Round 7 – Fujairah Grand Prix – Fujairah, U.A.E. – Pole Position
VICTORY 7 EDGES CLOSER TO DOUBLE TITLE
* U.A.E. team score dominant 1-2-3 on home territory *
* Spirit of Norway shows impressive speed on return to competition *
* Victory 4 scores 2nd place after extensive re-build *
Ali Nasser and Randy Scism in Victory 7, today showed a clean pair of heels to sister boats Victory 4 and Victory 44, winning the Fujairah Grand Prix Pole Position Run in a time of 22.957secs (214.84kmh / 133.41mph) to move to within two points of team mates and current Pole Position Trophy leaders, Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles.
As temperatures on the Indian Ocean soared above 40° C, celebrations were well under way in the Victory camp, after scoring an unprecedented 1-2-3 finish in the Pole Position Award. In particular, 2nd placed Khalfan Harib and Mohammed Al Ghaith, had good reason to celebrate, as they returned to form in an extensively re-built Victory 4 boat, which was virtually written off in a massive testing crash in Arendal earlier this season.
"For sure, the sea conditions were much more unpredictable than they looked from the beach," said Ali Nasser, after a second run which saw most boats clock faster times than on their first. "We had to be careful that we didn’t push too hard, but the boat really flew," he added.
"The first run, we just weren’t set up right and we hit several big swells and stood it up," continued team-mate Randy Scism. "The second run, we had a better idea of what we wanted to do and a greater measure of the conditions, so we were able to ease into it right from the beginning. I know that the Pole Position is very close now, but as long as one of the Victory boats wins we’ll be really happy. One thing’s for sure, everybody’s gonna have fun tomorrow. With all these turns and this kind of water, it’s going to be a ball."
"The boat is just fantastic," exclaimed Khalfan Harib as his lovingly restored Victory 4 boat was craned onto the Fujairah Corniche. "It’s a completely different boat to the old Victory 7 that we have been using as a stand in. It has served us well while Victory 4 was being repaired, but after five years of good racing, I think it’s about time that it retired."
Third placed Saeed Al Tayer continued in a philosophical vein; "The conditions today were very different to last year, but so was our level of competitiveness. I remember well when three years ago people began to say Victory had lost the edge and that the European teams had overtaken us on technology, but it was the standards that we had set that pushed them to that level. We started planning for this return to form two years ago and so its very rewarding to see the fruits of all that hard work coming to fruition. We have a very competitive boat, but we just need a little luck if we are to win races."
Another pair making an impressive return to competition in a heavily repaired boat, was Bjorn Gjelsten and Steve Curtis in the distinctive red and white catamaran, Spirit of Norway. However, despite setting the fastest first run time in spectacular fashion over an unpredictable swell, the outgoing Class 1 World Champions were eventually relegated to fourth place.
"There’s a little vibration on one side which we need to check out, but nevertheless we’re right back in the swing of things. It’s like we never had an accident," said Steve Curtis afterwards. "The conditions didn’t really suit us today because we tend to like a following sea in this boat, rather than a head sea. We’re hoping that the conditions stay the same for tomorrow so we’ll have a following sea all the way down the long leg," he added.
"It felt good to back in the hot-seat and competing again," said a nerve free Bjorn Gjelsten later. "We had a good first run and a better second one, despite hitting two big swells hard, but it just wasn’t enough."