Day 1, iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week: BMW Oracle Racing Cammas collide with BT. Image copyright Mark Lloyd.
by iShares Cup/OC Event media
The America’s Cup teams stole the show on the first day of the iShares Cup, but with mixed fortunes in a full-on day at Skandia Cowes Week.
Franck Cammas, the offshore multihull specialist, got things off to a flying start by winning his very first iShares Cup race from America’s Cup defenders Alinghi after he got a great lift up the first mark, and took a lead which he held all the way around.
Cammas followed up to make it a double victory in race two, followed home by his BMW Oeacle Racing team mate James Spithill. Current series leaders TeamOrigin were right on the pace in the first race, but had a slow top mark rounding in the second, recovering well to take fifth.
In between races two and three the skies over Southampton darkened and a large squall came through the fleet, sending yachts competing in the Skandia Cowes Week spinning across the Solent as they broached. Team Aqua pitchpoled as they tried to bear away, spinning over on one hull and smashing their rig.
Team Aqua pitchpole sequence between races 2 and 3, Day One, iShares Cup, Cowes. Images copyright Tom Gruitt.
TeamOrigin came to the fore in the third race, leading BMW Oracle Racing Cammas out into the Solent while Alinghi ducked closer to the shore — but their tactic couldn’t outwit the local TeamOrigin crew, who won from Franck Cammas. But Cammas’ run of luck was to come to an end in the next. After a fantastic start which saw all 11 Extreme 40s charging down the course abreast, the entire fleet arrived at the first mark with just millimetres separating the boats, and BMW Oracle Racing crunched into the side of BT, leaving Cammas’ boat with a smashed bowsprint and crumpled front beam, and Nick Moloney’s BT boat with a gaping hole in the port side.
“The first 2 races were wonderful for us,” said Frank Cammas after his dramatic first day’s iShares Cup racing. “The third was good too – we sailed with one reef, which was safe for us but we finished second and were very happy.
“But the last… not the same! We were in the wrong position when we arrive at the top mark, and it is difficult with these boats to change direction rapidly and so we have to pass behind Alinghi but we had no room with BT, so we touched – at high speed, because there was a lot of wind. I think we were going about 20 knots.”
Day 1, iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week: BMW Oracle Racing Cammas collide with BT. Image copyright Sally Collinson.
BMW Oracle Racing Cammas collide with BT. Image copyright Tom Gruitt.
“There was an almighty bang as BMW Oracle smashed into our stern,’ recalls BT skipper Nick Moloney. “They exploded their pole, snapped their boat in half, spun us around and then they peeled away from us but they were completely out of control, because the boat was basically broken in half — and Shirley and JP Morgan swung to avoid them and smashed in to our stern. It was like being in a pinball machine! Two very, very big fast collisions, and big explosions of breaking carbon fibre – it was really, really loud.
BMW Oracle Racing Cammas suffers broken front beam after collision with BT. Image copyright Mark Lloyd.
But in strong winds of 20-25 knots the rest of the fleet were still racing — as they hurtled down the second run, but TeamOrigin was next to bury their bows in the lumpy Solent seas. Despite valiant efforts by Rob Greenhalgh and team to keep on their feet, TeamOrigin capsized — and were soon followed by James Spithill on the remaining BMW Oracle Racing Extreme 40, while Alinghi stole the lead.
TeamOrigin capsize sequence. Images copyright Mark Lloyd.
TeamOrigin capsize on Day 1 of the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week. Image copyright Ian Roman/TeamOrigin.
BMW Oracle Racing Spithill capsize. Images copyright Mark Lloyd.
The fleet were sent ashore at the end of the fourth race, and the day’s dramatic events leave Alinghi in the overall lead, just one point ahead of Holmatro — who have had their best day of the iShares Cup series so far with a consistent set of top four results. After an exhausting day on the water many crews now have a long night ahead of them repairing damaged boats, and nursing some bumps and scrapes, although none of the sailors suffered any serious injury.
iShares Cup
No comments:
Post a Comment