ESS

On Your Marks; Set; Go for Act 7

19 October, 2017

It is in San Diego, along Harbor Island Drive, that the Extreme Sailing Series caravan has rolled into this week to take up its quarters for Act 7 of the season. From Thursday 19th October until the 22nd, eight international teams will compete under the Californian sun for the spoils in a breeze that, typically, starts off light and then has a tendency to strengthen in the afternoon, hopefully allowing the GC32s to race onto their foils, which will be a spectacle for the fans and a lot of fun for the sailors. Alinghi is now in third place overall behind SAP Extreme Sailing Team and Oman Air. Alinghi's goal is clear: To win the penultimate stage of the circuit, thereby maximising its chances of winning the Championship in the last event, which will be held in early December in Los Cabos, Mexico. To follow the races, which will be held every day from 2-5pm local time (UTC-7, 9 hours less than in Switzerland), there are several options: Live > via our website (races modeled in 3D on Thursday & Friday, then broadcast live on Saturday and Sunday) > On Twitter @alinghiteam (results published after each race with a few photos and short video clips)   Watch on demand > On Facebook and Instagram for video interviews and photos > On our website for the daily recap and the replay of the races Live scoring as the races progress will be available here.   Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #Extremesailing   To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Photos credit ©Alinghi If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need here. Video bonus! Have you ever gone up to the top of a GC32? To see the interview of João at 17m altitude, it is here!

Alinghi back on the podium in ESS

28 August, 2017

Confidence returned to the team in Cardiff with Alinghi very much in the running, neck-and-neck with SAP until the last race. The Danes win this time but the Swiss remain convinced that they can have the last word ...   SAP and Alinghi were the main players all afternoon and made the suspense last.   Tim Lapauw, foil trimmer, said: "At the start of the first round we were four points behind SAP. We first lost one on them, then gained two, then lost three."   Fortunately the wind held and allowed racing to continue. The day's fourth race arrived: Alinghi wins, SAP finishes next-to-last. The gap between the two boats is just one point.   Tim continues: "After the fifth race of the day, we managed to be at the top of the provisional ranking, tied with SAP! The President of the race committee announced that the next race would be the last. Oman Air, 3rd, is nine points behind and therefore posing little menace."   And so, again, the winner of the Act would be decided in the last of the four day's faces, a shoot-out to decide who finishes in front of the other.   Nils Frei, headsail trimmer: "In this last race, the situation on the start was badly assessed by us. Due to a big wind shift to the right, we remained stuck windward side of the committee, with SAP escaping. In spite of that, we are happy with the way we sailed. We made some mistakes, but on the whole we were strong, both in speed, in manoeuvers and on starts, so it's very positive.   Pierre-Yves Jorand, Team Director:  "I found in the team a combative and warlike attitude. We fought for each metre because it is important to stay in touch to place an attack and then to be able to pass a boat. In my opinion, this is our best ESS event since China with a regatta that was competitive until the last run, as so often is the case in the Extreme Sailing Series. "   Click here to watch the interviews of Tim, Nils and Pierre-Yves (in French) in their entirety.   Fans of the ESS will require patience, because the competition now breaks until October 19 for Act 7, which will take place in San Diego. However, Alinghi will be back on track next weekend for the D35 Trophy’s continuation on Lake Geneva! Click here for the overall standings from Act 6 Click here for the overall standings of the Championship To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

Waiting for the wind...

27 August, 2017

While waiting for the wind, we can: Go over the last few days and look at our performance Continue to prepare and improve the fine tuning the boat Hope for the wind to build up Respond to journalists' questions Take a nap - sorry, refocus by closing our eyes Continue to hope that the wind will build up Run exhibition races to entertain thousands of spectators on Cardiff Bay Turn to liquid in a neoprene suit Hand over the tiller to the 6th man (the guest aboard the boat during a race) And welcome, which comes as something of a blessing, the race committee's permission to return to dock because of the lack of wind in which there is simply no possibility of racing. And so, finally and in conclusion, teams actually do almost as much on a day like today as they would do on a day full of races, excepting, of course, the fact that the scoreboard does not vary by one iota at the end of the day! So now we cross our fingers, hoping to be able to return to racing tomorrow at 2pm (local time) for the final day of this Act 6, which you can also follow live (live video and 3D graphics) by clicking here. Click here for the unchanged overall standings after 8 races.   To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

