Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 1, Singapore - Day 2
by Extreme Sailing Series 21 Feb 2014 15:56 GMT
20-23 February 2014
Shuffling the pack ahead of the penultimate day
Alinghi stamp their dominance, taking the lead after two days on the Marina Bay Stadium – despite narrowly avoiding a capsize!
The pressure turned up a notch on the second day of racing at the Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 curtain raiser in Singapore, with the wind, and the heat from the city, cranking up. The 12 elite level teams battled a huge wind range from three knots right through to gusts that peaked at 24 knots, using all their tactical prowess to muscle their Extreme 40s around the racecourse in a series of short, sharp races, which saw a reshuffle on the overall leaderboard.
Six races were sailed on Marina Bay and Alinghi stamped their dominance, with two race wins, and three second places to upgrade their overall position to first place. It wasn't all plain sailing for the Swiss, and in race 13 their Californian helm Morgan Larson did well to control the over-powered catamaran when the biggest gust of the day caught the team off-guard, bringing it back from the brink of a capsize, as Larson explained: "Coming into today we said we wouldn't push it as hard otherwise we'll end up in the water. But early on, we got lifted right up on one hull, and we just thought, if we were to go any further we're definitely going to tip over. Things were definitely smiling in our favour today! There was no shouting onboard, we all kind of looked at each other and thought: we got lucky there!" And the key to getting good results? "The winds are gusty and shifty, so it challenges you tactically. In a lot of venues, starting is crucial, but here I think it's just getting away from the other boats and then picking your moments to build up the fleet."
Dean Barker's Emirates Team New Zealand hadn't competed together for five months before this week, and the team of Kiwi America's Cup legends are quickly getting to grips with the stadium format of the Extreme Sailing Series. A string of results in the top half of the fleet, including a win in the fourth race of the day, promoted them to second place from yesterday's fourth. The biggest upgrade of the day came for the defending champions The Wave, Muscat with three race wins bringing them within six points of the Kiwis. With two days left, McMillan's attentions are already turning to the end result. "It was a pretty solid day and I'll be pushing harder the next two days. We're now in competition for the podium and that's the most important thing for the first event."
Realstone had a superb opening day yesterday, and were on form again today before a collision with Oman Air, which could be heard by the crowds around the bay, put an end to the Swiss teams winning run. Realstone's skipper Jérôme Clerc explained what happened: "Oman Air tried to bear away behind us, and under the pressure, that isn't always easy, so Rob (Greenhalgh) didn't achieve his manoeuvre and hit us at the back of the boat. They smashed into the rudder and created a big hole, we started sinking but we pushed ourselves to finish that race." With damage to their steering system, the Swiss were forced to retire and limped back to the pitlane, missing the final race of the day, while the Omani team made a quick repair on the water to their bow. Both boats will be craned out tonight, but expect them to be back ready to race tomorrow. Oman Air received a 45 second starting penalty in the next race, and Realstone will be seeking redress form the jury first thing tomorrow morning.
Red Bull Sailing Team are a familiar fixture on the Series, but this year are fielding a new line-up. The Austrian team, who finished third overall in 2013 and are currently eighth in Singapore, have had a mixed bag of results so far this week as they adapt to their new line up, but with just 40 points separating them from first placed Alinghi, their experienced skipper Roman Hagara spoke tactics for putting that right. "I think we just have to focus a little more on our starts, we had some really shocking starts today and then on the second downwind we made some major mistakes and we lost a couple of boats at times. We've just discussed this in our de-brief and that's definitely what we have to look towards tomorrow!"
Even the most experienced of Extreme 40 sailors are struggling to be consistent with the unpredictable breeze on the tricky stadium racecourse. Paul Campbell-James, helm of Gazprom Team Russia, is a two-time Series winning helm, but admits stepping back into the Series for the first time since 2011 has been a challenge. "I'm really enjoying it but I am definitely showing some sure signs of rust! It is a bit of frustrating obviously, the last time I sailed an Extreme 40 was here in Singapore and we won with the event! It's a bit harder to be at the back of the fleet. The main thing is the starting and that's the thing we didn't do well at all the last couple of days. We will get there. We're still on a learning curve. Everything is positive."
The local representative on Team Aberdeen Singapore drew the biggest cheers from the fans around the bay, and narrowed the gap over 11th placed GAC Pindar to just one point. The public are expected to be out in the droves over the weekend to watch the elite level racing, right in the heart of this high-rise city.
