iShares Cup racing off Hyeres. Image copyright Thierry Martinez/Sea&Co/OC Events.
by Emily Caroe
Round 2 of the iShares Cup Hyères-TPM is all set to go – official racing starts tomorrow (Friday, 3rd July) at 14h00 local time through to Sunday, 5th July. Today saw a series of practice races for the ten Extreme 40s including the iShares Cup Raid – a 10-mile sprint to the island of Porquerolles and back. The beauty of the iShares Cup is the adaptability of the Extreme 40 fleet to race on open sea or on inland waters; racing short courses close to shore, trying speed runs or stretching their legs in a ‘raid’ format as they did today.
Following the official opening iShares Cup press conference at which Jacques Politi, Mayor of Hyères and Vice-President of TPM (Toulon Provence Mediterranée) welcomed the skippers to the region, the skippers were keen to get going. Franck Cammas, skipper Groupama: “I am impatient to race! The Extreme 40s are great to sail and Hyères should be more windy than Venice hopefully. I hope we're not going to race too close to shore if it's really windy as it might be a bit more 'extreme' than we like!”
Although the weather forecast predicted light conditions for the next few days, the temperatures in Hyères results in the land heating up through the morning to create a good and consistent sea breeze for the afternoon. Shirley Robertson, skipper Team iShares, remembers the conditions last year: “Last year we had some big wind - I ended up on a stretcher with stitches! Going downwind with the big gennaker up and both rudders out the water - there's not much you can do at the back except hang on - this is Hyères! I think this weekend we could have a few surprises...”
Well, perhaps the first surprise of Round 2 has been the victory of Erik Maris and his crew onboard LUNA, in the iShares Cup Raid and the second practice race.
As Loick Peyron, skipper Oman Sail Renaissance commented: “This iShares Cup is a very exciting game... Sailing in open water can change many things.”
iShares Cup Raid results (non-scoring race):
1 LUNA (Erik Maris)
2 BMW ORACLE Racing (James Spithill)
3 Gitana (Yann Guichard)
4 Groupama (Franck Cammas)
5 Oman Sail Renaissance (Loick Peyron)
6 BT (Nick Moloney)
7 Holmatro (Carolijn Brouwer)
8 Oman Sail Masirah (Pete Cumming)
9 iShares (Shirley Robertson)
10 Ecover (Mike Golding)
5th man aboard BMW Oracle during the iShares Raid
by Jocelyn Blériot
When an opportunity to jump onboard the BMW Oracle Extreme 40 arises, what can one do apart from dropping notebooks and mobile phone on the dock, grabbing a lifejacket, and jumping on one of the ribs shuttling from the race village to the race course?
The sea breeze promises hull-flying conditions, the run to the Porquerolles island and back leaves plenty of space for the boats to show their full potential... and to put things simply, you just don't get the chance to hitch a ride with an America's Cup crew everyday, so even if the conditions were not ideal it still would be a treat!
James Spithill, John Kostecki, Joe Newton and Dirk de Ridder welcome me aboard 10 minutes before the start, and we gently sail around the start line, the guys discussing placement on the line and possible wind shifts around Porquerolles, less than 5 miles away. My guess is that it's going to be a very quick five miles, and the sailing geek in me is thrilled to be about to live a starting sequence aboard a boat crewed by America's Cup legends, Volvo Ocean Race winners and Match Racing World Champions. I feel like a train-obsessed kid who was given a chance to sit next to the driver during a TGV speed test!
The gun is about to go, we're obviously off to a very good start and it's going to be a straight line, sheer speed race, to the first mark. Erik Maris's Luna leads, we're in second place and Joe Newton, trimming the jib, impresses me with his very accurate "reading" of the wind variations on the water. The windward hull is above the surface, whenever a little gust kicks in the daggerboard is taken out of the water and the sudden silence reinforces that bird-like impression - we're doing roughly 18 knots, preparing the first mark rounding and monitoring Gitana Extreme's whereabouts: sailing lower, they're trying to build more speed and claim second place. It might be a training race with no points at stake but what difference does that make? No way Spithill and his gang are going let that one pass. We're coming on the buoy at full speed, Dirk de Ridder and Joe Newton are already starting to hoist the gennaker, we're now 3 metres away from Yann Guichard's boat and decide to continue towards the shore.
On a regular (slow?) monohull, you'd be admiring the scenery, as the Porquerolles rocks sunk in deep blue water are a fantastic sight. Fortunately, I'd been there already (on a slow boat) and enjoyed the view, because today it was not an option. That part of the race is probably the only real tactical moment, and Dirk de Ridder pants heavily as he sits down next to me after a couple of gybes. The speed at which these guys perform the manoeuvres is staggering, especially considering the effort they require! Luna does a great job of holding on to her leading position, and we're already heading back towards Hyères and the finish line. To leeward, a pack of three Extreme 40 all skippered by French legends - Cammas, Peyron and Guichard - seem pretty quick and need to be controlled. Not a problem, John Kostecki is on the case and we're seeing the line getting closer, it's only a matter of holding on to our position. One last little gust to salute the race committee with the windward hull cleanly up in the air, and that's it job done.
Kostecki turns to the Luna crew and shouts "Well done guys" with a big smile... while it seems to me like mine is going to stay stuck on my face for another two hours! But what's that absurd business about having to go back to my computer?
iShares Cup
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