There is probably more than one America’s Cup team that wishes they didn’t have to send people to Naples in April to sail in the America’s Cup ‘World’ Series.

The sideshow circus has allowed ACEA to develop new systems and technology and given teams a chance to practice sailing with wing-sailed catamarans, but the event will need significant restructuring if it is to exist as a viable property after the main event in September.

With the AC72 way out of reach of all but 4 syndicates, the ACWS also allowed teams from new markets to try and raise money off the back of their performance in the smaller boats, but several have disappeared, as was predicted by many from the start.

Buried in the America’s Cup’s latest press release about yet more ORACLE ‘sponsored’ teams in the lesser events is the statement:

Team Korea, previously an America’s Cup World Series participant and Louis Vuitton Cup entrant, has withdrawn from further competition in the 34th America’s Cup. In a letter to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, the team indicated it has plans to enter the 35th America’s Cup.

Team Korea have entered in the more affordable Extreme Sailing Series for 2013.

Meanwhile in Naples, the title sponsorship of Red Bull of the Youth America’s Cup will give Austrians Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher (who also compete in the Extreme Sailing Series under the Red Bull banner) a chance to compete against the sailors other teams can spare for Italy.

HS Racing, with a crew that includes trimmer Herve Cunningham of France, bowman Graeme Spence of Australia and floater David Swete of New Zealand, will fly a US flag though – as the team is a “partnership with ORACLE TEAM USA.” The other ‘ORACLE’ backed team – Ben Ainslie’s J.P. Morgan BAR will also compete in Naples.

The Italian crowd won’t get to see all the ‘best sailors’. The promised line up includes; Dean Barker of Emirates Team New Zealand, Francesco Bruni and Chris Draper of Luna Rossa, Yann Guichard of Energy Team and Tom Slingsby of ORACLE TEAM USA. Sweden’s Artemis Racing – who don’t forget is the challenger of record – will send 23-year-old Charlie Ekberg, skipper of Swedish Youth Challenge for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. The Naples event will also feature the return of Mitch Booth to the helm of China Team, while Ben Ainslie will skipper his J.P. Morgan BAR team.

Naples is the only ACWS event of 2013.

The Extreme Sailing Series in extending it’s concept of a locally based invitational team in 2013. The idea is to give local spectators a ‘home team’ to cheer for as the series visits different countries and cultures around the world.

The opening round in Muscat Oman will feature Team Duqm Oman headed up by past Extreme Series Champion Robert Greenhalgh.

The sponsor of the team is “one of the world’s largest Special Economic Zones”. Duqm is a geographical designated Free Trade area to the southeast of Oman.

Greenhalgh’s CV is impressive – three Volvo Ocean Races, seven Atlantic crossings, three World Championship and a host of European titles to his name means that he is not ‘new’ to this kind of competition.

He said:

“We won the Series in 2007 and came second in 2008 but things have obviously evolved since then; more competitive teams, more boats. I think the racing is probably a little more start dependent and everything has got a lot more professional and the manoeuvres are critical. It will be a lot harder than it used to be and we have focused on getting the boat handling nailed down. I will have to get used to the new race format and the reaching starts and focus on making it happen for us on the water.”

Greenhalgh is joined by Extreme 40 heavyweights Andrew Walsh (GBR), who shared skipper duties of GAC Pindar in 2012, and Will Howden (GBR), an Olympic Tornado crew who came second in the 2012 Series with Oman Air. Bleddyn Mon (GBR), who competed at four Acts with The Wave, Muscat in 2012 and Omani bowman Nasser Al Mashari complete the Team Duqm Oman line-up.

The opening round of the Extreme Sailing Series will be available to fans to watch live online each day from Muscat.

The 2013 Extreme Sailing Series will feature three new skippers and two completely new teams.

Eight teams, 10 nationalities and 40 of some of the worlds’ best sailors will begin the series in Oman. The credentials of the athletes include: 18 Olympic campaigns, 30 America’s Cup campaigns, 33 World Championship wins and six Olympic medals.

The Stars….

