Basilica encountered a difficult day in Baltimore Harbour on Tuesday on the fourth day of racing in the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix.
Two fourth places and a second means that the British crew have made up ground on second placed Holmatro but have conceded further points to leg leaders Tommy Hilfiger.
The all-British boat remains in third position in the Baltimore Grand Prix standings on 101 points, 11 behind Holmatro and 20 behind Hilfiger.
Slow starts to races one and two meant that Basilica was always chasing the leaders and despite a photo finish on the line with Hilfiger and Motorola in the second, the Hayling Islanders could only finish a disappointing fourth.
A longer third race, for which the course was extended by over a kilometre, saw Basilica open up a commanding lead on the chasing pack, only for the experienced Hilfiger skipper Randy Smythe to claw back the water and claim his team’s second win of the day.
Basilica skipper James Grant was frustrated by the team’s inconsistency in the Baltimore waters but remains upbeat: “We are all finding it difficult to be consistent over a day on this course which is understandable given the tricky conditions. With the constant variation in the wind, the results of each race are always balanced on a knife edge with any one of the five crews in with a chance. We got extremely close in race two to finishing second, missing out by only a couple of seconds. It was disappointing not to finish the day with a win but Randy sailed exceptionally well again today and deserved the two wins.”
Holt have supplied deck hardware to the Volvo Extreme 40 Basilica. The Holt deck hardware package includes equipment from all technical areas - deck hardware ranging from 20mm HA dynamic bearing blocks to 100mm H2O offshore blocks with web attachments. Basilica also uses H20 winches that are lighter and smaller in volume so that deck space is reduced and weight on this 40ft carbon catamaran is kept to a minimum.
Team Basilica lies second in the overall series standings on 15 points, only one behind Tommy Hilfiger. With one more day of racing still to take place in the Baltimore Grand Prix, there are plenty of points still on offer when the fight for top spot continues on Wednesday 3rd May.
Baltimore Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Points Standings after day two:
1. Hilfiger – 121 points
2. Holmatro – 112 points
3. Basilica – 101 points
4. Motorola – 84 points
5. Volvo Ocean Race – 77 points
Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series Overall Points Standings:
1. Tommy Hilfiger – 16 points
2. Basilica – 15 points
3. Motorola-CHR – 12 points
4. Volvo Ocean Race – 12 points
5. Holmatro – 11 points
Remaining Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series Dates:
Portsmouth, UK 27 May – 3 June, 2006
Rotterdam, Netherlands 9-14 June, 2006
03/05/2006
