Cowes Week - Crash and Capsizes for iShares

Boating and Sailing News 02 Aug

iShares Skandia Cowes Extreme 40 Catamarans

Cowes, UK - The first iShares race at Skandia Cowes Week has concluded, and what carnage it was for the fleet of Extreme 40 Catamarans, with three capsizes and a major collision! It began when Cameron Appleton's Team Aqua capsized and broke their rig between races 2 and 3, but it was race four that took out 40% of the remaining fleet. First, Franck Cammas on BMW Oracle collided with BT, resulting in major front-end damage for BMW Oracle team-Cammas, and a corresponding gaping hole in one of BT's hulls. Then both TEAMORIGIN and the other BMW Oracle boat, skippered by Spithill, capsized.

Despite the DNF in race four, Franck Cammas's performance in the first three races left BMW Oracle tied for third place. At the top of the leader list after Day 1 is Alinghi, with Ed Baird as skipper, followed by Andreas Hagara and Holmatro in second, and Pete Cumming on Oman Sail in the third place tie with Cammas.

The iShares racing continues tomorrow, and we'll have to see what teams will be ready to sail after today's string of calamities. One thing for sure: if you want action, the fast and finicky Extreme 40 cats put on quite a show, and with so many sailing superstars drawn to the speed and challenge of the design, the Extreme 40 is earning a reputation among many as the most exciting one-design on the water.

Cowes Week Video: iShares Cup Crashes and Capsizes of Extreme 40 Catamarans.

iShares Cup - Skandia Cowes Week - Day One Results

(Position, Team - Race 1, Race 2, Race 3, Race 4: Total Points)

1. Alinghi - 2,6,3,1: 40
2. Holmatro - 3,4,4,2: 39
3. BMW ORACLE Cammas - 1,1,2,DNF: 35
4. Oman Sail - 5,3,5,4: 35
5. Team Origin - 4,5,1,DNF: 29
6. JP Morgan - 8,10,6,3: 25
7. iShares - 6,7,9,5: 25
8. BMW ORACLE Spithill - 9,2,7,DNF: 21
9. Volvo Ocean Race - RAF,8,10,6: 15
10. BT - 10,9,8,DNF: 12
11. Team Aqua - 7,11,DNS,DNS: 8

- YC for YachtPals.com

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Submitted By YachtPals on 02 Aug

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iShares Cup Video - Cowes Week Day 1

On August 3rd, 2008 YachtPals says:

iShares Cup video added above.

Team Aqua and the iShares Cup at Cowes Week

On August 3rd, 2008 YachtPals says:

Team Aqua did not sail in today's iShares Cup at Cowes Week, and has officially withdrawn from this race.

Statement recieved from Cameron Appleton, skipper of Team Aqua:

"We’re officially withdrawing from the Cowes round of the iShares Cup due to an accident suffered to our helmsman Alister Richardson yesterday at the time of our capsize. We’ve assessed all areas of the project including his well-being and we feel that with his back strain yesterday he’s not in a position to produce this sort of level of intensity and results that we are going to be looking for in the remainder of this regatta, and we just feel that his well-being and his health is our biggest concern. If he can’t be at a 100% then our team can’t be up to it and it’s just an unfortunate situation and we’re sorry that he’s injured. Our boat is fixable but it’s just his well-being that is our main concern and he’s a main part of our programme so we want to protect his health.

We sustained a broken top section of the mast and a few other broken bits and pieces that come with breaking a mast, and lots of little rips and tears to the mainsail. All those things we fixed anyway and we had all intentions this afternoon to re-rig the boat and go sailing but when it came round to the final crunch of making a call, we re-visited all the options and the main concern was Alister. The boat was in a position to go sailing again but Alister’s more important to our programme than the repairs to the boat right now."

We hope Alister Richardson will be back in top shape soon, and wish him a speedy recovery. We'll just have to wait for the next round of the iShares Cup to see Team Aqua sail again.

More news about the iShares Cup in Cowes coming soon.