BMW ORACLE's Spithill and Team Cammas gear up for Cowes Extreme 40s

[Source: BMW Oracle] BMW ORACLE Racing will begin training in Cowes next week in preparation for the highly competitive iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week 2-4 August where the team is fielding two entries –Team Spithill and Team Cammas.

Spithill will helm with John Kostecki (USA), tactician/traveler; Dirk de Ridder (NED) trim/grind, and Alan Smith (NZL), trim/grind. Multihull consultant Franck Cammas (FRA) will also helm one of the team’s two Extreme 40s. His crew will include Thierry Fouchier (FRA), tactician/traveler; Joe Newton (AUS), trim/grind; and Simeon Tienpont (NED), trim/grind. BMW ORACLE Racing skipper Russell Coutts and design coordinator Mike Drummond (NZL) will be coaching the two crews in Cowes.

“This will be a perfect regatta for pushing our learning curve on multihull racing,” Spithill said. “It will be a very competitive fleet so I am sure we will be pushed hard. This is a great event and a great chance to keep preparing while we wait for our new America’s Cup boat.”

After a tough start in the Extreme 40s when one of the boats capsized in an exciting in-house match race in May, two BMW ORACLE Racing crews competed 20-22 June at the “Just the Best” regatta in Italy where Spithill and Coutts faced off in the Extreme 40s with Spithill’s team earning the regatta victory.

June also provided plenty of multihull sailing for the team. Franck Cammas, with a team including sailing coordinator Julien di Biase (SUI) as tactician, won the prestigious Bol d’Or Mirabaud sailing the Decision 35 catamaran Zebra 7 Girard- Perregaux. Following a June training session on the 60-foot Groupama 2, sailing team member Alberto Barovier (ITA) joined Cammas and crew as a bowman on the trimaran to win the ORMA class in the Trophy SNSM.