Ecover capsizes

And more drama from the opening day of racing at the iShares Cup in Kiel

Capsize and collisions in gusty conditions marked day 1 of the iShares Cup racing in Kiel, Germany.

“It was carnage out there…” said Oman Sail crewman David Carr.

Mike Golding's Ecover capsized between races 3 and 4, resulted in a broken mast. The mast was cut away from the upturned boat, and both boat and mast were towed back to the iShares Cup pitlane. Crewman and sailmaker Bruno Dubois received a nasty cut to his head that required stitches. And then after a full on day of racing, in the final race, Loick Peyron's Renaissance hit the new Wirsol Team Germany Kiel Sailing City resulting in major work overnight for both boats. It didn’t all go Oman Sail Masirah’s way either today in the difficult and gusty conditions on Kiel Fjord but after seven races on day of 1 round 4, Pete Cumming’s team are, once again, at the top of the leaderboard.

Back ashore Mike Golding commented: “Bruno’s had a scan and is being kept in overnight but otherwise he’s fine. It was a very quick capsize, the conditions had been very gusty and none of us were expecting to have a problem like that outside of the racecourse. We were between races and we had just boarded our guest and were heading back to the start area when a big gust came in, fully downwind, both bows went in and we just pitch-poled very, very quickly. All of us were in the water - even the experienced Extreme 40 guys were amazed at how fast the boat rotated. When we came up from under the net we saw Bruno had a head injury and were pretty shocked.

“We will right the boat next and we have a spare mast here so we will make an assessment of what’s here and try and get the boat back out on the racecourse. We’re here to be racing so we want to get the programme back on track.”

The conditions for racing on the short and tight courses on the Kiel Fjord were demanding and pretty nerve-wracking for the Extreme 40 crews as the wind gusted over 30 knots - this is sailing at the sharp end of the sport. It required slick boat handling and 100% focus.

Of his collision with Wirsol Team German Kiel Sailing City, Oman Sail Renaissance skipper, Loick Peyron said it occurred as they tried to bear away behind the local team: “A little puff of wind, then boom - no more rudder, we were flying with no tiller - so after that you have a few seconds to pray. It can be dangerous, but that is part of the game. I think it’s the first time I hit another boat and I don’t like that.” After two race wins, the disqualification cost them second place on the leaderboard which has been taken over by Franck Cammas’ Groupama Extreme who sailed well, scoring one victory and no worse than sixth place.

As to the damage to Wirsol Team German Kiel Sailing CityiShares Cup Race Director, Gilles Chiorri said: “There is serious damage to the port hull of the aft beam - it is where the aft beam is moulded to the hull so they will have a long night of repair work. I am pretty confident they will be racing tomorrow”

Overall iShares Cup series leaders, Oman Sail Masirah skippered by Pete Cummings, is now also occupying the top of the leaderboard at the end of day 1 in Kiel. Cummings commented: “The wind strength went from 5 knots up to 25 knots - it would just hit like that. So, yeah, it was all on! It’s really brilliant racing though and you can hear the crowds cheering you down the racetrack. Really unfortunate for Ecover - it’s just really tight racing and everyone is pushing hard, and when you’re at this level that’s how it is. You’ve got to be on top of your game that’s for sure.”

Day 2 of Round 4 of the iShares Cup at Kiel is expected to be just as demanding, if not more so with stronger gusts forecast.

See today's video here (nb: this is in .mov format for Quicktime)

Results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	Masirah	Pete Cumming	3	2	4	1	2	2	1	62
2	Groupama	Franck Cammas	4	1	6	4	6	3	2	51
3	Renaissance	Loick Peyron	5	4	1	3	1	5	DSQ	47
4	Gitana Extreme-Groupe LCF Rothschild	Yann Guichard	2	3	2	6	4	9	5	46
5	BT	Nick Moloney	7	9	3	9	7	1	3	38
6	iShares	Shirley Robertson	10	5	7	5	5	4	4	37
7	LUNA	Eric Maris	6	10	5	2	3	8	7	36
8	Holmatro	Mitch Booth	1	7	8	8	9	6	6	32
9	WIRSOL TEAM GERMANY KIEL.SAILING CITY	Roland Gäbler	9	6	10	7	8	7	8	22
10	Ecover	Mike Golding	8	8	9	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	8