Dominating proceedings yesterday with three victories out of the five races run, Pierre Pennec and his men have encountered more difficulty on the Omani race zone today. It has to be said that the breeze of around fifteen knots, which was blowing during the second day of competition, had dropped off considerably this Tuesday. At its strongest, the anemometers recorded around ten knots this afternoon. Added to these climatic changes came a new race format today, one which will be repeated over the two remaining days of the competition. Indeed the so-called “Open Water” races gave way to some more typical Extreme Sailing Series races, synonymous with just half the playing field of previous days. The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group struggled to find their bearings, as bowman Hervé Cunningham explains: “This third day of competition was like starting over again for us as the course format changed. We’ve switched from the ‘long’ races we competed in on the first two days, to today’s much shorter courses. It’s a very different exercise and unfortunately we weren’t able to express ourselves quite so well on the water. Prior to the start of the Grand Prix we knew that our shortcomings are linked to this ‘stadium racing’, as the organisers call it. The results at the end of five races contested this Tuesday are that we have to work on and make progress with our starts as they were the black points of our day. There are a number of us on the line and our adversaries are aggressive so you have to constantly jockey for position and hold on until the start gun sounds. I think we’re going to have to be more aggressive on these crucial phases tomorrow and that may involve us having to take greater risks.”

At a little over the halfway mark in the event and after three days of competition, the catamaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild is holding onto the head of the provisional ranking. “Although the crew committed a few youthful indiscretions in the start phases, the attitude aboard the boat and the commitment were very much in evidence, which enabled us to move up through the fleet a little and claw back some precious points. Our adversaries really made up some serious ground on us but despite that, this evening, we’ve managed to hold onto the lead of the Grand Prix and that comes as a great satisfaction. It’s good for morale!” concludes Hervé.

In the provisional ranking, the men of Gitana Team have a new crew on their tail in second place, that of Artemis. Fifth yesterday, the Swedish team had an excellent day and are a direct threat to the four French sailors, who have nevertheless managed to rack up a credit of three points. On the third step of the podium, the locals on The Wave have also defended their colours well on home waters and are just nine points shy of the top spot. This evening, the top five teams are just thirteen points apart and the next two days of competition are going to be extremely tense.

The crew speak out