At the right tempo

26 August, 2017

Six races were run today in Cardiff Bay, with a tricky wind in both strength and direction, but one that made it possible to get up to nice speed and finally, get up on to the foils. What about the ranking? Alinghi won two races, SAP Extreme Sailing Team the same. Alinghi recorded a third place, two fourth places, but then so did SAP! As it stands yet, SAP lies just four small points ahead at the half-way stage in Wales. The difference between the two? Knots in the gennaker sheet around the winch which caused trouble for the Swiss during a tack on race 5, causing them to finish in the last position. At this level, every detail counts. However, two days remain to build upon a good start and close a small points gap. Nicolas Charbonnier, tactician: "We had some really good races, we had some others when we struggled a little bit more, but we are still in the game and I feel like we are sailing well, the team is working well together, we are happy to sail together in Cardiff so it's a good day. Regarding the big lead in the two races won today, he said: "We had a really good start with a good strategy and then when you are sailing ahead of the other guys, it makes a lot of things easier, but we will have to do even better to come back in the next races." Click here to watch the interview with Nicolas in its entirety.   See you tomorrow from 3pm (local time) for the continuation of this competition, which you can also follow live (video & 3D graphics) by clicking here. Click here for overall standings after 8 races.   To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

Two runs and a positive opening balance to Act 6

25 August, 2017

Cardiff Bay (Wales) welcomes the fleet of the Extreme Sailing Series for the 6th year in a row. With a rather ordinary windy race area (as was the case during the two days of training), the wind speed didn’t exceed six knots all day and among the four races launched, only two were officially counted. Yves Detrey, Bowman, said: "It went pretty well today. After only two rounds that were validated, it is a bit early to make a balance sheet, but both races were good, with two second finishes. We made a very good start in one of them. In the other one, we made the right moves. As we had a good speed, we were able to get out of a bad position and out of the pack because after the start, we must admit that we were not that great. Now three days remain, with conditions that are expected to be light and difficult." Click here to watch Yves’ interview in its entirety.   See you tomorrow at 2pm (local time) for the second day of this Act 6, which you can also follow live with the 3D graphics by clicking here. Click here for overall standings after 2 races.   To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

Below par in Hamburg

13 August, 2017

It is in the spirit of a team that, this evening, Alinghi reports this disappointing result. Click here to watch in their entirety the interviews following the end of racing. Tim Lapauw, foil regulator and trimmer: "Complicated, is one way of saying it. We finished sixth out of seven. It was by far our worst day on the Extreme Sailing Series for two years. " Yves Detrey, bowman: "We thought we had seen the worst of this event yesterday and thought that we’d get back on track, but today we could not find the solution. However, we also feel there’s nothing going our way. That said, we must have done something wrong – we thought we’d found it, we didn’t, but we will correct it in Cardiff!” Nicolas Charbonnier, tactician: "We are very disappointed tonight, it will be difficult to digest this week, but we will try to understand what happened and we will come back stronger." Nils Frei, headsail trimmer: "It's easy to be a team when you win, it's harder to be one when you lose. But we all know each other well, it is not a defeat like today that will destabilise us, so we remain confident for the future. " Pierre-Yves Jorand, Team manager: "We talked about the performance of the team, but we must also talk about how the opponents in general have improved. The past years we were up against two-to-three high-performance teams, whereas today we have six very strong teams to compete against. That means each place is hard fought, every single point must be battled for.   Alinghi now sits third in the overall ESS standings, four points behind leaders Oman Air and SAP Extreme Sailing Team, who are tied with 54 points. With three Acts still left to run, with the final counting for double, as Yves says so well: "It's never over until it's over."  #GoAlinghiGo !!! We will be meeting in Cardiff from Friday 25th to Monday 28th of August for Act 6 of the Extreme Sailing Series. Click here for the overall standings from Act 5 To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

A cautious start, but a positive end to the day

12 August, 2017

Having temporarily occupied the second-to-last place in the general classification in the middle of the day, Alinghi found the resources and solutions to win the day's last two races.   Heading into the final day, Oman Air remains at the top of the fleet, eight points ahead of Red Bull Sailing Team and SAP Extreme Sailing Team who are tied with 84 points. There follows Alinghi and NZ Extreme Sailing Team with 82 points.   Nils Frei, headsail trimmer said:   "We did not start the day well, but we finished with two wins in a row. Sure, we have a few points to catch up, but fortunately we are still in the game. When you see that five boats are separated by just four points, everything suggests that it will come down to the last race, which counts for double, as so often is he case in the  Extreme Sailing Series. We take confidence in how we finished today so we will start again tomorrow!" Arnaud Psarofaghis, co-skipper and helm:   "These two victories are a great way to finish a day that had not begun very well, with bad starts and some errors on the course. The racing venue is very tough with a small arena, unsteady wind and strong current. We will analyze today's good and bad things and then apply the lessons to attack tomorrow."   Click here to watch Nils’ interview in its entirety (in German & French).     See you tomorrow from 2pm (local time) for the end of this competition, which you can also follow live (video & 3D graphics) by clicking here. At this same link, you can watch until Sunday morning the replay of the racing from today.    Click here for overall standings of Act 5. To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

