Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/ECOVER Sailing Team.
by Lucy Harwood
The final day of the final event of the Extreme Sailing Series 2010 witnessed a battle to the bitter end as the top four boats pushed each other to the final race to decide who would win both the event, and the overall series title. Ecover who were still in the hunt for the event title heading into racing today, just six points away from joint leaders Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and The Wave, Muscat had a testing day on the water as they worked to secure a podium position overall.
It was a challenging final day for everyone, conditions once again built in the port of Almeria, 15 to 20 knots filled the harbour as the fleet blasted around the compact race course in front of a big crowd who lined the port for the afternoon's racing. The fleet headed out to the bay for the first two races of the day sailing under full main and with fifth men onboard, but by mid afternoon conditions had increased to over 20 knots, and after just two races inside the harbour a call from the race management saw the teams complete a compulsory reef and fifth men were soon also taken off the boats.
Ecover had a rollercoaster ride for their final day of competition. Several outstanding performances delivering two bullets and several top three finishes saw the British team edge ahead into the overall event lead for the event half way through today. But a series of protests on the water resulted in Ecover suffering three penalties in consecutive races, which closed the gap between themselves and fourth placed Oman Sail Masirah to just two points. Impacting not only the event result but their place on the podium for the overall series.
“It was a bit of a mixed bag for us today, we were pretty set on winning this event, we had closed the gap to the two event leaders going into today (The Wave, Muscat & Groupe Edmond de Rothschild) and we had a comfortable position over fourth, We started off really well, we scored a few bullets and extended and it looked like we might be able to wrap up the podium spot for the event overall. We were focusing on the regatta but then things took a turn for the worse. I think we got three penalties in three successive races, and I can tell you it isn’t fun or fast in these boats when you’re doing penalties, its very, very slow. Things seem to get away from us and if our fate carried on in that way we were at risk of losing third overall. It literally came down to the last race, we had a two point lead over Oman Sail Masirah in fourth so we knew what we had to beat them," Ecover helm Leigh McMillan.
Ecover headed into the final double points race of the day with a clear strategy, they sailed a commanding race, charging over the start line and extended from the fleet at every mark. They cruised over the finish line to win the final race of the series and secure thier place on the podium overall.
“We got our act together and sorted ourselves out. We got a really nice start and just controlled the whole race, we managed to get a big lead and it was a comfortable win for us in the end. It was real touch and go stuff for us today, we certainly had to take a step back and evaluate things and not crumble under the pressure, but we managed to hold onto it and that’s really pleasing for us,“ Leigh McMillan.
The result today in Almeria is a big change from the final result for the team in the 2009 series. Ecover skippered by Mike Golding has delivered some of the most consistant sailing throughout the five event series, clocking up four podium finishes out of five events and pushing the more established teams at every opportunity.
"We’re ecstatic, really ecstatic. We were all getting a little bit edgy on the boat today, we definitely felt the pressure a little bit in the middle of the day but we pulled it back when it really counted on that last double pointer race so it’s a fantastic feeling. I have always known the potential the team has, and I knew we could have done well in this series and thought a podium finish was possible. But obviously it’s a big change, with a new crew particularly Leigh who has done a fantastic job. Will Howden, Jonathan Taylor (Boycy) and Andrew McLean have all put in 100% and its paid off, we have secured third overall so I’m absolutely delighted," Ecover skipper Mike Golding.
The eight international teams have completed 129 races throughout this series, and taken on every weather condition posisble. For Leigh McMillan it has been a exciting year at the helm of Ecover, "We’ve come on a really long way and I think to move it on for next year we would have to do some training with some others teams and work on our boat speed and stuff like that. Its been an awesome season for us because a top three podium spot overall was really the dream for us from the beginning. For a new team to race against guys that have been training over the winter, and involved in two boat testing, and just come out and take them on at this level is fantastic. We’ve beaten some of the best teams in the world on this circuit so that’s a really nice feeling for us".
Extreme Sailing Series™ Almeria Results
1st The Wave, Muscat, Paul Campbell-James, 157 points
2nd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Yann Guichard, 142 points
3rd Ecover Sailing Team, Mike Golding, 135 points
4th Oman Sail Masirah, Loick Peyron, 123 points
5th Groupama 40, Franck Cammas, 107 points
6th Rumbo Almeria, Guillermo Altadill, 91 points
7th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, Roman Hagara, 91 points
8th Emirates Team New Zealand, Dean Barker, 66 points
Final Overall standings after 5 events
1 The Wave Muscat - 36
2 Groupe Edmond De Rothschild - 34
3 Ecover Sailing Team - 31
4 Oman Sail Masirah - 29
5 Groupama 40 - 17
6 Red Bull Extreme Sailing - 16
7 The Ocean Racing Club - 7
8 Team GAC Pindar - 3
ECOVER Sailing Team
Extreme Sailing Series Europe
