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For immediate Release

Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix Rotterdam
9 - 14 June 2006

Tommy moves on up

June 13, 2006, Rotterdam, The Netherlands – The Volvo Extreme 40’s put on a show today for the crowds in Rotterdam. Both the warm weather and the fresh breeze gave the teams a chance to shine as the leader board mixed up and Tommy Hilfiger moved to the top.

A breeze of eight to ten knots with fluky gusts kept the crews on their toes for all five races today on the Maas. The first race started with Tommy Hilfiger taking line honours quickly followed by their close rivals Basilica and Motorola-CHR.

As the teams got used to the reaching course the second race got underway and Basilica and Tommy Hilfiger’s fight ensued even more intensely with the British boys coming out ahead of the Americans. Holmatro came in third followed by Team Volvo Ocean Race and an unfortunate Motorola-CHR in fifth.

By the time the third race came through every catamaran team knew that, if they won the start then they had a good chance of winning the race. This was due to a reaching course being set for them because of space restraints in the river and the direction of the wind. Nigel Pitt the skipper of Team Volvo Ocean Race managed their best place of the series today with a win in this third race followed by Tommy Hilfiger and Holmatro with Basilica and Motorola fighting it out at the back.

Basilica headed up by James Grant took the lead in the fourth race whilst outpacing their rivals Hilfiger and Motorola-CHR. They had a great day but Grant believes it’s all about the strength of your crew. “We did well today. We outsmarted our rivals and our boat handling was better. Once you get your nose out in front then it’s had for people to get past you on this sort of course. We have a strong team both physically and mentally.”

Holmatro pulled a first out of the bag in the fifth race with Basilica and Tommy Hilfiger following and Motorola in fourth. Conrad Humphreys was disappointed today as the team slid from first to third place by ten points. “It was a bad day for our team we were shy of the line a few times and that didn’t help because if you didn’t win the start you were stuck behind the others playing catch up. It was good to have the breeze though and get some pace on, with water over the deck.”

So with two more days left in the Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix. It’s all to play for. Randy Smyth skipper of Team Hilfiger certainly enjoyed his day as he moves to the top of the leader board again. “It was a big day and great to move up a spot. Basically today we were fighting against Basilica and Motorola-CHR. I liked the course that was set today it gave the spectators a great view and mixed it up for the competitors too. You have to be very quick thinking with this sort of course as a split seconds decision can make or lose you boat lengths. It was a great day.”

Results, day 3
1st Tommy Hilfiger (1,3,2,1,4,3,1,2,2,2,3,1) 85 pts
2nd Basilica (5,4,3,DNF,2,1,2,1,4,1,2) 78 pts
3rd Motorola-CHR (2,1,1,2,3,2,3,5,5,3,4) 75 pts
4th Holmatro (3,5,4,3,1,4,4,3,3,4,1) 68 pts
5th Volvo Ocean Race (4,2,DNF,DNF,5,5,5,4,1,5,5) 56 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