Foto copyright Giordana Pipornetti/Niceforyou
Foto copyright Giordana Pipornetti/Niceforyou
Foto copyright Giordana Pipornetti/Niceforyou
Fuente info ESS
April 15th 2011
DAY 3: EXTREME! A major collision, 4 capsizes, 1 broken mast
Extreme Sailing Series, Act 2, Qingdao (China) 15th April 2011
Never in four years of the Extreme Sailing Series has there been so much drama in one day. In almost unprecedented conditions here in Qingdao, the public witnessed some extraordinary adrenalin fueled ‘stadium’ racing, first witnessing a major collision between The Wave, Muscat (OMAN) and Oman Air (OMAN) at the first downwind mark of the first race, and four dramatic capsizes - The Wave, Muscat (OMAN) in Race 2 and Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Team GAC Pindar (GBR) and Oman Air (OMAN) all in the final race of the day. In the first two races it was the very gusty conditions that tested some of the world’s best sailors to their limits, and beyond, with 3 to 23 knots, and up to 30 knots by the final race. “Massive day! The only way to describe it is extreme! The wind was funneling through the big buildings of the city, really puffy and shifty, it caught a lot of people out,” Will Howden, Red Bull Extreme Sailing.
Skipper of The Wave, Muscat, Torvar Mirsky, in his first Extreme 40 season, was to have his toughest day yet, firstly in race 1 accelerating in to the back of Oman Air right at the first downwind mark with the impact throwing crewman Dave “Freddie’ Carr in to the shroud (a cable holding the mast up), and then soon after in Race 2 suffering a catastrophic capsize. Freddie has been given the ‘ok’ but will remain in hospital for observation for 48 hours.
“I can honestly say that this is the worst day of sailing I’ve ever had,” commented a visibly shaken Mirsky, the youngest skipper on the circuit. “First of all taking out Freddie and then in the second race, we got hit by a gust that I couldn’t handle and the boat went down and we all knew straight away that it was going to go over and to hold on. We were trapped and doomed for a disaster. Kyle and I got flicked off from the top and fell onto the mast and snapped it.” [full sequence has been captured on video] The Wave, Muscat were accelerating away after a ‘hot’ bear away and gybe at the final top mark, and lost control as a gust hit and span them in to a very fast cartwheel.
The conditions on the second day of Act 2 guaranteed that these fast and powerful Extreme 40s were going to be a handful even for these experienced professional crews. By the third race the 11-boat fleet had been told to put a reef in and keep their massive downwind gennakers furled. A sensible measure, but not enough to stop three further capsizes in the final race when the gusts were reaching 30 knots. Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing was chasing for the lead in the final race and was just meters from the pedestrian breakwater when they capsized: “We saw a gust coming which we knew was really hard. The wind was 5 knots when we went into the gybe and 25 after. We dived immediately and then capsized. We went so quickly. All four of us were hanging on because we know what happens from the last time, so we were all safe and luckily we had lifejackets and helmets on and nobody got hurt.” [*Red Bull Extreme Sailing capsized at the Muscat event in January 2010 during the Extreme Sailing Series Asia
Extreme Sailing Series Act 2 Qingdao
Current overall standings after Day 3 (15.4.11)
Position / Team / Skipper & crew / Points
1st Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / Jeremy Lomas / Richard Meacham 134 points
2nd Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 127 points
3rd Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Will Howden / Craig Monk 124 points
4th Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 124 points
5th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 116 points
6th Artemis Racing (SWE), Santiago Lange / Rodney Ardern / Morgan Trubovich / Andy Fethers 96 points
7th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Torvar Mirsky / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 81 points
8th Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Mark Bulkeley / Daniele de Luca Simone de Mari 81 points
9th Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Bruno Dubois / Sebbe Godefroid / William Wu 75 points
10th Oman Air (OMA), Sidney Gavignet / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 57 points
11th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Brad Webb / Gilberto Nobili / Jono Macbeth 27 points
DAY 3: EXTREME! A major collision, 4 capsizes, 1 broken mast
Extreme Sailing Series, Act 2, Qingdao (China) 15th April 2011
Never in four years of the Extreme Sailing Series has there been so much drama in one day. In almost unprecedented conditions here in Qingdao, the public witnessed some extraordinary adrenalin fueled ‘stadium’ racing, first witnessing a major collision between The Wave, Muscat (OMAN) and Oman Air (OMAN) at the first downwind mark of the first race, and four dramatic capsizes - The Wave, Muscat (OMAN) in Race 2 and Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Team GAC Pindar (GBR) and Oman Air (OMAN) all in the final race of the day. In the first two races it was the very gusty conditions that tested some of the world’s best sailors to their limits, and beyond, with 3 to 23 knots, and up to 30 knots by the final race. “Massive day! The only way to describe it is extreme! The wind was funneling through the big buildings of the city, really puffy and shifty, it caught a lot of people out,” Will Howden, Red Bull Extreme Sailing.
Skipper of The Wave, Muscat, Torvar Mirsky, in his first Extreme 40 season, was to have his toughest day yet, firstly in race 1 accelerating in to the back of Oman Air right at the first downwind mark with the impact throwing crewman Dave “Freddie’ Carr in to the shroud (a cable holding the mast up), and then soon after in Race 2 suffering a catastrophic capsize. Freddie has been given the ‘ok’ but will remain in hospital for observation for 48 hours.
“I can honestly say that this is the worst day of sailing I’ve ever had,” commented a visibly shaken Mirsky, the youngest skipper on the circuit. “First of all taking out Freddie and then in the second race, we got hit by a gust that I couldn’t handle and the boat went down and we all knew straight away that it was going to go over and to hold on. We were trapped and doomed for a disaster. Kyle and I got flicked off from the top and fell onto the mast and snapped it.” [full sequence has been captured on video] The Wave, Muscat were accelerating away after a ‘hot’ bear away and gybe at the final top mark, and lost control as a gust hit and span them in to a very fast cartwheel.
The conditions on the second day of Act 2 guaranteed that these fast and powerful Extreme 40s were going to be a handful even for these experienced professional crews. By the third race the 11-boat fleet had been told to put a reef in and keep their massive downwind gennakers furled. A sensible measure, but not enough to stop three further capsizes in the final race when the gusts were reaching 30 knots. Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing was chasing for the lead in the final race and was just meters from the pedestrian breakwater when they capsized: “We saw a gust coming which we knew was really hard. The wind was 5 knots when we went into the gybe and 25 after. We dived immediately and then capsized. We went so quickly. All four of us were hanging on because we know what happens from the last time, so we were all safe and luckily we had lifejackets and helmets on and nobody got hurt.” [*Red Bull Extreme Sailing capsized at the Muscat event in January 2010 during the Extreme Sailing Series Asia
Extreme Sailing Series Act 2 Qingdao
Current overall standings after Day 3 (15.4.11)
Position / Team / Skipper & crew / Points
1st Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / Jeremy Lomas / Richard Meacham 134 points
2nd Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 127 points
3rd Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Will Howden / Craig Monk 124 points
4th Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 124 points
5th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 116 points
6th Artemis Racing (SWE), Santiago Lange / Rodney Ardern / Morgan Trubovich / Andy Fethers 96 points
7th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Torvar Mirsky / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 81 points
8th Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Mark Bulkeley / Daniele de Luca Simone de Mari 81 points
9th Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Bruno Dubois / Sebbe Godefroid / William Wu 75 points
10th Oman Air (OMA), Sidney Gavignet / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 57 points
11th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Brad Webb / Gilberto Nobili / Jono Macbeth 27 points
