Alinghi clinch second iShares Cup win

• Alinghi victorious at the UK round of the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week
• TEAMORIGIN fight back to second place — holding on to the overall lead in the 2008 iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series
• At the halfway stage in the iShares Cup European circuit – only 1 point now separates TEAMORIGIN from Alinghi
• The final day produced continued drama that saw both Franck Cammas’ BMW ORACLE Racing and JPMorgan Asset Management capsize in the first race of the day. A quick righting by Cammas’ team enabled them to keep on racing, but JPMorgan Asset Management’s rig was broken.
• This event has produced all the drama that the Extreme 40s were created for!
• Next stop Kiel (Germany) for the penultimate round over 29th-31st August

America’s Cup Defenders Alinghi opened today in front, but it was another America’s Cup team, the third placed BMW ORACLE Racing skippered by James Spithill, which got things off to a flying start today by taking the first four race wins – was the scoreboard set for another shake up?

Alinghi’s day got off to a slow start in race one when they found themselves without a clear lane on the approach to the committee boat end of the start line. Then the leading team were back in the pack on the first lap of races two and three — getting stuck in a slow tack on the approach to the first mark in race two, and eventually rounding back in 9th position. But they kept a cool head to pick off several boats downwind in each race, scoring consistent fourth, fifth and sixth places to keep their nose in front overall.

As expected TEAMORIGIN were putting in a spirited fight, splitting to the opposite sides of the racecourse to their Alinghi rivals and scoring a string of second and third places to take second overall and eat away at Alinghi’s lead — at one point there were just four points in it.

Elsewhere in the fleet iShares has a terrific second race to finish fourth, while Oman Sail got a great start to race three, rounding the first buoy alongside eventual winners BMW ORACLE Racing Spithill. But the two teams each struggled in the last with gear failure — both Oman Sail and iShares doggedly completing much of the last race of the regatta without a working jib. Holmatro were also consistently near the front of the fleet, scoring three third places today to eventually finish in third overall.

Alinghi came back strongly in the penultimate race — taking a brave port tack approach to the start line they led the race from start to finish, extending their advantage on the leaderboard.

The windward mark took two more scalps today, with JPMorgan Asset Management first to come to grief in race two. Skippered by Paul Campbell-James for the day, the team were right on the pace in the leading pack when they capsized dramatically during the bear away, the boat rapidly inverting and breaking the rig. On the next round of the second lap it was Franck Cammas’s turn to flip, turning over BMW ORACLE Racing — for the second time in this regatta — at the bear away. This time the crew were able to quickly right the boat and rejoin the day’s racing.

Ed Baird:
“We’re thrilled,” said skipper Ed Baird on the dock after racing. “These kind of conditions were a bit beyond what we’ve experienced before and so we’ve been learning in every race trying to figure it out, it was pretty hairy! All the teams were having their moments where they had a little trouble, but these guys did great and I’m really excited that we were able to hang in there and get the points we needed.

“It’s been a tough series. It’s been a lot of fun — and it’s a lot more fun when you come out in front — but we really learned a lot today. We were definitely taking it easy, trying to be as conservative as we could.“

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