Standings after Day 2: (fifteen races)
1st Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 111pts
2nd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 90pts
3rd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 84pts
4th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Sophie de Turckheim, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 81pts
5th Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Thierry Wassem, Sébastien Stephant 81pts
6th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Pippa Wilson, Matt Cornwell 80pts
7th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 73pts
8th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Haylee Outteridge 71pts
9th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Will Howden, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 61pts
10th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 56pts
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) Seve Jarvin, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, Alexandra South 32pts
12th Team Aberdeen Singapore (SIN) Nick Moloney, Adam Beashel, Scott Glen Sydney, Tom Dawson, Justin Wong 31pts
www.extremesailingseries.com
The Wave, Muscat climbs leaderboard after determined performance on difficult day (from Oman Sail)
The Wave, Muscat made a determined comeback on the second day of the Extreme Sailing Series Singapore to jump six places on the leaderboard while the new team on Oman Air were caught out by big gusts that wreaked havoc among the fleet.
After a quiet opener to Act 1, Leigh McMillan's team arrived on the race course today with a new energy and enjoying the fresher breeze, immediately clocked two outright victories which later became three when they pipped Alinghi to the post in the final race.
Facing complicated wind patterns, created by the skyscrapers around Marina Bay which meant wind holes on some parts of the course and 25 knot gusts on others, they saw and read the shifts more clearly than rivals and managed to take control of the favoured side of the course to consistently hold the advantage.
Of the six races completed, the Omani boat won three of them and were on the podium for another two, signalling a rising dynamic in McMillan's new look team and an appetite for a third consecutive championship title.
It also signalled a cool head when the pressure is on – Alinghi recovered well from a near capsize, boats were flying hulls all around the course, Groupama found themselves disqualified and Oman Air was unable to avoid a crash with Swiss boat Realstone in the penultimate race of the day.
Sarah Ayton, a new The Wave, Muscat crewmember with a gold tinted Olympic career behind her said the disappointment of the first day had led them to make some changes for day two, which had worked.
"We learned a lot yesterday and had an evening to reflect so came up with some things we would do differently and as a team, we executed those things well and had a really good day," she said.
"The tempo in the team was energetic and we are working well together. By the end, my arms are going to be a couple of inches longer because there are so many races but the plan is to take one race at a time. Try to be there or thereabouts in our results and not aim too high."
Another new team member Nasser Al Mashari from Oman was confident they could take their success into the third day where conditions are forecast to be similar. "We are happy with what we did today," he said. "We had more breeze and hopefully we can continue tomorrow. We were disappointed yesterday but today we performed more as we know we can and came up with the goods."
Skipper Leigh McMillan was also upbeat about performances saying his new team were clicking as a smart, tidy and hungry unit. "It was another really tough day – difficult conditions with some terrific gusts and close moments on the race course but we had a better day and managed to climb up the board a little," he said.
"We are learning how to race as a new team – the communication and the dynamic is brand new but we made some big steps forward today. The guys did a fantastic job but there are still improvements to be made."
The Wave, Muscat were lying in third place having leapfrogged the elite crews, Sir Ben Ainslie's JP Morgan BAR from Britain and Franck Cammas' crew on Groupama, while Oman Air fell one place to ninth after a disappointing day where they were given a 45 second starting penalty for the collision with Realstone.
"Big crashes where boats get damaged are upsetting," said Oman Air skipper Rob Greenhalgh. "What was a comfortable dip became an issue in a wind shift and more pressure and we misjudged it and caught the transom of Realstone and very unfortunately damaged their boat. In this fleet it happens quite a lot – it is very close quarters tight action stuff and we just misjudged it."
J.P. Morgan BAR focused and fighting hard on day two (from J.P. Morgan BAR)
After yesterday's exciting series opener, Marina Bay offered even trickier conditions on day two for J.P. Morgan BAR and their 11 elite ESS competitors. Singapore's built up bay left it difficult to judge the wind and the team were tested in seven inconsistent races, gusty shifts and patchy conditions.
The British team showed their strength at times and were focused; with one of the main challenges to simply avoid the carnage and close racing at the Leeward mark - seeing the tacticians put to the test to avoid crashes and potential collisions.
"Overall it's been a good day for us, but it's pretty tricky and really whacky, it's very full on! We made a few mistakes but we are generally pleased with our performance. At one point we got sailed around - so that was a bit unfortunate but that's just the way it goes out there!
Some shifts you could read and some you really get dumped in so you are not too sure what to expect. But straight from the start it's never over until the end, you just have to take the knocks and get back into it." Commented Pippa Wilson, who is one of the five female sailors, that also includes her 2008 Olympic gold medallist team mate, Sarah Ayton, racing on-board this week.
Despite the challenging conditions Ben Ainslie and BAR raced well and the team finish the day in sixth place overall just one point behind Realstone and Groupama Sailing Team.
Reflecting on the day he commented, "Another difficult day for us, lots of ups and downs – we sailed some good races but also had a couple of issues in one or two races. It is very tricky sailing out there.
Overall it's a good day though, we learnt so much and will continuing learning all the time. Singapore is great for this stadium style of racing, it's pretty tough for the competitiors but the specators really enjoy the action on the racecourse, and there was plenty of action. The racing today made for a really good show."