An amazing 50,000 spectators came to see Extreme 40 racing in Kiel, Germany during the 3 day event held on August 29 – 31.Overcast skies on the first day of racing gave way to sunshine and great sailing breeze for Saturday and Sunday.Although the rain does not scare away residents of this city in Northern Germany.When we were rigging our Tommy Hilfiger Extreme 40 it was freezing cold and rainy.Yet, there was a steady stream of observers, inspecting boat parts and asking questions about the design and construction of our craft.There is a great deal of enthusiasm for sailing in the city of Kiel, and it is a great place to race because of that.
This event was held in Kiel’s inner harbor, within walking distance of downtown.Our team for the event consisted of Americans, Randy Smyth, Jonathon Farrar, and myself.Of course we also had our Dutchie, Mark van Gelderen.We also brought in our long-time friend and former Tommy crew member Richard Feeny to coach us during the event, and the four practice days we had prior to the regatta.We had ten boats on the line, which made for some close quarters racing, as the course was set up right off the seawall.Spectators were able to reach out and touch boats, as groups of these 40 foot catamarans were gybing within feet of floating docks as they approached marks or the finish line.Of course, there were a few collisions, and it almost seems as though racing these boats resembles NASCAR more than it does typical sailboat racing.It has almost become normal for at least one boat per event sustain enough damage that it must be hauled or it will sink.A crane and a mobile repair shop are now normal fixtures throughout events on the iShares Cup circuit.The lucky boat in Kiel was TEAMORIGIN, who received a massive hole near their transom with 4 races to go in the 18 race event.They were found to be not at fault, and received redress for the remainder of the day’s racing.TEAMORIGIN finished 2nd in the event to Alinghi.We finished 5th for the event on the Tommy boat.We were within reach of the podium going into the final day, but we had a couple of high scores, including an OCS, which set us back early in the day on Sunday.
Alinghi and TEAMORIGIN have definitely established themselves as the tops of the fleet by finishing first and second respectively in the past three events.But the final iShares event will be held in Amsterdam from September 19 – 21.Racing there will be a close as it gets (an average two lap race will be about 8 minutes long).With ten competitive boats on the line in a venue that tight, it will be anybody’s race.
After the iShares Cup was over in Kiel, we went south to Lake Garda for the Centomiglia Race.It was a great event with over 300 boats of all different shapes and sizes.The race was a slow one this year.We started in moderate Northerly winds which only lasted a few hours.After that, we spent the day chasing zephyrs of 3 knots or less, and spending periods drifting in absolutely no wind.We crossed the line first overall with a time of about 10 hours and 40 minutes.In the light air, we were definitely fighting some of the powered up monohulls which race on Lake Garda, such as the Libera class.We were able to put some distance on them early, when there was breeze.But the wind almost totally died in the early afternoon, and we were worried that they would reel us in.It is kind of scary to be in your catamaran standing still and see this monohull with 6 guys trapezing on 3 knots of wind right behind you.We managed to pull it off though, and crossed the finish line to great fanfare.
Our winning team for the Centomiglia Race. From left to right - Stan Schreyer, Randy Smythe, Miko Benamati, At van Barneveld, and Jonathon Farrar. At is our team manager from Tommy Hilfiger, and it was great to have him on board for the race. His background is mostly board sailing, but he loves catamaran sailing too. Miko is a local from the Lake Garda region. His father, Roberto, was racing on a Libera, and his boy was very happy we beat dad across the line.
Team USA is currently winning two classes at the Paralympic Games in Qingdao.Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker have a 5 point lead with 5 races to go in the SKUD 18 class.John Ruf is holding on to a one point lead in the 2.4 Meter class.But John has his work cut out for him, as three boats are tied up only one point behind him.The Sonar team of Rick Doerr, Tim Angle, and Bill Donohue is currently in 8th place, but with 5 races to go, they have some time to move up in the fleet.
The latest results can be seen on www.sailing.org.
