Nice a struggle in the light

Day 1 of the Extreme Sailing Series regatta at Nice was not one to remember for the Emirates Team New Zealand crew.

The breeze was extremely light reminding the crew – Dean Barker, Jeremy Lomas, Chris McAsey and Adam Beashel – of the frustrating conditions experienced during the Nice Louis Vuitton Trophy event in November 2009.

Dean Barker said: “A light breeze in the morning dies away and then a sea breeze fills in later in the afternoon. That’s pretty much the forecast for the rest of the week.”

On the first day the race committee could start only four races of the eight or nine quick-fire races normally held. Regatta officials are reorganising the programme in an attempt to adapt to the conditions. Racing tomorrow will start at 9am, crews will return to the dock when the breeze dies and, with luck, go racing again later in the day.

The Emirates Team New Zealand crew at Nice is another new combination as the team rotates people to give every member of the team race time on the catamarans.

Dean Barker, returning to the Extreme Sailing Series after missing the Cowes and Trapani regattas, said: “We seriously struggled to find speed in the extremely light conditions today but then so did everyone else.

“Our crew was the heaviest in the fleet and, even though crew weight does have a bearing on results in the light, we will continue to give the bigger guys the racing experience. Tomorrow we have to get out there and put in a much more stable performance.”

Standings at the end of Day 1 at Nice

1 Red Bull Extreme Sailing 35
2 Groupe Edmond de Rothschild 31
3 Team Extreme 31
4 Artemis Racing 29
5 Alinghi 24
6 Niceforyou 24
7 Oman Air 22
8 Luna Rossa 22
9 Team GAC Pindar 21
10 The Wave, Muscat 17
11 Emirates Team New Zealand 8