Extreme 40
08.12.2008
Team Aqua keeps learning and improving on the Extreme 40
Oman Air Arabian Challenge - ACT 2 Oman
The three day event in Muscat, Oman, followed a similar format to that of ACT 1 in Dubai the previous week, with a mix of short course racing and three short coastal races.
Day one started great for Team Aqua when we lead at every mark and onto a convincing win in the first race. With only four boats on the course, the racing was always close and we ended up by finishing in every possible position throughout the day with a 1,2,3 & 4!
Day two was more of the same but what was becoming apparent was the vast improvement of our two Omani sailors, Abdullah & Ahmed. Having only joined our team for four days in Dubai, the guys were really starting to get to grips with their role of bowmen and we were able to push the maneuvers more and more as the event progressed.
Racing was so close at times that all four boats crossed the finish line at the same time!
The final day involved two short coastal races along the waterfront. This brought in a different element to racing the Extreme 40 & reminded us of the Round the Island Race back in June. The wind was much different to that trip though, with light winds prevailing. We took a decent second place in the first of these coastal races to make the battle for overall second & third very tight for the final races.
In the end we had to settle for fourth overall in both the Oman event and the overall Arabian Challenge.
Having only met our crew for the first time the day before racing started in Dubai, we gelled together well and showed moments of potential in winning races at both ACT 1 in Dubai & ACT 2 in Muscat.
The Arabian Challenge series certainly fulfilled its goal of bringing the Extreme 40 to the Middle East for exhibition races whilst investigating the possibility of an extended Middle East series in 2009.
The boat has now been packed away and has been sent to the DIMC in Dubai, ready for the next adventure in 2009.
Best wishes from the Extreme 40 team.
03.12.2008
Team Aqua in Oman
The Team Aqua crew have now arrived in Oman and have craned back into the water, ready to go for the Extreme 40 Arabian Challenge - ACT 2 Oman.
After finishing racing in Dubai only two days ago, we’ve had a busy time packing everything onto the trailer and driving the 8 hours across to Muscat.
It was an interesting drive through both dessert and mountains. A few camels where sighted as well as plenty of dodgy driving!
Today we re-rigged the boat and now look forward to another 3 days of close racing amongst the four teams gathered.
The teams are:
TEAM AQUA – Karine Fauconnier
Oman Sail – Chris Draper
iShares – Hugh Styles
Oman Air – Shirley Robertson
The forecast for the duration of the event is for very light winds.
We’ll keep you posted as racing gets underway.
Best wishes.
01.12.2008
Dubai Round Up
The final day of the Extreme 40 Arabian Challenge – ACT 1 Dubai started with stormy conditions that looked to be in for the day.
To our surprise by 1pm the breeze had died away to allow 4 final races in light winds.
We were back in the lagoon and due to the earlier effects of the storm, the wind was very shifty and patchy.
We finished with a 3,4,3,4 to end in 4th position.
Oman Sail, helmed by Olympic bronze medalist & double 49er World Champion Chris Draper won the event in quite convincing fashion.
They’ve been sailing together as a unit all season and finished 4th in this year’s Extreme 40 iShares Cup.
On Team Aqua we improved throughout the regatta, winning a race and certainly being in the mix in all of the others.
We now move to Oman where racing starts for ACT 2 on the 2nd December.
Best wishes.
28.11.2008
Team Aqua on the podium in 4 out of the 5 races today!
Racing in Dubai today was held just outside the harbor, but off the sea front as opposed to inside the Palm Lagoon like yesterday.
This gave us a bit more room to maneuver and get up to speed.
Winds were a bit lighter with 8 to 10 knots throughout the afternoon.
We took what we learned yesterday and improved our scores with a 2,4,3,1,3.
Two highlights today. One being a win in race four leading at every mark. The other was having Team Aqua’s Chris Bake on board for race five.
After racing we stayed out for a short time for Chris to fly a hull and drive us back to the dock. Chris is hooked and coming back tomorrow!
So a good day with better results. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Best wishes.
28.11.2008
A good start in Dubai for the Extreme 40!
Extreme 40 Arabian Challenge, ACT 1 Dubai – Day One
Today we had 6 short course races off the waterfront of Dubai. Conditions were perfect for the Extreme 40 with 12-16 knots and flat water during the afternoon.
Team Aqua finished the day with three 3rd places and three 4th places.
Being the first time the crew had raced together it took a while to get the communication onboard sorted and also to achieve sharp crew work.
By the end of today’s racing we were feeling like we were getting to grips with the racing and look forward to getting some higher results tomorrow.
As always the racing was really close and a fantastic show for the spectator boats, beachgoers and 6th man guests.
Until tomorrow.
Jim Turner
27.11.2008
Ready to Race in Dubai
The Team Aqua Extreme 40 is ready to start racing in the first of two events in the Middle East.
The Arabian Challenge – ACT 1 Dubai (27th to 29th) starts today with 6 short course races planned in the lagoon area right next to the ‘Palm’ construction off the coast of Dubai.
Tomorrow sees a possible record attempt ‘Around the World’, another man made construction off the coast.
The final day will be back into the lagoon for more short course racing.
We have a different team for this event and a truly international crew.
