Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia - Day 3
by Extreme Sailing Series 29 Jun 2014 11:37 BST
26-29 June 2014
Six different race winners sees the tables turn
A massive 10-race day with six race winners sees a reshuffle of the pack ahead of Sunday's final showdown with eight teams eyeing the podium
A massive 10 races were sailed on penultimate day of Act 4 of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Saint Petersburg presented by Land Rover, with superb sailing conditions that saw six different race winners result in a shake-up on the Act leaderboard. Three race wins for Alinghi saw the Swiss clock up an astonishing 74 points, and regain control of the leaderboard, which helmsman Morgan Larson described as his "best day ever" in three years on the circuit. There were a handful of bumps and shunts, with a few of the teams running aground in the shallows of the beach, but the real story of the day were the movers and shakers of the pack, that saw huge gains made by J.P. Morgan BAR, SAP Extreme Sailing Team, Oman Air and Gazprom Team Russia, and with eight teams now eying the podium, it's all perfectly poised for a colossal final showdown tomorrow.
Blue skies and 10 knots of breeze made for thrilling – if not slightly exhausting – racing, and the Russian public turned out in their thousands to support their two home teams and watch the fleet of 12 high-performance catamarans battle on the confines of the Neva, while fans around Russia followed the racing live with national broadcaster, NTV+. Despite a handful of results at the bottom of the fleet, Leigh McMillan and The Wave, Muscat, who struggled for momentum, were able to hold off the onslaught from the ever encroaching pack to finish the day in second, while a final hour race win for Emirates Team New Zealand secured the team's third place position, to skipper and Olympic silver medallist Peter Burling's relief. "It was a tough day, it was really puffy and just enough wind so that when you got a puff you got enough speed. It felt like we were getting a bit hard done by in a few of the races early on, so it was great to come away with a win in that last race and a bit of luck came our way."
Both the five times Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie and his British team on J.P. Morgan BAR, and the co-skippers on the Danish outfit SAP Extreme Sailing Team – who have been the average fastest boat downwind this week according to the SAP analytics – were able to clock a win-a-piece today, and are on the edge of the podium, in fourth and fifth places respectively with just two points in it. Back on dock, Ainslie was optimistic about the final day's racing. "It was a great day for sailing here and it was fantastic to see conditions like this. Race Director Phil Lawrence and the race management team did a really good job to get as many races in as they could now that the conditions are so good – it was good racing. Like everybody else we had a few ups and downs but in general it was a good day for us. Tomorrow we need to keep winning some races, I think we've improved a lot this season and we felt good about the way we were sailing today. So if we can keep doing that and improving as a team the results will come from there."
A string of consistent results for Oman Air – who won yesterday's SAP Speed King Challenge – upgraded the team's overnight position from ninth, to sixth – the biggest climbers of the day, while the home team Gazprom Team Russia had their best day of the season so far, managing to put two race wins in the bag, and according to the SAP analytics, were one of the fastest boats off the startline – second only to Alinghi. With less then 20 points separating the home nation team from third placed Emirates Team New Zealand, the Russian team's helmsman Paul Campbell-James has his sights firmly set on the podium. "It was a day of highs and lows. As soon as the breeze comes up we've got good pace, we were fully in the mix today whereas yesterday I didn't really feel that we were. Hopefully tomorrow there's a good forecast with a bit more pressure again and we'll be fighting – the podium is still on, and that's the goal for tomorrow."
Red Bull Sailing Team, who struggled to gain traction on the Neva in the first two days, turned that on its head today, with a scattering of good results including two race wins to boost them two places up the leaderboard to ninth. Skipper Roman Hagara explained what was different onboard: "It was a much better day today. Yesterday we had a debrief, went through everything and changed the system a little bit on the boat, and it got much better. It was really tough, the conditions are tricky with gusts and shifting and the current is also in the game. It's important for us to catch up on points, we need to make less mistakes and that's the goal."
