Team EC
Our sail for the ESS - Team EC
19th September 2011
The Italians and Maltese "Team EC" 49ers in action © Lloyd Images
We’ve been in Trapani over the weekend for the second-leg of Team EC’s participation in the ESS. We had some good, sunny weather and sailed head-to-head with some stadium-style racing in front of the main pavilion. Here’s an excerpt from the Extreme Sailing Series website:
49er and Optimist racing warm up the crowds before the Extreme 40s take to the stage
Two 49ers are taking to the Extreme 40 stage today at 12.30 – 2pm (local time this afternoon, followed by a fleet of Optimists racing at 2-3pm before the10 Extreme 40s take to the main stage at 3pm. Racing for both the 49ers and Extreme 40s will once again be in front of the race village in the ‘stadium’ format.
The two teams of 49ers are made up of Italians Matteo Gritti and Ruggero Tita. Gritti is a seasoned sailor who has been competing in the 49er class since 2003 and has won the 49er National Regatta a staggering 12 times and is the current 29er champion! Ruggero graduated from the Optimist class where he claimed the Italian and Swiss Optimist Champion title in 2005, he then moved into the 49er class and won the national champion title in 2010.
The home team is competing against Maltese sailors Benji Borg and Seb Ripard. This duo is another set of acclaimed sailors having both won the Optimist National Championship title. Borg first won a national championship in the Laser Radial in 2006 before moving into the 29er class. Ripard is a match racer who started off in the Optimist class and claimed the 1998 Optimist National Championship title.
“It’s fun racing here, although it’s all about the starts are very little other passing lanes” reported Ripard. “We watched some racing yesterday and it’s pretty cool that Ben Ainslie can step into a multihull and do so well!”
Borg commented on being able to race in front of a busy race village: “Most of our events are about a mile out so racing in front of a crowd is not something we get to do.”
Ripard and Borg will be competing at the 49er World Championships in Australia this winter, and hoping to qualify for the Olympics. Many of the Extreme 40 sailors have Olympic experience and between the Extreme 40 sailors at this event they have been to the Olympics 24 times and taken home 7 gold medals, 2 silver medals and one bronze medal. looking into the furtre both Borg and Ripard would like to race an Extreme 40 as they love the speed of the 9ers, Ripard explaine: “Our 49ers go pretty fast but the Extreme 40s are a different story!”
Read the full article here: http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/49er-and-optimist-racing-warms-up-the-crowds-before-the-extreme-40s-take-to
10th August 2011
From the Extreme Sailing Series website:
‘Team EC’ Benji Borg and Seb Ripard from Malta and Britain’s Simon Marks and Nick Murray took to the water pre-Extreme 40 racing from Saturday to Monday, and the breezy conditions delivered some class and exciting racing in front of the crowds. “We love having the opportunity to race the 49ers in front of the public,” said Simon Marks. “This really helps the audience to understand what sailing is all about these days. This kind of stadium racing is all action – it’s all go, go, go!”
Benji Borg and Seb Ripard have been sailing together since 2010. With two qualifiers to go for the 2012 Olympic Games, the guys feel they are on the right track to participate and are positive about qualifying for 2012. Their first experience at an Extreme 40 event showed them what it is like to race in front of an audience: “People really appreciate what sailing is all about thanks to the Extreme Sailing Series. This is much more exciting than F1 racing. It’s brilliant!” said Benji Borg.
Read the full article here
Watch the video here
4th August 2011
We’re now settling in at Cowes, as Team EC. Team EC will be sailing at Cowes this weekend as part of the Extreme Sailing Series 2011. The 49ers will do 1hr of ‘exhibition’ style racing just before the Extreme 40s take to the water.
We will be racing from Saturday 6th – Monday 8th. We will be on the water around 14h00 on all three days. Will be posting updates and photos soon.
21st June 2011
“Team EC” Announced: Malta 49er team sponsored exclusively by EC English Language Centres for The Extreme Sailing Series 2011.
The Malta 49er team, Seb Ripard and Benji Borg, are one of 8 teams invited to take part in the inaugural 49er class of the European leg of the Extreme Sailing Series. Since 2007, the Extreme Sailing Series has become a benchmark in the sailing world, with Extreme 40s battling it out on courses around the world. This year, the Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) is a 9-event global circuit, with 49ers taking part for the first time.
Ripard and Borg have been invited to take part in the 4 events in the European circuit, and will be joining some of the biggest names in competitive sailing. In order to compete at such a high level, support is crucial; EC have been announced as the exclusive team sponsor for the series. For the ESS, the Malta 49er team will be known as Team EC.
“We are really pleased that we’ve been asked to take part in an event that attracts the best of breed. The ESS races are adrenaline-fuelled and the action is breathtaking, with coverage on major TV networks globally. This will really raise the profile of sailing in Malta, whilst at the same time it will give us some top-class racing experience in the run-up to The Olympics. We couldn’t have competed at the ESS without EC’s support, and we’d like to thank them for their invaluable help and financial assistance which will give them exclusive sponsorship for the series. We’re proud to be known as Team EC and we’ll be doing our utmost to win”, said Ripard, 24.
Andrew Mangion, EC’s Executive Chairman stated “We have been a sponsor of the Malta 49er team for the past year, and we’ve offered our support to get them to the ESS as it will enable them to compete at the highest level. This will be a fantastic opportunity for them to hone their racing skills over the coming months, and raise the profile of the Maltese sailing community on the international stage”.
Team EC will be competing in August in Cowes, UK, then on to Trapani, Italy, back up to Nice, France and finally Almeria, Spain in mid-October.
In 2010, the Extreme Sailing Series attracted coverage in over 120 countries in 13 languages. Channels covering the series included CNN (Intl), Channel 4 (UK), Bloomberg (Intl), Sky Sports (UK, NZ), Fox Sport (Australia), Sport+ (France) and ESPN (Brazil).
About EC:
EC was established in 1991, quickly becoming one of the leading English language schools in Malta. Fast-forwarding to today, EC now consists of ten schools in 4 countries on three continents. This year EC’s staff will help over 25,000 students from over 100 countries to learn and improve their English language skills.
http://www.ecenglish.com
Malta49er website:
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