Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia - Day 2
by Extreme Sailing Series 27 Jun 2014 21:43 BST
26-29 June 2014
Mastering the conditions and beating the clock key
The race conditions on the Neva River remained capricious in Saint Petersburg today for the 12-strong Extreme 40 fleet, against the backdrop of the Winter Palace and the gilded dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral, where mastering the light breeze, overcoming the strong current and remaining consistent paid dividends. The Wave, Muscat showed that despite the tough conditions it could be done, notching up a third place and a race win – but more importantly beating the clock – that saw others running out of time and losing out on points, including their long standing dueling partners, Alinghi. The team wearing the colours of Oman now have a slim three-point advantage at the top of the leaderboard, and Skipper Leigh McMillan, who is going for the treble this year, commented: "That was our big gain really, and it's the only time we've really been able to get some points over Alinghi in the six races that we've had. They're very quick and very difficult to beat. It's still a long way to go, we've had a good team effort, we're really happy with our sailing but we can't predict what's going to happen next."
It looked like Mother Nature had got the better of the fleet and they played a patient waiting game to see if the breeze would fill in. Late in the day, Race Management did a good job to get two races in, before the breeze completely shut down forcing them to abandon the final race – much to the dismay of home nation team RussianFirst who were leading the race. Their skipper and four-times Olympian Georgy Shayduko was beaming after racing about the teams potential and racing on their home waters. "Now we know we can sail at the top of the fleet, I'm sure we will be able to do the same for the rest of the regatta. I'm very happy that the Extreme Sailing Series has come to Saint Petersburg and Russia, because the level of competition is really high and we see some very good sailing. I hope many people will come out to watch the racing over the weekend. It's fantastic to have such a high level sport taking place here in Russia."
The characteristically consistent Alinghi struggled to gain traction today, with a fifth in the first race before timing out in the second – along with the two home teams. The Swiss teams tactician Stuart Pollard, who replaces Olympic champion Anna Tunnicliffe for this Act, explained the challenges on the water: "Today was a pretty tough day, the breeze was shifting around a lot and we had big holes, and unfortunately we found a couple of them. In days like this it's always still about the pressure, even though there's quite a large current running through the racecourse, it's always the breeze that wins out, you've got to make sure you're sailing in the pressure and that's what makes the difference. Tomorrow we need to just stay in the wind, avoid the holes and that will make the difference."
One man determined to give no quarter in Saint Petersburg is Jérôme Clerc with his talented crew on Realteam, and the Swiss lake champions clocked two fourth places, to hold onto third place, tied on points with Emirates Team New Zealand. Lurking just behind them are the British on J.P. Morgan BAR, and a win in the first race of the day helped upgrade the team's overnight position from sixth to fifth place. The team's four-times Olympic champion skipper Ben Ainslie commented: "It's a tricky place to sail. But it's beautiful and it's very special to be racing on the Neva River – a pretty unique experience for all of us. The racing has been a real challenge but we are going OK so far. Hopefully we will keep moving forward and improving in the final two days."
Four points further back in sixth place are the Danish match racing experts and co-skippers of SAP Extreme Sailing Team Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner, who are four points ahead of one of the most diverse sailors on the circuit, Franck Cammas and Groupama sailing team.
A seventh and an eighth place for GAC Pindar – who has its third skipper of 2014 in Olympic gold medallist Nathan Wilmot helming in Saint Petersburg – was enough for the Aussies to gain a place on the leaderboard. They are now one point ahead of Oman Air, skippered by Rob Greenhalgh, who had a mixed bag of results today with a tenth and a second place, as Greenhalgh elaborated: "The results are pretty mixed all over, we had a bad and a good race today, but with two races you can't really look into it too much. It's a great place here, it's just a shame that the wind isn't quite playing ball. You have to start well, look out for the puffs of wind and try and make the most of it."
Gazprom Team Russia struggled to gain a foothold in the tough conditions, and were punished hard today, losing two places on the Act leaderboard, as were the Olympic champions on Red Bull Sailing Team, who have struggled to get to grips with the short-track stadium racecourse, currently in eleventh place.
