Tuesday, July 10, 2007

iShares Cup

In 15-18 knots of wind Basilica, skippered by Robert Greenhalgh dazzled her competitors winning five out of the six races held today and firmly winning the iShares Cup, Marseille, taking her tally to two events out of the four event Extreme 40 Sailing Series. While the entire fleet chose to reef their mains for the first race, Basilica struck out on her own, hoisted a full sail and carved a trail to victory stepping onto the podium ahead of Groupama and Holmatro. BT had an adventure of her own executing a glamorous nose-dive resulting in a near capsize. The British boat crewed by Peter Greenhalgh, Justin Slattery and James Grant started nearly every race in front and never looked back, leading around the windward mark and extending until the finish, racking up 153 points. "We were looking forward to a bit of breeze and knew that with some strong winds we could lay on the smack down," comments Peter Greenhalgh one of two trimmers on Basilica. After leading on day one, Franck Cammas' Groupama, who put in a one-off appearance in Marseille, were suppressed into second overall and finished the event with 131 points and pleased with their performance. Cammas is enthused by the Extreme 40 class. Shuffling up a place on the final day was Dutch team Holmatro. BT, the former Offshore Challenges Sailing Team, may have finished in fourth but had memorable day sailing. Tommy Hilfiger, heavy-hitters at the iShares Cup, Munich, suffered from a disappointing series in Marseille finishing the event in fifth overall. The iShares Cup circuit continues in three weeks time stopping in Cowes from the 3-5 August at the start of Skandia Cowes Week with the added attraction of exhibition sailing from 7-9 August.
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