Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/ECOVER Sailing Team.
by Lucy Harwood
Racing got underway today in Almeria for day one of the final event of the Extreme Sailing Series. The light conditions continued to dominate racing, forcing the start to be postponed as the eight boat fleet drifted around the course, waiting for the breeze to materialise. After a 45 minute delay, a light breeze filled the race course and the race committee were quick to get the fleet started. Racing was located outside the harbour for the first two races, after which they headed inside for some close windward leeward racing by the shore.
It was a good day for Ecover who clocked up five top three positions in seven races, including a bullet on the second race of the day. They head into the second day of racing in second overall, just four points from current event leaders Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and three points in front of the two Oman Sail teams.
“The day has been predominantly light, it’s been quite tricky seeing the breeze coming in, and also a bit patchy with some big holes on the race course. We had a good day, one race was slightly shaky and things didn't go quite to plan, but since then we've had pretty much top three performances throughout the day. So overall we're very happy and presently on track for a good result in Almeria, but we still have three days ahead and anything can happen,” skipper Mike Golding.
As to be expected with this type of racing, the course and conditions made the sailing very tricky for the fleet. The light winds meant the boat handling onboard needed to be perfect, any minor mistake was punished hard with boats moving from the front to the back of the fleet after the smallest error on the race course. After a short delay for a container ship to leave the port, racing got underway inside the harbour and the tight course meant a real fight on the start line. With limited space the boats jostled for position, but it was Ecover that found the most successful tactic. Leigh McMillan pulled off multiple port line starts as he managed to duck below everyone and find clear air, as a result Ecover repeatedly lead the fleet as they headed to the top mark.
“We just sailed our own races today,” commented Ecover helm Leigh McMillan. "We got off to slow start and it was very tight out in the bay and very light winds. Boycy gave us a stern talking to after the first race where we sailed ourselves into 6th place, he told us to sort ourselves out and we did, and after that we were suddenly in the top three in every race and we managed to pull it back. We experienced a few gusts coming through at the end, it’s already pretty exciting with some boat contact. If it’s windy tomorrow, it’s going to be all on. There is not a lot of room to get out of the way and there are brick walls everywhere!".
The fleet are expecting conditions to build overnight with anything from 10 to plus 20 knots on the race course, as well as a few showers. Racing is due to start at approximately 1430 local time (GMT +1) with 6 – 8 races planned.
Results after 7 races – Saturday 9th October
1 Groupe Edmond De Rothschild – 45 points
2 Ecover Sailing Team – 41 points
3 The Wave Muscat - 38 points
4 Oman Sail Masirah – 38 points
5 Groupama – 28 points
6 Rumbo Almeria - 23 points
7 Red Bull Extreme Sailing - 21 points
8 Emirates Team New Zealand – 18 points
ECOVER Sailing Team
Extreme Sailing Series