Tomorrow the battle continues under the shadow of Saint Petersburg's most iconic landmarks, and with two days remaining and with less then 20 points separating the top seven teams, the game has just begun. Follow the racing live through the SAP sailing analytics and live video streaming on the official event website, www.extremesailingseries.com.
Results after Day 2: (six races)
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 46pts
2nd Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 43pts
3rd Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Denis Girardet, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wassem 40pts
4th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling, Ray Davies, Blair Tuke, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 40pts
5th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Phil Sparks, Matt Cornwell 35pts
6th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 31pts
7th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Romain Motteau, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 27pts
8th GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Seve Jarvin, James Wierzbowski 22pts
9th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 21pts
10th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Matt Adams, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 17pts
11th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Stewart Dodson 12pts
12th RussianFirst (RUS) Georgy Shayduko, Sergey Dzhienbaev, Pavel Kalinchev, Leonid Kazinets, Pavel Karachov 5pts
Oman Sail crews heartened by success on a 'snakes and ladders' day in St Petersburg (from Oman Sail)
Oman Sail's two Extreme 40s The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air both moved up the leaderboard of the Extreme Sailing Series in St Petersburg today despite another difficult day, compared by skipper Leigh McMillan to a game of snakes and ladders.
From being nine points behind leaders Alinghi overnight, McMillan and his team of Nasser Al Mashari, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh and Kinley Fowler moved three points ahead of their Swiss rivals to top the series ranking having posted two podium places in the only two races possible on a day shortened by light and shifty winds.
A resounding win in the final race of the day was preceded by a third place in the earlier one but McMillan was keen to sound a note of caution with the fluky conditions set to continue.
"You never really crack it in this fleet because it is so easy to drop to the back in one fell swoop so it was very pleasing that we managed to get round the course twice with two good results," said a delighted McMillan.
"You need a bit of luck in these conditions but you have to keep yourself in a position where luck goes your way. It's a little bit like snakes and ladders where you roll the dice and see what you get."
The crew on Oman Air also saw their position improve by one place after finishing hot on the heels of The Wave, Muscat in the final race to post a rewarding second place. It had required a lot of concentration and patience, bowman Musab Al Hadi reported.
"The wind was up and down and very shifty so it wasn't easy," he said. "It was enjoyable but you have to stay 100% focused because everything can change so quickly around you - these conditions are totally different to anything I have seen before but that's all part of sailing."
While happy to see the progress of Oman Air and proud of their teamwork, skipper Rob Greenhalgh said there was no formula for success.
"There is no rhyme or reason to anything and these conditions can make sailors look quite average so you can't read too much into the results. The top boats will come out top at the end.
"It was good to get a second. We got a long way ahead of the fleet but that is how it rolls sometimes. You get a bit of breeze and off you go but sometimes it conspires against you so it is all about finding a formula for that day as early as possible. Tomorrow it will be a different one!"
Patience helps J.P. Morgan BAR make small gains in St Petersburg (from J.P. Morgan BAR)
Day two of Extreme Sailing Series, Act 4 and the Extreme 40 fleet struggled to find a rhythm in the light, taxing conditions. Only two races were completed on the Neva River, as the wind played a game of stop – start in the iconic city.
Despite their disappointment at the lack of races, J.P. Morgan BAR used the day wisely and played the waiting game. Taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them, the British team delivered small gains, doing enough to win their first race of the event and finish sixth in the other race of the day.
Tactician, Paul Goodison commented, "It felt like a longer day than two races, but we actually sailed well today and did a reasonable job of ticking the boats off to climb up through the fleet.
We head into day three in fifth place overall, with 35 points, so we are going in the right direction and are in a good place for the second half of the event."
Bowman Matt Cornwell continued, "It wasn't ideal racing conditions today, we actually started a few races that had to be abandoned which made it a little frustrating for everyone really.
"But, fortunately we got two races in and they were good ones for us so it was a positive day. We are getting a real feel for the place now and are feeling pretty happy with our tactics and speed here."
Skipper, Ben Ainslie summarised the event so far, "It's a tricky place to sail, like they all are in this series. But, it's beautiful and it's very special to be racing on the Neva River – a pretty unique experience for all of us.
"The racing has been a real challenge but we are going ok so far. Hopefully we will keep moving forward and improving in the final two days."