Basilica closes in on Tommy Hilfiger after Portsmouth Grand Prix

June 1, 2006, Portsmouth, United Kingdom

The all British Team Basilica were in a league of their own on the final day of the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series in Portsmouth.

Winning one race and scoring three second places in the remaining races, Alister Richardson steered the team to victory in the overall series. After a 17 race series, Team Basilica had managed an impressive 31 point victory over Conrad Humphreys’ Motorola-CHR.

Basilica skipper James Grant commented: “It has been a great week and we are delighted to be providing the in-port entertainment for the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06. Tommy Hilfiger really set the pace in Baltimore and we had to dig deep here. The guys on the boat certainly did a great job and it feels good to win the series on home soil.”

A win in Portsmouth sees Team Basilica close the gap on overall series leaders Tommy Hilfiger. After four events there is just two points separating the top two spots with all to play for at the final regatta in Rotterdam. “The way the points are stacked up it looks like we are in for a big showdown in Rotterdam, which should be really exciting,” concluded Grant.

Motorola-CHR, helmed by British Tornado sailor Leigh McMillan, sailed a consistent week to take second place which moves them up onto the overall series podium after four events, overtaking Team Holmatro.

The final podium position in Portsmouth went to Randy Smyth’s Tommy Hilfiger. The American team had an exciting week experiencing the mixed conditions that The Solent had to offer and will be reliving their cartwheel experience for many weeks to come. Smyth said: “It has been a really exciting week. In a way I am quite pleased that we cartwheeled the boat, because at least now we know how to recover from it!”

He continued: “We made some mistakes this week but certainly had to work hard to keep in there. My understanding is that in Rotterdam we will be sailing in a pretty confined space so it should be exciting. I think Basilica has an edge on us with their boat handling and we have a slight edge speed wise, so it looks set for a pretty spectacular showdown.”

Team Holmatro, helmed by Mitch Booth, were joined by Pirates of the Caribbean sailor Dirk de Ridder who helped the boat to their only race win of the week.“These boats are just awesome,” commented de Ridder, who continued by saying, “It is the first time I have sailed a catamaran and it was just fantastic.”

Team Volvo Ocean Race finished the Portsmouth series in fifth place overall but despite the result, class designer Yves Loday appeared to be having a lot of fun on the boat he created.

Before the teams pack up and head off for the final grand prix series in Rotterdam, they will first race in the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race on Saturday 3rd June 2006.

The race, run and organised by the Island Sailing Club, will be their first time that the Volvo Extreme 40’s will compete against other multihulls and will be the longest race they have done to date when they complete the 50 mile circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight.

From there they head over to Holland to compete in the final event of the grand prix series which commences on the 9 June.

For further information on the class log onto www.VolvoExtreme40.org.

Final Results (after 17 races)
1st Basilica, 149 pts
2nd Motorola-CHR 118 pts
3rd Tommy Hilfiger, 111 pts
4th Holmatro, 101 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race, 81 pts

Overall Series Rankings (after four events)
1st Tommy Hilfiger 32 pts
2nd Basilica 30 pts
3rd Motorola-CHR 26 pts
4th Holmatro 24 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race 20 pts

Remaining Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Series Dates
Rotterdam, Netherlands 9-14 June, 2006