Leigh McMillan – The Defending Champion

Oman Sail

Two Oman Sail teams will be on the start line in Muscat and defending champion, Leigh McMillan will bring his 2012 winning experience to the crew of The Wave, Muscat, with the addition of new crew member Musab Al Hadi, a national F18 sailor. The second Omani team, making it eight Extreme 40s on the start line, will be announced on the 4th March

The Wave, Muscat (OMA)

Skipper/Helm: Leigh McMillan (GBR) / Tactician: Ed Smyth (NZL) / Mainsail Trimmer: Pete Greenhalgh (GBR) / Headsail Trimmer: Musab Al Hadi (OMA) / Bowman: Hashim Al Rashdi (OMA)

GAC Pindar

Twenty-three year-old Will Tiller (NZL) will take the reigns of GAC Pindar, alongside his ‘Full Metal Jacket’ match racing team mates who will also represent New Zealand at the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup after winning their selection trials. Tiller is joined by Matt Steven, Stewart Dodson, Harry Thurston and Shaun Mason, all talented youth sailors hungry for success as GAC Pindar expand their ongoing commitment to developing youth talent.

Skipper/Helm: William Tiller (NZL) / Tactician: Matt Steven (NZL) / Mainsail Trimmer: Stewart Dodson (NZL) / Headsail Trimmer: Harry Thurston (NZL) / Bowman: Shaun Mason (GBR)

Team Korea

Team Korea, one of two completely new team entries for 2013 will have Olympic silver medallist and the youngest skipper in the fleet at the helm, Peter Burling. Twenty-two year-old Burling is joined by his Olympic silver medal winning 49er crew Blair Tuke and Korean national match-racing champion Sungwok Kim, as part of the teams overarching aim to develop Korean sailing talents. The team will benefit from the experience of Extreme 40 veterans Mark Bulkeley and Matt Cornwell, and on paper, they could pose the biggest threat to the defending champions. How quickly they adapt to the Extreme 40 racing arena remains to be seen.

Skipper/Helm: Peter Burling (NLZ) / Tactician: Blair Tuke (NZL) / Mainsail Trimmer: Mark Bulkeley (GBR) / Headsail Trimmer: Sungwok Kim (KOR) / Bowman: Matt Cornwell (GBR)

Realteam

The second new entry, and no stranger to multihull racing, hails from Switzerland. Realteam and their skipper Jerome Clerc won the D35 championship in 2012 fending off competition from Swiss rivals Alinghi. A ‘ready formed team’ of Bryan Mettraux, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Cédric Schmidt and Thierry Wasem will benefit from having extensive race experience together, and will be looking to turn that into a podium result in Muscat.

Skipper/Helm: Jérome Clerc (SUI) / Tactician: Bryan Mettraux (SUI) / Mainsail Trimmer: Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI) / Headsail Trimmer: Cédric Schmidt (SUI) / Bowman: Thierry Wasem (SUI)

Alinghi

The biggest transfer news of the season comes from Alinghi who have recruited last year’s talent, American Morgan Larson. Runner-up in 2012, Larson will call the tactics alongside skipper and helm Ernesto Bertarelli, supported by the regular Extreme 40 Alinghi crew of Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei and Yves Detrey. Bertarelli commented:

“I am very much looking forward to sailing with Morgan on board Alinghi this season. He proved to be a great professional and inspired tactician on the circuit last year and I hope that he will bring his vast expertise to our Extreme 40 crew and contribute to a successful season for Alinghi”.

Skipper/Helm: Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI) / Tactician: Morgan Larson (USA) / Mainsail Trimmer: Pierre-Yves Jorand (SUI) / Headsail Trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI) / Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI)

SAP Extreme Sailing Team

Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner, co-skippers of SAP Extreme Sailing Team, have confirmed the addition of young Danish sailing talent Nicolai Sehested as the teams bowman, while the rest of the team remains unchanged as they anticipate that consistency and experience will be central for them to step on to the Extreme 40 podium in their second year of competition.

Pete Cumming, the team’s mainsail trimmer and one of the most experienced Extreme 40 sailors around having won the 2009 Extreme Sailing Series as skipper of Oman Sail Masirah, has been leading the teams refit and pre-season training programme.

