinghi were buried in the pack – if they dropped to eighth, then the Brits would triumph.

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Day 2 – Hyeres : TEAMORIGIN
© Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events

TEAMORIGIN pulled away to lead the fleet all the way round – Alinghi were back in sixth and perilously close to throwing away the title. But as the fleet gybed up the shore Alinghi held their line close into the rocks, overtaking two boats right on the finish line to finish fourth and win the overall event.

Skipper Ed Baird said as he was presented with his GH Mumm Champagne: “It’s really is nice to end the weekend on top of things here, the team has done just a fabulous job in conditions that frankly we don’t have much experience in.

“In that last race we knew what we had to do but it was close there for a while!”

Second-placed skipper Rob Greenhalgh was also pleased that TEAMORIGIN had been able to put the pressure on, saying: “We were really slow in one race which really hurt us, but in the last race we got back into our groove, found some good speed and just launched ourselves off the startline. Alinghi were doing pretty badly so it was fingers crossed they might fall back a few more places. We tried to sit on them a bit, but to be honest the fleet was very spread out and we couldn’t really afford to lose our first place. But we probably made them sweat a bit!

“We’re leading the series now, at the next event at Skandia Cowes Week we need to beat Alinghi really, but it’s in home waters so we’d like to think we’ve got a little edge there,” Rob added. In the overall series points TEAMORIGIN lead Alinghi, with Shirley Robertson’s JPMorgan Asset Management – winners of the first event in the series at Lugano – in third. The next event on the 2008 iShares Cup Sailing Series takes place at Skandia Cowes Week from August 2-4.


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