| SANXENXO, SPAIN-(8-11-2005) Racing in the Volvo Extreme 40 was cancelled today. Sanxenxo was hit by a fierce front with winds gusting up to 35 knots followed by long windless periods with the wind shifting constantly. At one moment a squall hit the marina and everybody had to run for cover. People were struggling with branded umbrellas walking on the pier. The rain made it impossible to see further than a few metres.
All the Volvo Extreme 40’s were on the water in the afternoon for several hours but the race committee did not find the right conditions to start in between the squalls and the calms.
English Tornado specialist Hugh Styles, skipper onboard team Basilica, experienced highlight of the day.
“We were on the edge of a squall and we decided to give the boat the full ride. And we did, we were showing all our flags. With the spinnaker up we were flying. We are used to some high speeds on the Tornado but we had big grins on all the faces onboard. We must have been doing over 20 knots and going down waves accelerating even more. A full roller coaster ride.”
Styles is also the Team GBR Tornado specialist preparing for the 2008 Olympics. He is thinks the teams need more time to learn to sail the boat to its full potential. “This boat is bigger and heavier than a Tornado. This boat goes faster but also needs more attention to keep up to speed. With this size you can get caught in between the waves for example. With the Tornado we push it harder and we sail more extreme, more on the edge. We will need to learn to sail like that with these boats as well, but we need time and hours in the boat.”
Preview
Tomorrow the racing is scheduled to start again at 14.30 hours. The forecast is for winds between 10-15 knots and sunny conditions. Carolijn Brouwer leads the point’s table with her team, with Mitch Booth in second place on Holmatro. Holmatro crew Mark van Gelderen was challenging Brouwer, “Tomorrow we will come back ashore as the leaders. Watch us,” he said convinced.
Brouwer reacted calm and said, “We still have two days to sail and we might even sail more than three races tomorrow. We still need to sail a lot of races, nothing has been decided yet we need to keep sailing well and we will.”
| 