Co-Skipper/Helm: Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) / Co-Skipper/Tactician: Rasmus Køstner (DEN) / Mainsail trimmer: Peter Cumming (GBR) / Headsail Trimmer: Mikkel Røssberg (DEN) / Bowman: Nicolai Sehested (DEN)

Red Bull Sailing Team

One of Austria’s most well known sporting exports, multi-Olympian Roman Hagara, has opted to keep the same team as 2012 for Red Bull Sailing Team:

“Great teamwork means great results. The motivation for 2013 is on a high level. We decided to race in Oman with the same team as in 2012, as Hans Peter and I believe that now we are all at a level to win this circuit. That’s why we are here.”

Skipper/Helm: Roman Hagara (AUT) / Tactician: Hans Peter Steinacher (AUT) / Mainsail Trimmer: Matthew Adams (GBR) / Headsail Trimmer: Pierre Le Clainche (FRA) / Bowman: Graeme Spencer (AUS)

Week 1

Saturday, November 10. More than 300,000 people were out early in the morning to give the twenty skippers a warm send-off despite the rainy and cold weather. Just like in any of the previous editions, the channel moment was an emotional one for the sailors embodying the public’s dreams of adventure.

French actor François Cluzet gave the start signal at 1.02PM. Five overeager competitors (Gabart, De Pavant, Gutkowski, Le Cléac’h and Riou) crossed the start line early while Bertrand de Broc (Votre Nom autour du Monde avec EDM Projets), who had damaged his boat 25 minutes before the official start, was already back on the pontoons. He eventually left thirteen hours after the others and sailed across poor Marc Guillemot (Safran) who lost his keel after only 4h43 in the race. The Breton skipper was the first to pull out of the race.

Young and spirited François Gabart (Macif) immediately took the lead of the fleet and sailed aggressively in a rough sea. Then, after three days of race, came the second abandon. Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) hit a fishing boat, ripping off his boomsprit and roof, while he was in the cabin for a ten-minute nap. The French sailor changed his route and sailed to Cascais, Portugal. Meanwhile, behind Gabart, Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) and Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) kept up with the leader’s intense rhythm, followed by Riou (PRB), who chose a more westerly route.

This was the time for the very first tactical choices. That is when the youngest skipper in the fleet, Louis Burton, 27, also hit a fishing boat and decided to sail back to Les Sables d’Olonne to try to fix his damaged shroud. But Burton will eventually have to resign and pull out of the race. On the evening of Thursday, November 15, Samantha Davies (Savéol) dismasted in very rough weather conditions. She was the fourth sailor to pull out of the race and, after only one week, the Vendée Globe had already lost 20% of its fleet. Le Cléac’h became the new race leader off the Canary Islands, ahead of Gabart and Stamm. There are only 25 miles between the first three skippers and 100 miles between the first six.

Week 2

The remaining skippers were back in much nicer sailing conditions when, on November 17, Jérémie Beyou (Maître CoQ) broke his keel jack while sailing northwest of Cape Verde and eventually pulled out of the race two days later. On the same weekend, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) broke his rudder tie bar but managed to repair it without losing ground. Meanwhile, Javier Sanso (ACCIONA 100%EcoPowered) had to climb up his mast to fix his main sail traveller.

The fleet was made up of three separate groups : the favourites (Le Cléac’h, Gabart, Dick, Stamm, Riou, Thomson), the senior outsiders (Golding, Wavre, Le Cam), and the « latecomers» (Boissières, De Lamotte, De Broc, Di Benedetto, Gutek, Sanso). On day 9, Le Cléac’h entered the infamous Doldrums, which gave the chasing skippers an opportunity to come back. That area of extremely unstable winds proved to be particularly tough on the leaders and their race became so close some skippers could actually see each other for a few hours!

On November 21, after days of surprising route choices, Poland’s Zbigniew « Gutek » Gutkowski (Energa), abandons the race because of recurring autopilot issues. On the same day, Armel Le Cléac’h left the Doldrums behind and was the first skipper to cross the Equator. The chasing skippers followed him a few hours behind and closed the gap on him in the South Atlantic. Behind them, Mike Golding (Gamesa) crossed the Equator for the 22nd time and, after 12 days at sea, eight of the Vendée Globe skippers were in the south hemisphere, with Armel Le Cléac’h leading them for an entire week. Because of particularly southerly St Helena’s Highs, the first skippers had to choose a westerly route.

