Edmond de Rothschild moves up a step
The rain gatecrashed the second day of the Grand Prix of Kiel. However, the wind, that weather forecasts indicated would be steadier than yesterday, once again proved to be a little timid on the German race zone, before completely dropping away for the last two races of the day. The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group knew just how to get the best from these light conditions and enjoyed the best day of the fleet. As such Yann Guichard and his crew climbed one place on the event’s provisional podium.
With three second places and one third place, Yann Guichard’s men pulled off a blinding performance today: “It was a good day for Edmond de Rothschild Group. We knew how to put up a steady performance, which is essential in the Extreme 40s if you are to score highly in the ranking. The light conditions weren’t necessarily easy to handle, but we knew how to be opportunists and make the best of everything that came our way. Even when we got off to some poor starts, which happened twice in four of the ‘classic’ races, we managed to get back into the action. It’s the cohesion of the crew and some very good work by Pierre, Hervé and Thierry which made that possible. The manœuvres are performed to perfection and that leaves me the time to gauge the race zone and position ourselves as best we can in relation to our adversaries” explained Yann Guichard.
 
The very good consistency at the front of the fleet enabled them to pip the crew of Oman Sail Masirah to the post and hoist themselves onto the second step of the provisional podium. Positioned five points behind leader Ecover yesterday, the catamaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild has considerably reduced her deficit on the English one design. However, it will be necessary to remain both vigilant and humble given the stiff competition between the top four: “The top four are sailing very well. Ecover is sailing better and better and Oman Masirah is right up in the action and is only a few points down this evening. As regards The Wave Muscat, they’re slightly off the pace but you can very quickly get back into the fray in a day and I’m confident they’ll do just that. Every point will be important right up to the finish!”
 
For the fifth and final race of the day, the organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series were keen to add a little something special to the racing by offering the crews a spot of match racing. The ruling was such that the pairings were determined by the order of the ranking, so Yann Guichard and his men were up against the crew of Mike Golding. Unfortunately, the total lack of wind took a little of the shine off the duels. Evidence of this came with the match between the two Omani one designs, whose start was given a few minutes before Edmond de Rothschild Group and Ecover, but didn’t reach its conclusion until afterwards…
 
Early in the week, Kiel was shaping up to be a very windy Grand Prix. However, the vagaries of the weather are outsmarting all the forecasts for the time being and the ten races contested thus far have been run in 0 - 6 knots. Tomorrow, the wind is expected to increase, but in light of the lessons learnt over previous days, it might be better to only believe what you see…
 
Provisional ranking for the Grand Prix of Kiel (after ten races)
1.       Ecover Sailing Team (Mike Golding) - 67 points
2.       Edmond de Rothschild Group (Yann Guichard) - 63 points
3.       Oman Sail Masirah (Loïck Peyron) - 59 points
4.       The Wave, Muscat (Paul Campbell-James) - 48 points
5.       Red Bull Extreme Sailing (Roman Hagara) - 46 points
6.       The Ocean Racing Club (Mitch Booth) - 40 points
7.       Groupama 40 (Tanguy Cariou) - 38 points
8.       Audi Sailing Team Germany (Johannes Polgar) – 28 points
9.       Wirsol Team Germany (Roland Gaebler) - 20 points
 
The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group
Yann Guichard - Skipper, helmsman / Pierre Pennec – Mainsail trimmer / Thierry Fouchier – Headsail trimmer / Hervé Cunningham - Bowman
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