A mixed day

11 August, 2017

The weak Hamburg wind and the Elbe current only allowed two races to be run among the seven international teams competing for the 5th stage of the 2017 Extreme Sailing Series. For three hours of the afternoon, the 35 sailors, their technical crews and the race management were subjected to the vagaries of the local, rainy and suddenly feisty weather.   Apart from Oman Air, which won both legs run, all of the other teams suffered poor results, demonstrating the random character of the day's sailing conditions. The Land Rover BAR Academy team is currently in 2nd place despite only recording finishes of 3rd and 5th... However, everything remains in play if the wind consents to blow a little more during the next two days of competition. Pierre-Yves Jorand, Team leader, said: "We ended up in second position in the first race of the day, then the race committee tried to start a couple of more races; they were all abandoned because the wind just died and the boats couldn’t really fight against the current. "At around 4 o’clock, the RC started the final race of the day. We had a tough start and we ended up in last position, so not a great day for us here in Hamburg. "But the team will recover, we are going to talk about this tomorrow morning during the debrief and hopefully get a lot of races run tomorrow and Sunday." Nils Frei, headsail trimmer, focuses on the second race: "For the start, we wanted to be supported by the current by luffing to have more pressure. So we wanted to get the pin end of the starting line. A boat slipped in and we did not properly defend our position. Afterwards, all the windward boats "walked on us" and sent us bad air. It took us some time to restart with this very light wind. We are obviously disappointed with this round but we take them one after the other and there are still two days left. " Click here to watch Pierre-Yves’ interview in its entirety. See you tomorrow from 1:30pm (local time) for the continuation of this competition, which you can also follow live (video & 3D graphics) by clicking here. Click here for overall standings after 2 races. To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

In Hamburg, the tide and lack of wind were the governing factors in the day's racing

10 August, 2017

Take a wind of 0 to 6 knots blowing randomly from all directions, add a strong tide and you get conditions that could not allow any committee to launch fair and competitive races. Click here to watch Tim Lapauw's interview back at the dock (a good way to improve your French ;). Let's cross our fingers for the three days to follow, which at this stage seem more promising in terms of racing conditions.   See you tomorrow at 1:30pm (local time) for the second day of this Act 5, which you can also follow live with the 3D graphics by clicking here. For 2017 overall standings after 4 events, it is over here. To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo // #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit ©Lloyd Images

A disappointing 4th place

23 July, 2017

After 22 races in three days, Alinghi leaves Barcelona with a 4th place finish, now sharing the top of the Championship standings with SAP Extreme Sailing Team, (who finished third in this Act), with both teams on 43 points. After their victory today, Oman Air is back in contention, lying in the ambush position just one point behind the leaders. Red Bull Sailing Team, 2nd in this event, is in 4th overall with 37 points. Pierre-Yves Jorand, Team leader, said: "The guys sailed well. We were able to execute what we had talked about following yesterday's performance, namely to sail our way, in clear air, even if we are not on the "right" side of the course. It worked for us apart from the last race of the day where the wind shifted by a good 30 degrees to the left – we were then on the right-side of the course. In such a situation, good speed and good manoeuvres can't be enough to make-up the loss we experienced from the way the wind shifted." Tim Lapauw, trimmer: "We had a better day than yesterday, that's what counts. Before the last race, which is a double-pointer, we had some really nice starts, beautiful manoeuvres and had great speed. Before that last race we were back on the podium." Yves Detrey, bowman: "We're a little disappointed with this regatta. We probably made mistakes. But we also have the impression that nothing was happening for us. We tried to correct our starts, but when it's not going for you, it's not. We hope we've had our fair share of this kind of luck for the season and that things will be better for the next regatta in Hamburg. Whatever the case, things will be played out over the course of the remaining Acts and we must not take it for granted that anything is written in the stars. It is up to us to take control." Click here to watch the interviews after racing finished in their entirety. We will be meeting in Hamburg from Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th of August for Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series. Click here for the overall standings from Act 4. Click here for the overall standings of the Championship: To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #Extremesailing If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit © Lloyd Images