Week 3

On Saturday, November 24, Vincent Riou hit an Unidentified Floating Object – a massive drifting buoy – tearing the front part of PRB’s hull and seriously damaging the ourigger. After a first repair attempt, the former Vendée Globe winner eventually had to put an end to his race on the next day. Skippers’ strategies were exposed as Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) moved away from the direct route and sailed south, soon followed by François Gabart, while Armel Le Cléac’h continued on the initial route. Skippers at the back of the fleet, led by Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) with Mike Golding and Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud), started closing the gap. 250 miles behind the Swiss, Javier Sanso found himself 150 miles ahead of Arnaud Boissières (AKENA Vérandas).

Week 4

The different options chosen by the skippers started showing results on November 30, when the leader himself admitted the southerly route may have been the best. Dick briefly took the lead of the race on December 1, just before entering the « Great South » from Armel Le Cléac’h, who had led since November 16.

In the process, the Virbac-Paprec skipper set a new 24-hour record, covering more than 500 miles – 502! – in a day. But François Gabart was the one crossing the first of the eight ice gates first.

The leaders – Le Cléac’h, Gabart, Dick and Stamm – regrouped with Thomson 100 miles behind them while the pendant que les « senior sailors » tried to keep up with the rhythm 400 miles behind the front runners. On December 2, Jean Le Cam noticed a net was caught up in his keel and decided to dive to release it. The complex operation was a success and became one of the unforgettable moments in the race. On Monday, December 3, Armel Le Cléac’h was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope after 22d23h46’ of race, beating the previous record, set by Vincent Riou in 2004, by more than 24 hours. Finally, it was Indian Ocean time!

The leaders’ speed in such strong wind widened the gap between the frontrunners and the chasing skippers, with 2,200 miles (4,000 kilometres) between the leaders and the last skipper. The former tried to sail as fast as they possibly can to avoid the anticyclone threatening to catch up with them, which turned out to be difficult because of a tricky cross sea.

While Armel Le Cléac’h was heading north to cross the ice gates, his opponents chose a curvier southerly route, despite the risk of coming across ice. Behind them, the « senior sailors » were in a close fight – Dominique Wavre and Jean Le Cam even sailed at sight for a few hours on December 7. Armel Le Cléac’h might have been the first to cross the Crozet gate, the anticyclone ended up catching up with him and the Banque Populaire skipper gave up his leadership position to Gabart and then to Stamm, before taking it back a few days later while the other skippers were forced to head north to cross the mandatory gate.

Week 5

Armel Le Cléac’h took the lead on December 8th. Once the second ice gate was passed, the weather conditions were suitable for speed records with a strong northwesterly wind that pushed leaders on a little formed sea. François Gabart was the fastest in that speed game and shattered the 24 hours record with 534.48 miles… Incredible! He took the opportunity to take over the lead, and two days later, he set a new record: the best time ever achieved between Les Sables d’Olonne and Cape Leeuwin (34d10h23′).

The duel with Le Cléac’h looked like a match-race as the distance between the two leaders was reduced to its minimum compared the entire Vendée Globe journey… Therefore, it was increasingly difficult for their rivals to follow them, particularly for Bernard Stamm, who faced several problems with his mainsail boards, and a very unlucky Alex Thomson, who hit two UFOs in less than 24 hours, which destroyed his hydrogenerator, damaged his rudder and broke another rudder tie bar. Only Jean-Pierre Dick managed to stay in the leaders’ wake.

