Extreme Sailing Series, Groupe Edmond de Rotschild balza al comando

Muscat – Tre primi, un secondo e un terzo. Cinque parziali da podio che hanno proiettato Groupe Edmond de Rotschild al comando della classifica provvisoria della prima tappa del circuito Extreme Sailing Series. Una classifica generale che al termine della giornata inaugurale era condivisa con altri tre avversari. Due di questi, Alinghi e The Wave Muscat, hanno tenuto il passo del nuovo leader, mentre il quarto, Artemis Racing, non ha vissuto la giornata che sperava ed è scivolato in quinta posizione, a 25 punti dalla vetta.

Gli equipaggi italiani sono apparsi in maggiori difficoltà rispetto a ieri. Luna Rossa, terza nella quinta e ultima manche odierna, è scivolata in ottava posizione, mentre Niceforyou Sailing Team di Alberto Barovier non è andato oltre la nona posizione ed è attualmente decimo.

A tal proposito, Barovier, portacolori con il suo equipaggio della Compagnia della Vela di Venezia, ha dichiarato: “Durante questa prima tappa ogni giorno è un buon giorno. Il nostro obiettivo, qui in Oman, è di  imparare il più possibile, e capire dove sbagliamo. Oggi c’è stato molto vento e, come sempre accade, quando aumenta il vento aumentano anche le difficoltà e gli errori. Fino ad ora non avevamo mai navigato in queste condizioni”. Poi, alla domanda se è deluso o meno per il risultato della giornata, risponde con una battuta: “Sembro così arrogante? Ci si arrabbia solo quando manca la modestia, davanti abbiamo ancora molte regate e noi stiamo imparando velocemente”.

A rendere impegnativa la giornata è stato il vento insolitamente teso che ha obbligato i team a regatare con randa ridotto in condizioni di mare corto e pronunciato. La brezza è diminuita sensibilmente nel corso del pomeriggio e si è assestata sui 16 nodi: “Le partenze sono state davvero combattute – ha raccontato il Direttore dell’Evento, Gilles Chiorri – Le tattiche seguite dai team nelle fasi di pre-partenza sono principalmente due: o veloci, mure a dritta, o lenti, mure a sinistra, con la difficoltà di trovare uno spazio ma con il vantaggio di avere una virata in meno da effettuare in fase di approccio alla boa”.

Da domani l’Extreme Sailing Series si trasferisce all’interno delle acque protette del marina, dove le regate saranno seguite dal pubblico, atteso in numero considerevole.

Extreme Sailing Series, Act 1, Day 2
1. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, pt. 101
2. Alinghi, pt. 91
3. The Wave, Muscat, pt. 89
4. Red Bull Extreme Sailing, pt. 80
5. Artemis Racing, pt. 76
…

Per consultare la classifica completa clicca qui.

Video courtesy Extreme Sailing Series.

EXTREME SAILING SERIES, GROUPE EDMOND DE ROSTCHILD TAKES THE LEAD
[Extreme Sailing Series Press Release] The all-French crew onboard Groupe Edmond de Rothschild skippered by Pierre Pennec were on fire today hardly putting a foot wrong with three wins out of five races on day 2 of the Extreme Sailing Series at The Wave, Muscat. The Swiss team of Alinghi led by Tanguy Cariou and helmed by Yann Guichard, ably supported by the crew of Nils Frei and Yves Detrey, won the first race and were in the top three in the first three races which secured them second place overall.

Terry Hutchinson’s team on Artemis Racing didn’t quite have the day they hoped for, after ended up in a four-way tie at the top at the end of play yesterday. They have now dropped to fifth overall, just 2 points ahead of Sidney Gavignet’s Oman Air team. Some of the teams new to the circuit are finding the going a little tougher with little training time, they are at the beginning of the Extreme 40 learning curve. But that doesn’t seem to have dampened their spirits: “It was another fantastic day, it can not be better with the wind direction and the sea breeze we had today. I would say it’s a sailing paradise here in Oman,” said Team Extreme skipper Roland Gaebler. “There was a lot more action on the water, a lot of nose-diving but at least no capsizes but it was close thing.”

For Niceforyou skipper Alberto Barovier and his all-Italian team learning fast is the name of the game: “We are learning about the boat all the time, how to drive it, how to round the mark. You need to get the best of the day and learn the most for the future. We are a new team, new at multihulls, especially with this breeze. We never even took a reef before! We need to stay quiet, learn and take everything point we can and learn from all the mistakes we are doing.”

With up to 21 knots the 11-boat fleet raced the first race with a reef in the mainsail, and it was wet ride on board in a short, choppy sea state. The wind decreased slightly throughout the afternoon to around 16 knots but the 44 sailors handled the conditions well: “The starts have been very impressive so far,” said Gilles Chiorri, Events Director. “They are all very close together with two different strategies – some starting fast on starboard with right of way, whilst the others opting to find a space on port which them gave the advantage of one less tack on the first windward leg which saves them about 4 to 5 boat lengths which is a lot as the racing is so close.”

The 11-boat fleet have enjoyed some fantastic sailing conditions here in Oman over the past two days on the open-water courses, but from tomorrow Act 1 at The Wave, Muscat will be open to the public and, as such, the racing will be staged close to shore in front of the spectators within the confines of a ‘stadium’ race course. “I hope that everything goes well tomorrow, it will be a completely different game but we will try to stay out of the traffic, not to get into trouble or cause any,” said Roland.

Racing starts at 1400 local time (1000GMT) tomorrow with the Race Village opening to the public between 1100-1800 local time. An array of on shore entertainment has been arranged for the thousands of public expected to attend over the next three days.

Extreme Sailing Series, Act 1, Day 2
1. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, pt. 101
2. Alinghi, pt. 91
3. The Wave, Muscat, pt. 89
4. Red Bull Extreme Sailing, pt. 80
5. Artemis Racing, pt. 76
…

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