Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 2, Muscat, Oman - Day 3
by Extreme Sailing Series 21 Mar 2014 18:06 GMT
19-22 March 2014
Podium wide open ahead of final showdown
J.P. Morgan BAR the comeback kings of the day, with three race wins and the British team threatening the podium hard
The punishing light winds and beating Arabian sun called for nerves of steel on the penultimate day's racing of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Muscat, which saw a reshuffle of the pack and a shift in power on the leaderboard. Overnight leaders Alinghi managed to hold onto pole position and withstand the onslaught of pressure from the rest of the pack, but it couldn't be closer at the top, with just 14 points between the top five boats – less than the difference of tomorrow's final double points race. SAP Extreme Sailing Team did well to put themselves back in the game, heading into tomorrow's final showdown in second place, but the team of the day was Ben Ainslie's J.P. Morgan BAR, with three race wins for the Brits, who are now threatening the podium hard. Tomorrow's final will come down to which team can withstand the pressure, and fans around the world can watch it live at a new time of 1500 local time/1100GMT/1200CET.
Alinghi marked their intent from the first start gun with a race win, but even the light wind specialists struggled for consistency in breeze of around five knots, and it looked like the tricky course may have finally got the better of the Swiss America's Cup winners with a last place in race 16. Race 19 and the team turned it around, hitting the reset button and clawing back some valuable points, as helm Morgan Larson explained: "Things can come and go out there, you try and stick to the same objective and sometimes the wind doesn't go your way or you get stuck in a tough spot. I think a lot of the other competitors that came out today had already figured it out, so we got caught up a little bit. You have to have the best day tomorrow, you can't hold back."
SAP Extreme Sailing Team played a steady game, keeping their heads cools and their concentration level, slowly chipping away at the points with consistent results throughout the day. A win in the final race elevated the team to second place, and their elated co-skipper and tactician Rasmus Kostner was thrilled with the comeback. "That was really close racing all day. We got some good starts, we got some good positions on the left hand side of the course – we are super happy. Four points (between them and Alinghi) is nothing, you can win or lose that in one race so it's all on tomorrow. We just need to push on, get everything right – there's no room for mistakes on a course like this."
The Kiwis on Emirates Team New Zealand, who were the fastest off the startline today according to the SAP analytics, are breathing down the necks of the Danish, just one point behind, but the legendary America's Cup skipper Dean Barker knows the team have more to give. "It didn't feel like a good day for us to be honest. I think we made a couple of silly mistakes. The day could have gone a lot better, and tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. Whoever sails reasonably smartly tomorrow will have a good chance of being successful. You just battle for every point in every race."
The four-times Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie and his team on J.P. Morgan BAR hit accelerate today, and really applied the pressure, coming together as a team with all the right moves to take three race wins. The British team upgraded their overnight position from sixth to fourth, and their tactician and Olympic champion Paul 'Goodie' Goodison is ready for the final battle. "I'm pretty surprised we're as close to the leaders as we are, but it's really good. It means there's still a lot to play for and if we keep improving like we have done the last three days we should be doing alright." Reflecting on the day, he continued: "I think we had a good set plan before the start. We wanted to be the first boat out on port heading into what we thought was more pressure, and it seemed to work most of the time. Apart from that, when things didn't go well, we did quite a good job of pulling back. I think a lot of that is where we're still learning to sail the boat and becoming a bit more confident in our skills, which is starting to show up."
Realteam were also able to upgrade their overall position today, from ninth to seventh, seeing more of the form we saw at Act 1 in Singapore, where the team took third place, as were Gazprom Team Russia, who took their first race win this year, elevating them from tenth to eighth. "We're starting to sail better, our starts are better and we're a bit more in the mix now. Everyone was pretty pleased to get the first bullet, but hopefully it's the first of many," commented their helm Paul Campbell-James.