While crossing the Amsterdam gate, the MACIF skipper was only 20 minutes ahead, after 24,000km of sailing! At the end of the fifth week, Gabart, Le Cléac’h and Dick managed to stay in the same weather conditions while, behind them, Thomson and Stamm stalled. Then the gap with the leaders grew quickly; respectively 500 and 600 miles. While the first skippers arrived at the Cape Leeuwin, Alessandro Di Benedetto (Team Plastique) crossed the Cape of Good Hope on December 12, 2012…

Week 6

In the cold weather conditions, the entire Vendée Globe fleet was then sailing in the Southern Ocean. Seeing the pace at the forefront, it was difficult to imagine the leading men were in any kind of discomfort. Yet they kept their pace up, trapped in a duel where the tiniest slowdown was immediately punished. Gabart was the first to make his entry into the Pacific Ocean. Maximizing their weather systems, with a slightly higher speed and perfect navigation, the two leaders continued to increase their lead.

Week 7

As Christmas was approaching, the pace didn’t falter and the two leaders continued their global duel under New Zealand. As he entered the Pacific Ocean, Le Cléac’h managed to take over the lead before seeing Gabart regained control before the rankings changed with each of the skippers’ jibes. A little more than 500 miles behind, Dick became a bit stalled and stayed between the head of the fleet and the Anglo-Swiss duo Thomson-Stamm, about 900 miles behind the front runners.

For Christmas, Le Cléac’h got to the first West Pacific gate first and temporarily took over the lead. For Stamm, Christmas was much tougher since he had to divert to New Zealand in order to find a shelter and make some repair on his hydrogenerators. He was almost out of energy and couldn’t consider crossing the Pacific, the largest ocean in the world, in these conditions. The deterioration of the weather conditions forced him to moor to a Russian ship, which resulted in a complaint procedure against the sailor, who had received assistance in the operation.

When the Swiss skipper resumed his journey towards Cape Horn, he was in 10th position, just behind Arnaud Boissières who, after a difficult start, had managed to come back in the Southern ocean. Meanwhile, the two leaders were slowed down and saw Dick and Thomson come back in their wake. On December 28th, only Di Benedetto had not yet entered the Pacific, sailing about 4,000 miles away from the head of the fleet.

Week 8

Even when the leaders were somehow slowed down while approaching Cape Horn, their nearest competitor, Jean-Pierre Dick, remained 400 miles away when they rounded the legendary rock on January 1st, 2013. Gabart rounded it first and was only 1:15h ahead of Le Cléac’h. But skippers would have to wait some more for some relief as the way down towards the extreme south of the Chilean archipelago was made under the threat of icebergs believed to have drifted all the way up to Staten Island. At the same time, Di Benedetto entered the Pacific Ocean.

A little less than two days later, Dick rounded the last cape of the race, 250 miles before Thomson. We then had to wait for six and a half days to see Le Cam coming back into the Atlantic. He opened the way to a squad that had grown in the Southern Seas. Stamm, Boissières and Sanso had joined the “senior sailors” crew and the newly-formed group was then sailing within 500 miles of each other.

The skipper of Cheminées Poujoulat, victim of another crash that had badly damaged his hydrogenerators, while the other one was no longer working, was forced to make diesel refuel after Cape Horn. It meant he was out of the race just before the jury confirmed his disqualification.

Week 9 – Week 11

Even if Cape Horn was now behind them, the route was still long and if the leaders had then left the Southern Seas, they quickly faced winds of 45 knots and 6-metre swell. For the leading trio, the way up the Atlantic began abruptly and cruelly for Dick, who – after a great comeback on the leading duo – had to slow down in order to repair his main stay. For Le Cléac’h, the problems were less dramatic but equally disastrous in terms of consequences.

A problem with his gennaker in the Le Maire Strait made him lose ground again when he managed to return on Gabart, only 10 miles behind him. On January 6th, a shift in the west he thought beneficial became a real nightmare, as the crossing became more complicated than expected. 100 miles away, on January 8th, the gap extended over 260 miles six days later. This would be the largest gap in the race. Through less easy doldrums crossing for the young leader, Le Cléac’h managed to come back a little, but it wasn’t enough.

Finish

On January 27th, 2013, at 15h18 (French Time), François Gabart crossed the finish line and entered the Sables d’Olonne channel as a hero, after an incredible duel that lasted 78d02h16’ or 28,646 miles travelled at an amazing average speed of 15.3 knots. Only 3:17h later, Armel Le Cléac’h completed his world circumnavigation, just in time to enter the channel, still warmed by the enthusiasm of a great public.

