ECOVER Extreme 40 off Almeria. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images.
by Lucy Harwood
Almeria marks the final event on iShares Cup 2009 circuit, so far the teams have taken to the water for 92 races over 5 regattas, there have been crashes, capsizes, squalls, flat calm water and some long hours for the boat builders as they keep the boats on the water! It has been the first time on the circuit for Ecover, and a total change of tack for skipper Mike Golding. The world is more used to relating Ecover Sailing Team skipper Mike Golding with offshore single-handed racing, but the Ecover Extreme 40 has thrown all it can at the round the world skipper. It has been a non stop full on close racing event, which has pushed the boats and the crews to their limit.
Q: Speaking to Mike ahead of the final event in Almeria we asked him what his overriding impression of his first year on the circuit had been?
A: “Well I expected a lot of everything, we have had some fabulous locations, and Venice was a highlight to kick off the season. We’ve had all the conditions and incidents! Lots of ups and downs, but nothing I didn’t expect coming into this for the first time. This is the first time at the this event for the Ecover Sailing Team, it’s been a learning curve but I think we’ve made progress and I hope we can continue to do so.”
Q: The Extreme 40 has been a real change from the world of Open 60's, you head back to the IMOCA circuit for the Transat Jacques Vabre in November do you think you will take anything you have learned from racing on this circuit with you to the Open 60?
A: “There are always things you can carry across from type of sailing to the next, which is one of the things I love about this sport. The Extreme 40 is a very different type of sailing to the Open 60 world, but I am sure there are things that I will take with me when I sail again in the Transat Jacques Vabre, but I certainly won’t be putting the Open 60 in the tight places you can find yourself on this race course!”
Q: Do you think there is a distinct split in the Extreme 40 class in terms of performance, do you think this can this be improved to make a more equal playing field?
A: “It depends greatly on what the organisation wants to happen in the future. There are two options, you continue to allow the diversity of sailing talent within the fleet, or you turn it into a more grand prix multihull event where you find the crème de la creme of the multihull sailors competing. I think it is important to keep the breadth of sailing talent involved, it increases media attention and certainly makes for a more interesting class.”
Q: What has been your favourite venue to race on and why?
A: “I think Hyeres was a great venue for everyone. You got the chance to stretch you legs on the water, so to speak. You could really concentrate on the sailing, some of the other venues are fantastic too, but when you are racing in such confined areas like Amsterdam it means there are so many more things to think about on the water. It’s a fine balance between delivering a perfect race course for the sailors and still being able to deliver the sailing to the spectators on shore. But OC have a fantastic race management team, who do a great job of finding that balance in some very challenging locations!”
Q: How do you think the class/event can improve in the future, for instance do you think more or less venues would work better?
A: “I think realistically it comes down to budgets. If you double the amount of venues you double the budget! If you’re not careful you start to cross over into much larger budgets where other campaigns and events sit, and then you are fighting for the same level of sponsorship which can be even more challenging.”
Q: Is there is a venue this is not currently on the circuit that you think should be included?
A: “I would like to see Belgium on the circuit, maybe an event in Antwerp. As we have a Belgian sponsor it would be great to see a stop on the circuit that reflected their involvement. I think Cowes is a great location, but I would love to see the UK event head to London. It might be a tall order but I think it could work fantastically well. Bristol Docks could be great too, and maybe a stop in Ireland I am sure it would be well supported there.”
Q: What has been your worst experience so far?
A: "Kiel for sure. Not just because of the capsize, but I think if Bruno hadn’t been injured in the way he was then we would have been looking back and laughing about it together. But that just wasn’t the case, it was a hard day on the water and a big moment for our team. I always knew as a new team on this circuit the chance of capsize was possible, so on some level I was expecting that this could happen, but I was taken aback by the speed at which it happened and the impact that it had."
Q: And finally, what has been your best experience of the circuit so far?
A: ”I think Hyeres was great, just perfect racing in my mind. The last day of Cowes when we finished second on the last race with no rudder was a great day too. I have enjoyed every minute of this circuit, there have been many good points it’s hard to pick one out, I hope to be back next year to take it on again!"
The 10-boat fleet goes into the final round with the top three teams separated by just one point. Oman Sail Renaissance, Oman Sail Masirah and Gitana Extreme - Groupe LCF Rothschild will be keeping a close eye on each other as they battle it out for the overall title of 2009 iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series Champions. The fleet will take to the tight race course set out in front of Puerto del Almeria this afternoon with racing starting at 1500 local time (GMT +1). Conditions today are light, which may limit the number of races that take place, current forecasts suggest it will stay predominantly light tomorrow with stronger gusts expected to build each afternoon due to the thermal effect of the land heating up in the high temperatures here in Almeria.
ECOVER Sailing Team
iShares Cup
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