iShares Extreme 40, skippered by Double Olympic Gold Medallist, Shirley Robertson (GBR) flies by St Mark's Square, Venice. Image copyright Lloyd Images.
- Venice to provide a dream backdrop to the opening event of the 2009 iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series to be staged between 15-17 May, during which 10 world-class international teams will battle it out in prime European venues.
- Between 6-8 races will be held daily on the Bacino San Marco commencing at 14h30 local time. 10 Extreme 40 catamarans will race within metres of the shore with outstanding viewing from the Riva dei Setti.
- An unprecedented world-class line-up of 40 sailors totalising 50 World Championship titles, 17 round-the-world navigations and 27 America's Cup participations between them.
- The city in which the term "regatta" was coined for the very first time!
- Domaine de Chevalier becomes official wine supplier of the iShares Cup.
by Emily Caroe
It's all coming together with less than two days away to go to the official kick-off - the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series race village is getting ready to welcome spectators, VIPs and journalists, whilst already arousing the curiosity of passers-by. Gilles Chiorri, OC Events Director, is supervising the installation in Venice: "Our modern high-tech set-up does not go unnoticed, and people are genuinely excited when they learn a world-class sailing competition is about to take place." Located half a mile from the legendary Plaza San Marco, the iShares Cup village has been carefully laid out, as Chiorri explains: “The Bacino San Marco provides a perfect grandstand for the general public to watch these amazing catamarans from the Riva dei Setti as well as providing good shoreside VIP facilities for our guests and sponsors. It will be the most stunning backdrop to a thrilling spectacle; modern hi-tech racing machines competing in the historic venue of Venice. This first event of the 2009 iShares Cup is gearing up to be quite historic in more ways than one and we sincerely thank all the support we have received from the Compagnia Della Vela, the City of Venice and the many supporting partners who are helping us stage this inaugural iShares Cup event.”
Nick Moloney, BT skipper: "Venice is simply stunning, and upon arriving everyone is blown away by the beauty and the atmosphere of the city. The sense of history is everywhere, the architecture is magnificent, and for us sailors, being in a city that depends only on waterways as far as transportation is concerned just feels right. On the competitive front, I think everyone is a bit nervous, there are a lot of new teams with extremely talented people, so it's important to get off to a good start… even if there is 6 events instead of 5 as it was the case last year. I think that in Venice we can expect light and fluky conditions, and no one knows the race course yet so it will be very open."
Gilles Chiorri continues: "The technical area is located in the heart of the Venice ferry terminal, and the first sight that the 10,000 daily passengers have been seeing for the past two days is that of 10 Extreme 40 catamarans being built, that is a very good level of exposure for the event," joked Chiorri. None of the 40 world-class sailors have ever raced in Venice, and everyone is eager to get a feel of the local conditions before the actual racing starts on Friday the 15th May culminating on Sunday, 17th. Up to 6-8 races lasting just 15 minutes each will be held daily with a double points final race on the last day – racing will take place between 14h30 and 17h30 local time. "No team will have an advantage brought by local knowledge, and I'm guessing they all will be surprised by the tidal current which can reach up to 1 knot - it certainly will make for some interesting tactical choices and tricky situations when rounding the marks. In terms of wind, the south-easterly breeze kicks in regularly early in the afternoon and reaches 10 knots, so the conditions should be perfect. For the moment, it's very impressive to witness the never ending nautical activity: there are boats all over the place, as the whole city depends on them since there are no cars here! Of course, the traffic will be reduced when the racing starts because the local authorities have been extremely supportive and helpful."
An unprecedented line-up of world champions, record-holders, Olympic medalists and America's Cup competitors will take to the lagoon and start counting the points on Friday, after having sailed for the media day on Thursday. "For now the boats are being checked for safety and rules compliance," adds Chiorri, "and the skippers are really keen to go sailing as soon as possible, all the more because Venice is the first event of the season so it's important to be well prepared. It has been the same for us organisers, and today I'm happy to see that we are 24 hours ahead of schedule in terms of installation! I think we can expect to see some serious action on the water from race 1, as none of the 10 teams have low ambitions."
The iShares Cup Venice event is generously supported by: Compagnia Della Vela - Venezia Terminal Passegeri S.p.A - VTP Events Venezia - Venice Port Authority – City of Venice.
A bit of history - Venice's timeless charm
Often cited among the planet's most beautiful cities, Venice has had throughout the centuries an incredible influence on the Western world in terms of maritime trade, finance, architecture or arts and culture. Spreading across a total of 118 little islands in the lagoon, Venice is the capital of the Veneto region and is located along the Adriatic Sea in Northeast Italy. Boats have always been an integral part of Venice, and not only for practical reasons since sailing races have often taken place on the Grand Canal... which actually gave birth to the word "regatta", a term that originated in Venetian dialect!
Domaine de Chevalier becomes official wine supplier of the iShares Cup
The final announcement today is that the Domaine de Chevalier - Grand Cru Classe de Graves- has been awarded Official Supplier status to the iShares Cup and will be the wine of choice for all six European venues for the 2009 VIP shoreside facilities. Owned by the Bernard family since 1983, they will be supplying both the red and white Esprit de Chevalier, the second wine of the property. The red Domaine de Chevalier, the flagship of the Pessac Léognan appellation, belongs to the elite of the great classified growths of Bordeaux. The white Domaine de Chevalier, with the unusual feature of being remarkably well suited for cellaring, is recognised as one of the world's finest dry white wines.
2009 Venues iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series:
Event 1 - Venice, Italy, 15th to 17th May
Event 2 - Hyères-TPM, France, 3rd to 5th July
Event 3 - Cowes, United Kingdom, 1st to 3rd August
Event 4 - Kiel, Germany, 28th to 30th August
Event 5 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 25th to 27th September
Event 6 - Almería, Andalucía, 10th to 12th October
2009 Entries iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series:
BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) - James Spithill (AUS)
BT - Nick Moloney (AUS)
Ecover (EUR) – Mike Golding (GBR)
Gitana Extreme - Groupe LCF Rothschild (FRA) - Yann Guichard (FRA)
Groupama 40 (FRA) - Franck Cammas (FRA)
Holmatro (NED) - Carolijn Brouwer (NED)
iShares (EUR) - Shirley Robertson (GBR)
LUNA (FRA) - Erik Maris (FRA)
Oman Sail’s Masirah (OMA) - Pete Cumming (GBR)
Oman Sail’s Renaissance (OMA) - Loïck Peyron (FRA)
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