It was definitely a historic day, which saw the finishes of two exceptionally gifted young sailors, the first to single-handedly sail around the world on a monohull in less than 80 days. Two days later, Alex Thomson takes the third place of the podium thanks to an amazing performance on a second-generation boat built in 2007. The British was indeed helped by Dick’s technical issues, as the Virbac Paprec skipper finished 4th after sailing 2,650 miles without the keel he had lost 600 miles south of the Azores archipelago.

The Atlantic proved to be very rough to the « senior sailors » and the first of them, Jean Le Cam, did not enter the Sables d’Olonne channel before February 6, followed by Mike Golding and Dominique Wavre. Then came Arnaud Boissières and Bertrand De Broc as well as, a little later, Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives-cœur). The last skipper to finish the race was Alessandro Di Benedetto, 11th but still celebrated as if he had won the race. Even though he was in 9th position when he crossed the Equator, Javier Sanso was not that lucky. On February 3, he lost his keel 400 miles south of the Azores, which capsized his boat. The Spaniard was eventually rescued by the Portuguese navy.

For sailors who own racing yachts in the UK, here is a great opportunity to get your hands on some cool sailsport merchandise/memorabilia.

The RORC Rating Office is offering sail number GBR 1000 R for sale by auction, and will donate 50% of the sale proceeds to Toe in the Water, the charity that offers competitive sailing opportunities to injured servicemen and women.

This could make the most unusual and unique of Valentine’s Day gifts! The closed auction commences on February 14th and runs until noon on February 28th and is only open to British owners.

The Rating Office, the technical arm of the Royal Ocean Racing Club based in Lymington, Hampshire, issues sail numbers in the ‘R’ series to British racing boat owners. RORC sail numbers have long been revered amongst the sailing fraternity since the RORC was formed in 1925.

The most desirable sail numbers were rapidly snapped up by boats racing under the RORC and IOR rating rules during the last century, but it has only just come to light that sail number 1000 was never officially allocated.

The Rating Office is pleased to support Toe in the Water, recognising the charity’s dedication and success in its mission: “Competitive sailing is a physically and mentally challenging adventurous sport and provides a unique opportunity for injured men and women to sail and race on equal terms with their able bodied contemporaries.”

A cheque will be given to representatives from Toe in the Water by staff from the RORC Rating Office at a presentation in March at the RORC Clubhouse in London.

Owners interested in bidding for GBR 1000 R should contact the RORC Rating Office at info [at]  rorcrating.com for further details and the Terms and Conditions of the auction, or you can read these here… (PDF)

Leigh McMillan and The Wave Muscat have won the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series for Oman Sail. The team won the final event in Rio to claim the trophy.

McMillan said:

“We are over the moon. We are absolutely thrilled to win here in Rio, it’s been an extraordinary event. It came right down to the wire. It was a huge team effort, the guys were fantastic throughout the whole season and I am very thankful for them. It’s been magic, and we are one very happy team.”

The Wave Muscat had to finish 6th or better in Rio to take out the series win. The team of Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Hannah Mills, Peter Greenhalgh and Hashim Al Rashidi made the most of the Act, which organisers described as one of the best in 5 years of the series.

The other Oman Sail boat, Oman Air – skippered by Morgan Larson finished third in Rio – enough to give them second spot on the series leaderboard at the end of the year.

Larson said:

“It was a challenging day, and as I said to the guys just now, it is a testament to the characters of the people on the boat that they’re all fighters and they kept fighting even when things didn’t go our way. In the end we are really pleased. We did the best we possibly could overall. We have a bright future.”

The 2013 venues and dates for the Extreme Sailing Series will be announced before the end of the year, with eight venues, across three continents making it the third consecutive year of truly global touring for the pioneering Stadium Sailing circuit.

