Full house for Basilica
Smyth on Hilfiger Hangs on to 3rd, But Still Maintains Overall Lead

May 28, 2006, Portsmouth, United Kingdom – It has been a brilliant first day for the Brits onboard Basilica today. Four wins out of four races on the Southsea front produced a jubilant crowd of cheering spectators for the UK entry.

The recipe of constant winds of 15 knots added to sunny spells, gave the competitors a chance to really race the Volvo Extreme 40’s around the track and the spectators a great view on the first day of the series in Portsmouth. The catamarans sailed four races this afternoon with plenty of spills and thrills to keep everybody on their toes.

Photo by Oskar_Kihlborg

The first race started with fury when Motorola (Conrad Humphreys) being helmed today by world famous multihull and monohull sailor Brian Thompson got caught out on the wrong side of the committee boat and ended up a minute late for the start of the race. Unfortunately for them they never caught the rest of the fleet who sped off round the windward, leeward course.

By the end of the two laps Basilica skippered by James Grant and helmed by Alister Richardson was out in the lead and finished just under a minute before Volvo Ocean Race helmed by the class designer Yves Loday. Third place was tightly fought over as Team Hilfiger (Randy Smyth) and Holmatro skippered by Andreas Hagara tried to out-gybe each other on the last downwind leg. The fight eventually ended in Smyth pippin Hagara to the post by five seconds, each boat pushing to the absolute limit.

Randy Smyth on Tommy Hilfiger still holds the overall lead for the Volvo Extreme 40 Series, but could only muster a 3rd for the first day in the UK. (photo by Richard Blake)

After a short break the second race was underway with Motorola port tacking the whole fleet on the line timing their run up, to perfection. They led the fleet with Basilica snapping at their heels and looked likely to finish in first until the second downwind leg. Basilica overtook them and to make matters worse the crew had problems furling the gennaker as they rounded the mark forcing them to sail off downwind to gain control of the sail. Unfortunately the problems led to them never finishing the race, which at the start looked in the bag.

Motorola was not the only yacht to have problems with their gennaker this afternoon. In the third race the Volvo Ocean Race crew had the same issue, forcing them to lose a lot of ground on the four other cats and finish last. Basilica again wowed their fans by taking first, with Holmatro close on their tail to give them two second places.

By the fourth race every cat looked like they were up to full pace with some spectacularly close manoeuvring, especially at the start as they vied for their spot on the line. Basilica and Team Volvo Ocean Race crossed the line simultaneously and by the first mark Volvo Ocean Race had just nudged into the lead. Regrettably on the downwind leg the cat came up too high and let the three following boats squeeze under them. By the time all four cats came to the bottom mark there was only twenty seconds separating them and not much space. After some frantic shouting of rules, they all came away uninjured and either tacked towards the shore or out into clear air but less breeze.

Motorola was the last to round the bottom mark but while the other cats were busy watching each other, Team Motorola with some clever moves worked their way back up the fleet into second, their best place all afternoon.

The boys on Basilica are obviously jubilant this afternoon after their wins, skipper James Grant couldn’t keep the smile of his face. “Today we exceeded all our expectations. We felt really positive going into the regatta. Our boat is better prepared at the moment than ever before. I think we have raised the bar today and as long as we keep a few boats in between us and Randy (Smyth) on Hilfiger we’re happy.”

It will be very interesting to see if the Brits on Basilica can keep up their momentum on the next day of racing on Tuesday with a lay day in between which many of the teams will use for practise. Or will the Americans on Hilfiger come back with vengeance?

Racing recommences on Tuesday 30th May at 14:00 (local). For further information on the class log onto www.VolvoExtreme40.org.

Results, Day 1 (after 4 races)
1st Basilica, 40 pts
2nd Holmatro, 26 pts
3rd Tommy Hilfiger, 24 pts
4th Volvo Ocean Race, 21 pts
5th Motorola-CHR 17 pts

Overall Series Rankings (after three events)
1st Tommy Hilfiger 26 pts
2nd Basilica 20 pts
3rd Holmatro 19 pts
4th Motorola-CHR 18 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race 16 pts

Remaining Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series Dates
Rotterdam, Netherlands 9-14 June, 2006