The light winds punished some of the teams hard, including the defending champions and the home team The Wave, Muscat and Groupama sailing team. Neither team were able to put in the consistent performance that will be needed if they want to be stood on the podium tomorrow, but they did enough to keep themselves well in the game – The Wave, Muscat in fifth place on 118 points and Groupama sailing team in sixth with 105 – three points ahead of Realteam. Meet Leigh McMillan and The Wave, Muscat team here.
Tomorrow's final shoot-out will inevitably go down to the final double-points race, and with the results changing with every race, it is anyone's guess who will be stood on the podium tomorrow evening. Watch the racing, live from 1500 local time/1100GMT/1200CET on the YachtsandYachting.com homepage.
Standings after Day 3: (21 races)
1st Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 132pts
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 128pts
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 127pts
4th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Pippa Wilson, Matt Cornwell 122pts
5th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 118pts
6th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Sophie de Turckheim, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 105pts
7th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wassem, Nils Palmieri 102pts
8th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 99pts
9th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Stewart Dodson 96pts
10th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Will Howden, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 88pts
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) Seve Jarvin, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, David Gilmour 59pts
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J.P. Morgan BAR show potential for a podium finish in Muscat (from J.P. Morgan BAR)
After three days of racing, J.P. Morgan BAR show potential for a podium finish at Act 2 of the Extreme Sailing Series, Muscat. Today the team, skippered by four times Olympic gold medallist, Ben Ainslie, delivered a solid set of results - including three race wins, to move the British entry up into fourth overall. Eight races were sailed off the Arabian coast and once again in light, tricky winds.
The team may be stacked with America's Cup sailors, Olympic and Match Race champions but they sailed together for the first time at Act 1, Singapore and with good progress up the leaderboard today, tactician, Paul Goodison felt the five sailors were now really coming together as a team.
"It was the first time we have felt like we were racing properly against everyone else. The crew manoeuvres came together and the plan that we put together we managed to execute.
We got on with what we wanted to do and we got on the right side of a couple of things and it all managed to work out in our favour."
Bowman, Matt Cornwall continued "It felt like we were really racing the other boats for the first time - but we didn't force it – we just let it happen so it worked well and paid off, it's the first day in the regatta that we've had a really good set of results.
It was tricky, really light so testing for the tactician and helmsman, but they did a really good job – probably better than most of the other teams out there."
At the end of the third day it's close at the top with all teams in the top five showing the potential to win the event. J.P. Morgan BAR head into the final day fourth and on 122 points, only five points behind Emirates Team New Zealand and just ten points behind overall leaders, Alinghi.
Although pleased with their success today the new team are still learning the ropes of the Extreme 40, Olympic gold medallist Pippa Wilson concluded "We take it one race at a time, we always have and the plan is to just keep to that. The Extreme 40 racing is hugely temperamental; anything could happen tomorrow, it's all to play for."
Ahead of racing, Muscat's Optimist sailors enjoyed a special visit from Skipper, Ben Ainslie, who encouraged and inspired the local sailing community by passing on his winning knowledge.
Crowds of spectators support Omani favorites The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air as they look ahead to final day of Act 2 in Muscat (from Oman Sail)
Conditions proved tough today for the two Omani teams racing in front of home crowds at the Almouj Extreme Sailing race venue, but both the defending champion The Wave, Muscat and the young, ambitious team on Oman Air headed by Rob Greenhalgh were upbeat about lessons learnt and how to move up the leader board going into the final day of Act 2 in Muscat.
The Wave, Muscat with Tornado Olympic sailor Leigh McMillan skippering struggled a bit today in the light and patchy airs but were able to retain their momentum and score a series of respectable results including a fourth and a third during today's eight races.
The team, which includes Pete Greenhalgh (GBR), Sarah Ayton (GBR), Kinley Fowler (NZL) and Nasser Al Mashari (OMA), are now 14pts behind Alinghi – the series leaders – but the scoreboard at the top of the fleet is still wide open.