Extreme Sailing Series 2012 Overall Series Results after Act 8, Rio

Position / Team / Points

• 1. The Wave, Muscat 76.5 points
• 2. Oman Air 65 points
• 3. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild 64.5 points
• 4. Red Bull Sailing Team 59 points
• 5. GAC Pindar 45.5 points
• 6. SAP Extreme Sailing Team 42 points
• 7. Alinghi 35.5 points
• 8. ZouLou 28 points

Some good news for the future of competitive sailing in the US this weekend as wildcard entry for the Monsoon Cup, Taylor Canfield won his second Alpari World Match Racing event in a row.

In a year when the US Sailors didn’t impress at the Olympics and the last American skipper in the America’s Cup left Artemis Racing, the form of Canfield should give US fans something to look forward to.

Taylor said after beating Phil Robertson in the final:

“This win is the best we have achieved in our careers so far and the guys I’m sailing with, Hayden Goodrick, Mike Rehe, Dan Morris and Rob Dawson did a fantastic job here today. We’re the second US Virgin Islanders to win this after Peter Holmberg in 2006.

“I’m not sure we could have done any more this year, we’ve been really pleased with how we’ve performed at the three Tour events we were invited to. This is a great way to finish the season and sets the bar for next year.”

The result in the Monsoon Cup and the Argo Challenge in Bermuda puts Canfield in a good position to be one of the ‘Tour Card’ holders for the Alpari World Match Racing Tour in 2013. Canfield said:

We definitely want a Tour Card and if this doesn’t prove [what we can do] I don’t know what does. Whatever happens, we’ll put in a strong effort next year.”

Reflecting on his defeat, Robertson of WAKA Racing, said:

“It was a good event for us, despite feeling like we gave that Final away a little bit. We sailed really, really well and we were getting stronger and stronger every race. I think this season we’ve proved what we can do and even though there is a little bit to improve on, we can challenge at these big events. A podium finish on the Tour is a great achievement.”

The Petit Final was, perhaps fittingly, contested by joint ISAF Match Racing World Championship record holders Ian Williams and Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing.

Ian Williams, said:

“We came to the Monsoon Cup to win the World Championship and we got that, which is a great. As far as the Monsoon Cup is concerned, it’s match racing and sometimes things don’t go your way. Still, we enjoyed the event and can be happy with our season.”

An emotional Peter Gilmour, who now bows out of professional match racing, said:

“We really had a good time out here. It was another wonderful event.”

Ian Williams and his GAC Pindar Team has won a fourth ISAF Match Racing World Championship title after beating World Match Racing Tour rival Bjorn Hansen in the quarter-finals at the Monsoon Cup.

The two teams were close on points going into the final round and when Hansen picked Williams to race against in the Quarter Final, the fans were going to get to see who would win the 2012 World Match Racing Tour a couple of days early.

The Swede, Hansen won the opening race of the best of five match, but Williams made better tactical decisions in the unusually light Monsoon Cup conditions.

Williams first won the ISAF Match Racing World Championship in 2007 . He repeated the feat in 2008 and 2011. His record four titles now equal that of the match racing legend, Australian skipper Peter Gilmour who announced his retirement only days ago.

Following his fourth World champion title, Ian Williams paid tribute to Gilmour:

“To win the title for a fourth time is indescribable. To match Peter Gilmour is an amazing feeling. He is a legend of the sport and to match that is such an honour. This is the second time we’ve done it back to back, first in 07 and 08 and now 11, 12. Since we put this team together at the start of 2011, we’ve won seven or eight events and now we have two world championships in two years – it’s incredible.”

Andrew Pindar, Team Principal of GAC Pindar, added:

“My true feelings – I was very nervous today, the conditions were difficult which means it’s a bit of a lottery for all the sailors. Ian’s constant professionalism shone through again. He analyses, he prepares, he breaks down the problem in front of him and he went out there to win it. His fourth world title in six years; that truly is an incredible achievement and we are really looking forward to him competing for his fifth next year, which if he wins, he’ll break the record.

“Since our first meeting with Ian, it was clear he possessed an exceptional talent that combined with his professional and disciplined approach to sailing has taken him to the pinnacle of the sport of sailing. It is fitting that with the additional backing of GAC Ian has shown yet again what a force he is.”

