iShares Cup France - Alinghi Wins - News and Video

Hyères, France - Alinghi and Teamorigin dominated the fleet at the iShares cup in France which wrapped up yesterday. Both sailing teams won three races on the last day of racing in a cup which has seen some of the highest winds, dramatic capsizes, and near misses, ever seen at an iShares cup event.

Alinghi and Teamorigin, stayed out of trouble after their capsizes early in the event, unfortunately the US team of Tommy Hilfiger wasn't so lucky. The team pitch-poled their Extreme 40 in a bear-away just off the breakwater stunning onlookers who gasped at the drama unfolding before them. The catamaran boat stood on her nose before rounding and landing back upright in a spectacular display.

iShares Cup Hyères France: Tommy Hilfiger pitch pole by Jean Francois Dedieu

“Well we did it in the right place didn’t we!” joked boat skipper Randy Smyth, “It was just classic offshore puffy winds, we came round the weather mark with Holmatro right on our tail so the Hilfiger team all said, ok, we’ve got to get the gennaker up because if we don’t they’re going to roll past us. But to get the gennaker up the boys had to run forward and start hoisting, the moment they went forward we got a huge puff and they started running back but it was too late! Once the bow sticks the boat is going so fast and has so much momentum that it goes right over.

Those three were all hanging onto the net like scared rats, but I just crawled over the side – I thought it was history! Then it came crashing back down and they never stopped for a heartbeat, the put the gennaker up and we were off! They stayed as a team, as a unit, and that’s hard to do. It was a new definition of extreme!”

Skipper Rob Greenhalgh, the reigning iShares Cup champion, demonstrated his Extreme 40 experience on TEAMORIGIN, taking the first two races on the last day in gusty 20 knot winds. America's Cup winner Ed Baird on Alinghi took three wins in a row however, as the wind eased in the afternoon.

Greenhalgh had this to say at dockside "We were really slow in one race which really hurt us, but in the last race we got back into our groove, found some good speed and just launched ourselves off the start-line. Alinghi were doing pretty badly so it was fingers crossed they might fall back a few more places. We tried to sit on them a bit, but to be honest the fleet was very spread out and we couldn't really afford to lose our first place. But we probably made them sweat a bit!"

iShares Cup France: Alinghi by Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events

The last race of the iShares cup event was a spectacular finale, with crowds lining the breakwater in Hyères. Teamorigin lead the fleet on the course with Alinghi way back in sixth, nearly loosing the title. But Baird and his crew had a trick up their sleeve, and as the catamaran fleet gybed up the shore Alinghi held their line perilously close to the rocks, allowing them to overtake two boats close to the finish line and finish the race fourth, winning the iShares France overall event.

Ed Baird, Skipper for Alinghi said "It's really is nice to end the weekend on top of things here, the team has done just a fabulous job in conditions that frankly we don't have much experience in. In that last race we knew what we had to do but it was close there for a while!"

The next iShares sailing event will be at Skandia Cowes Week starting August 2.

The crew of Oman Sail are thrown forward by the impact as they collide with Tommy Hilfiger on Day 2 of the iShares Cup in Hyeres France.

iShares Event 2 Hyere, France
Alinghi	6	7	2	1	2	5	1	6	4	3	1	4	4	3	1	1	1	4	168
Team Origin	9	2	DNF	5	5	6	3	1	1	1	2	3	1	1	3	7	2	1	162
Volvo Ocean Race	4	6	1	11	4	1	2	3	2	2	9	7	2	4	5	6	4	7	141
Holmatro	5	DNF	5	7	10	7	6	9	5	4	5	5	6	2	4	5	5	3	120
Team Aqua	3	8	4	6	3	8	4	7	9	8	8	2	7	9	9	8	6	5	109
BT	1	1	6	3	8	3	11	5	6	9	10	1	8	8	6	4	8	11	108
JPMorgan Asset Management	8	5	9	4	1	2	7	8	7	5	3	10	10	6	8	2	10	8	107
iShares	10	4	7	2	9	4	5	4	3	7	7	9	3	5	7	10	9	9	105
Oman Sail	2	3	3	10	6	DNS	9	11	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	5	7	2	3	3	6	92
Tommy Hilfiger	7	9	DNS	9	11	9	8	2	8	6	4	6	9	11	11	11	11	2	80
TWINS	11	10	8	8	7	10	10	10	10	10	6	8	11	10	10	9	7	10	53

Alinghi winner in the Hyeres event of iShares Cup 2008 Pierrick Contin/DPPI/OC Events

-- Ishares Cup Overall Standings --

Team Origin	9	10	-	-	-	1
Alinghi	6	9	-	-	-	2
JP Morgan Asset Management	10	4	-	-	-	3

Read more about the iShares Cup

Video: USA team, Tommy Hilfiger, nearly pitchpoling their Extreme 40 catamaran sailboat just off the breakwater in front of the crowds. Standing the Extreme 40 catamaran on her nose.