The event is to showcase the Extreme 40 class in the Middle East and so we have two sailors from Oman (Abdullah Al Busaidi & Ahmed Al Mamari) who have been in training for the last two months. Extreme 40 experience comes from Jim Turner from Team Aqua and Ollie Dickens, who normally sails with the BT team. Finally we have Karine Fauconnier sailing with us. Karine brings a mass of multihull sailing experience in various classes including the 60’ ORMA circuit and the D35 class.
We’ll let you know how the racing goes.
Best wishes from Dubai.
18.11.2008
TEAM AQUA Extreme 40 heads to UAE & Oman
The TEAM AQUA Extreme 40 is currently on route to the Middle East where it will race in two regattas.
First stop will be Dubai, UAE (27th – 29th November), with the other event taking place in Muscat, Oman (2nd – 4th December).
Dubai will be the first time the TEAM AQUA Extreme 40 will have raced on ‘home’ waters and the team is very much looking forward to it.
Jim Turner comments ‘Having had the TEAM AQUA RC44 in Dubai last year, it’s great that this year we’ll bring the Extreme 40 to Dubai to showcase this fantastic class’
More details about the events to follow.
Best wishes
01.10.2008
Extreme 40 – Final iShares Cup event in Amsterdam
Between the 18th & 21st September, the 10 teams competing on the 2008 iShares Cup did battle on the waters of Amsterdam.
The racing area was on the IJ-Haven Canal, a narrow strip of water just minutes away from the City Centre.
Conditions were light and shifty and being so close to the tall buildings of the City Centre made for some pretty strange breezes.
After an overall 3rd position in Kiel just two weeks before, TEAM AQUA were upbeat and looking forward to finishing out the season on a high.
Unfortunately the team struggled with the conditions and the small race course to come home in 8th position.
All of the teams were having trouble with consistency and TEAM AQUA were no different posting race scores from 2nd to 10th.
The Alinghi Team did an impressive job by winning this final event and with it the 2008 iShares circuit.
TEAM AQUA ended the season in 7th overall in its first year sailing the Extreme 40.
When looking back on the season there has been the high point of taking race wins and 3rd overall in Kiel and there has also been the low point of cart wheeling the boat in Cowes and breaking the rig.
The boats are called Extreme and that certainly sums up the year for TEAM AQUA!
So the boat has now been serviced and packed away in its container for the winter months. Now the attention moves to searching for commercial partners to continue the journey into 2009.
So the boat has now been serviced and packed away in its container for the winter months. Now the attention moves to searching for commercial partners to continue the journey into 2009.
Onwards and upwards!
All the best from the Extreme 40 team.
Extreme 40 Squad in 2008:
Cameron Appleton – Hyeres, Round the Island Race & Amsterdam (Skipper/tactician)
Alister Richardson – Lugano, Hyeres, Round the Island Race, Cowes, Kiel & Amsterdam (Helmsman)
Andrew Estcourt – Hyeres & Round the Island Race (Bowman), Cowes, Kiel & Amsterdam (Mainsheet)
Jim Turner – Lugano, Hyeres, Round the Island Race & Kiel (trimmer/grinder)
Jeff Brock – Kiel (Bowman)
Chris Bake – Round the Island Race (All rounder)
Jonathon Taylor – Lugano & Amsterdam (Bowman)
Dan Johnson – Lugano (Mainsheet) & Cowes (Trimmer/Grinder)
Simon Wheeler – Cowes (Bowman)
Tim Corney – Lugano, Hyeres, Round the Island Race, Cowes, Kiel & Amsterdam (Support Crew)
Alec Richardson - Lugano, Hyeres, Cowes, Kiel & Amsterdam (Support Crew)
19.09.2008
Team Aqua in Holland with the iShares Cup
The iShares Cup fleet had their final shakedown before the final of the 2008 series today, with three practice races before the serious business of deciding the overall champions begins tomorrow.
The 10 Extreme 40s took to the IJ-Haven canal, a narrow strip of water just a few minutes away from Amsterdam city centre, off Java Island. Cheered on by scores of school children who lined the dockside to marvel at the Extreme 40s whizzing past just inches away, the iShares Cup skippers all put on a show by flying a hull and waving to the cheering spectators.
The home crowd had plenty of local sailing stars to cheer for - with ten Dutch sailors on board the Extreme 40s, a quarter of the top quality fleet are from the host nation. Herbert Dercksen skippers the all-Dutch Volvo Ocean Race crew, and helped develop the Extreme 40 class specifically for this kind of sailing in the city.
Racing takes place Friday from 1.00pm, with a parade of sail along Java Island before races in the IJ-Haven, Amsterdam.
01.09.2008
TEAM AQUA finish 3rd overall at iShares Cup Round 4
This day will be remembered for a long time for the Extreme 40 team.
Today we sailed 6 races on the final day of the German leg of the iShares Cup circuit, in front of a crowd of 50,000 cheering spectators.
The racing was close to the shore and as we rounded the marks we could hear the screaming from onboard.
We finished off the job we started on Friday with another solid day of consistent scores to take our first podium position of the season in 3rd, behind the winners Alinghi and second placed Team Origin.
All of us are tired but really happy to put the disappointment of the UK leg behind us.
We now move onto the final round of 2008 circuit in Amsterdam in 2 weeks time when we’ll be fired up to close out the season in the best way possible, with a victory!
Best regards from the Extreme 40 team and thanks for your support.
Alister, Jim, Andy, Jeff, Tim & Alec