The Monsoon Cup was won by ‘wildcard’ entry Tyler Canfield.

Leigh McMillan, skippering The Wave Muscat for Oman Sail has won the second round of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series in Qingdao, China. The win puts the team on top of the overall leaderboard.

McMillan won with a race to spare saying:

“We are thrilled to have won here in Qingdao and to have a second and a first place for the first two events is very good stuff for us. We weren’t necessarily expecting to win here. It’s been a tight competition and Red Bull Sailing Team have been performing very well this week and always getting closer and closer, and pushing us harder and harder.”

The Red Bull Extreme sailing team skippered by Roman Hagara were in contention, but came away with second. Hagara said:

“The whole team is really happy especially as we were leading the first two days then we had a really bad third day. The last day the beginning was really hard for us and we made some really bad decisions on the racecourse so ending up in 2nd place on the podium is great for us and the whole team really deserved it because we pushed really hard.”

The last place on the podium went to Groupe Edmond de Rothschild.

Ramus Kostner, co-skipper SAP Extreme Sailing Team who announced SAP as a sponsor earlier in the week said:

“We are still improving all the time and some of our starts were good, and we were able to hold on to our positions so that was really good. When we get in front it looks like we can stay there… All in all we’re pretty happy with our result not to finish last or second last in our second event here in Qingdao.”

Phil Robertson, who hasn’t really done his time yet in top level sailing competition except for a couple of Alpari World Match Racing Tour events was totally outclassed representing China Team. In a competition where Loick Peyron came  6th, it might have been arrogant for the young Kiwis to jump straight into an extreme 40 and expect to come anything but last. Robertson admitted that he might have underestimated the talent in the series:

“It’s been very good competition here in Qingdao and probably higher than we expected. We are very impressed with the whole organisation and the very short courses. This is definitely a new step for us and a different challenge. We are very happy about how it all went and are keen to come back.”

The event showed the intensity of the competition not just between sailors but between Chinese cities to become recognised sailing venues. Co-organised by the Qingdao Yachting Association, Qingdao is using the Extreme Sailing Series to promote the slogan – China’s ‘City of Sailing’  which builds on their delivery of the Olympics.

Extreme Sailing Series 2012, Series standings after 2 Acts

Position / Team / Points

• 1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 19 points
• 2nd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) 16 points
• 3rd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 16 points
• 4th Oman Air (OMA) 16 points
• 5th GAC Pindar (GBR) 13 points
• 6th ZouLou (FRA) 10 points
• 7th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 7 points
• 8th Alinghi (SUI), 7 points

The one design nature of the America’s Cup World Circus should not be used as a form-guide for the real event, but the most recent event in Naples shows that the newly announced Luna Rossa Challenge have the talent to give defenders ORACLE Racing a run.

Chris Draper, who surprised many last year when he was competitive skippering the underfunded newcomers Team Korea,  led his Luna Rossa crew to a win in the final fleet race in Naples, Italy. Draper said:

“We’re very pleased with the event, with the team effort. We didn’t have huge expectations, but to come away with a first (in the fleet racing) and a second (in the match racing) is awesome.”

“We sailed along the shore after the finish and it’s insane to see how many people are here. As a sailor you’d never imagine having so many people watching. It’s great for the sport, and great to be part of an Italian team in front of all these people. We’re very proud.”

Australian James Spithill, helming one of the American ORACLE Racing boats said

“The key thing was hanging in there and looking for the opportunities, and there were plenty out there. JK (tactician John Kostecki) and the guys did a very nice job… In those sorts of conditions you can go from hero to zero in a matter of seconds. We knew we just had to hang tough and wait for the opportunities. The guys found some good ways back and got us up there.”

Artemis Racing, the Challenger of Record didn’t live up to expectations in 2011, but they pulled back some pride in Naples, winning the Match Racing element of the regatta.

Terry Hutchinson said:

“I can’t say enough about the effort from the guys on the boat and on the shore. After Wednesday, we’d have taken today’s result, that’s for sure. Our team trainer says it’s not how you fall down, but how you get up. Now we have to come back in a few weeks in Venice and work on our consistency.”

The next round is in Venice.