"It was tough out there," said McMillan, "I made my fair share of mistakes getting us off the start line so we were up against it all day. There were no lucky breaks for us so it was pretty frustrating but looking on the bright side, we will put today behind us and look to getting back on form and back to the top of the leaderboard tomorrow."
After a mixed set of results, including an excellent second place, Rob Greenhalgh and crew on Oman Air have a bit of catching up to do. Viewing the situation positively, Greenhalgh says although today's results were not ideal, the experience of such fantastic, close racing has really tested the crew in general and is an invaluable learning experience.
Greenhalgh commented: "We knew at the beginning of this year that it was going to be hard to finish in the top half of the fleet because there are some of the best sailors in the world out there who don't give an inch. At this event we'd be happy with sixth but later in the year, maybe, a podium finish is an option.
"Everyone wants to win but it is important to be realistic. We only started sailing together at the previous event in Singapore, and we are not a hugely experienced team, so we are learning every day and taking what we have learnt forward.
"It was a very tricky day in Muscat and I think everyone experienced a game of snakes and ladders on the short courses. We started the day pretty well but sometimes found ourselves on the wrong side of a shift or missing out some puffs. It wasn't a disaster but it could have been better.
"We had some good results and we are looking forward to tomorrow. We know what we need to work on, we have the coach working with us so we'll come out fighting tomorrow."
Racing among the 11 teams was intense right from the start, which meant the crowds of spectators at Almouj Golf Club were able to enjoy all the excitement of stadium style racing with crews demonstrating that tactics, faultless boat handling, and good team communication skills on these powerfully-rigged, 40ft carbon fibre flyers, are key to producing a consistent performance.
Musab Al Hadi, onboard Oman Air said knowing there is good support ashore gives the team a real boost: "As Omanis we love to see the home crowd cheering us on. That is very special and it makes all the difference."
Chatting about the racing, he said: "We are a new team and still improving. The good thing is we are getting better and better as a team every day."
Although Morgan Larson and the team on Alinghi and Sir Ben Ainslie and his team on J.P. Morgan BAR clearly had the edge today, with three wins apiece, there was some really exciting, close racing throughout and some new faces at the front of the fleet including Gazprom Team Russia who won Race 16, and the Danish SAP Extreme Sailing Team whose consistency at the top of the fleet has pushed them from fourth to second overall.
As well as concentrating on his sailing today, Sir Ben Ainslie generously attended an Oman Sail Youth Programme sailing session this morning before heading out to the racecourse during which the young Omani Optimist sailors were able to ask him questions and advice on how they can one day follow in his footsteps. He even found time go for a spin with them on an Optimist!
The young sailors were then invited to the Almouj Golf Club Extreme Sailing village for an inspirational session with Oman's top sailing role models, including Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi, and Nasser Al Mashari.
GAC Pindar experience mixed fortunes on third day in Muscat (from Adam Tanous, GAC Pindar)
The third day of Extreme Sailing Series racing in Muscat provided mixed fortunes for the GAC Pindar team. In sweltering conditions of over 100°F, and winds of 10 knots, Skipper Seve Jarvin led the team to a 4th and two 5th place finishes during the day, but penalties and some bad luck cost them in the remaining races.
The day began with an entirely new crew at the helm of the GAC Pindar boat, as children from the Oman Childcare Centre were treated to a special sailing experience by Team Manager, Nick Crabtree, and the rest of the team. The children embarked on a 30-minute voyage off the Almouj coast before being dropped off to watch the Extreme Sailing Series action from the Race Village.
They were treated to some fantastic racing throughout the day, as Team Alinghi and Ben Ainslie's J.P.Morgan team dominated proceedings with three wins a piece from the 8 races. Overnight leaders Alinghi retain their place at the top of the standings on 132 points, 4 clear of nearest rivals SAP Extreme Sailing Team.
GAC Pindar ended the day 11th in the standings with 59 points.