ECOVER Sailing Team. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/ECOVER Sailing Team.
by Lucy Harwood
It’s been true crash and burn sailing today in the Solent during day two of the Extreme Sailing Series Cowes. Ecover put in a fantastic performance keeping them in contention as they remain second overall after two days of racing. They are now just six points shy of the current leaders Oman Sail The Wave, Muscat.
“It’s been a full on day for us all,” commented Ecover helm Leigh McMiIllan. “We had another great start getting a bullet with the morning race, which put us back in contention with the leaders, just one point from Oman Sail Masirah as we headed into racing this afternoon. Conditions were pretty punchy out there today, with 20 to 25 knots and big gusts. When you add the current to that you can see how things can get messy, its been full on out there".
The afternoon racing got underway at 1500, but the race committee made the call to take the fifth men off as conditions were two extreme for them to sail. Ecover had a tricky start in race 1, Groupama came in on port and tacked in front of Ecover, but it was too tight and Ecover and Groupama touched bows. It took a while for the rigging to untangle and they were forced to settle for last. "That cost us the race, which is really furstrating given our start which had us setup in second. We just had to focus and stay on track, we pulled back a few spots in the next race but we knew we had to step up our game. The Wave was having a cracking day, but we were still in touch with Masirah so we knew we were still in contention if we put in some solid top three performances for the end of the day," Skipper Mike Golding.
Ecover soon found their game and posted a second followed by two bullets, one of their best performances of the series to date. “We are really happy,” commented Ecover tactician Will Howden. “We worked hard today, it wasn’t easy. The race course threw up some challenging conditions, and the nature of this kind of racing means its intense and mistakes are punished hard. It was a case of team work, everyone has worked their socks off today so its great to it paying off on the leaderboard”.
Racing continues tomorrow at 1000 from the Royal Yacht Squadron line for the third long distance race of the event. Short course racing will once again take place at 1500 from Egypt Point.
Standings after Day 2
1. The Wave, Muscat 85 pts
2. Ecover 80 pts
3. Oman Sail Masirah 74 pts
4. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild 67 pts
5. The Ocean Racing Club 61 pts
6. Red Bull Extreme Sailing 56 pts
7. Groupama 50 pts
8. Team GAC Pindar 47 pts
9. Veolia Environnement 9 pt
ECOVER Sailing Team
Extreme Sailing Series Europe