Realteam, who have been a picture of consistency this week, were unable to gain a footing today, and have slid down the leaderboard from third to eighth place. Groupama sailing team also lost a frustrating four places today, and are now seven points behind the Australian GAC Pindar, who under the guidance of Olympic champion Nathan Wilmot, were able to pick up a place on the leaderboard in tenth place.
The scene is set for a massive final showdown tomorrow, with a double-points final race shoot out still to come, which if todays racing is anything to go by, could see the tide turn again on the leaderboard.
Results after Day 3: (16 races)
1st Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 117pts
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 105pts
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling, Ray Davies, Blair Tuke, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 93pts
4th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Phil Sparks, Matt Cornwell 85pts
5th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 83pts
6th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 76pts
7th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Matt Adams, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 75pts
8th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Denis Girardet, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wassem 72pts
9th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Stewart Dodson 69pts
10th GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Seve Jarvin, James Wierzbowski 61pts
11th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Romain Motteau, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 54pts
12th RussianFirst (RUS) Georgy Shayduko, Sergey Dzhienbaev, Pavel Kalinchev, Leonid Kazinets, Pavel Karachov 19pts
www.extremesailingseries.com
Oman Sail teams The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air poised for strong finish to St Petersburg Act (from Oman Sail)
St Petersburg laid on a perfect show today with bright sunshine, excited crowds and a lively breeze which propelled Oman Air up the leaderboard and The Wave, Muscat into a position of strength to make a bid for the first ever Russian title in the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series.
It proved a roller coaster day for both Oman Sail teams with a full programme of ten races producing seven podium places in total though on this rare occasion, no outright win.
An eight-knot westerly saw the entire fleet fly their hulls for the first time this week which drew gasps from crowds of spectators watching Extreme 40 racing from the beach for the first time.
Rob Greenhalgh's Oman Air rose two places on the leaderboard after posting three second places while The Wave, Muscat maintained superb consistency with seven top four places in ten races to finish the day 12 points behind leaders Alinghi.
A last place in the final race cost them vital points but skipper Leigh McMillan was confident another strong day tomorrow would keep them in contention.
"We are sailing really well but the last race nailed us," said McMillan.
"We had to change our start plans at the last minute and it unfolded really badly for us so that was it, race over. It is still close enough but it would have been nice to be level pegging going into the last day."
"If we can nail the start in the first race tomorrow, there is everything to play for. Two good races and it will be very exciting. It could even be a photo finish."
Greenhalgh who formed the Oman Air team at the start of the 2014 season was happy with the team's performance that has left them in sixth place on the leaderboard.
"We felt before today that we were in the mix but today we started well and picked our way through the fleet," he said.
"There isn't very much wind but as a team we are getting better and better in all conditions. Even at the end of the year we will still be a new team but the more integrated you are as a team, the better the results and we are seeing progress."
His Omani crewmates Hashim Al Rashdi and Musab Al Hadi were already looking towards tomorrow to close the seven point gap between Oman Air and fifth placed SAP Extreme Sailing Team.
"We are expecting even more wind tomorrow so it could be interesting but there is no predicting what will happen. We will be aiming to beat our best result of the series so far which was sixth in Qingdao," said Al Rashdi.
The Oman Sail racing teams were not the only ones to be on tenterhooks going into the final day. The shore crew, who are a vital part of the Extreme 40 campaign, were waiting to see if they had landed Land Rover's Above and Beyond Award for the second consecutive time.
Hilal Al Zadjali, Joe Lees and Suleiman Al Manji won the inaugural award made for good examples of skills, sportsmanship and strength of mind at Act 3 in Qingdao last month and were eligible again in St Petersburg. The winner will be announced tomorrow.
J.P. Morgan BAR enjoy the best of St Petersburg on penultimate day of Act 4 (from J.P. Morgan BAR)
The penultimate day of the Extreme Sailing Series, Act 4, delivered strong, stable, racing conditions and a day of exciting, engaging stadium racing in Russia's sailing capital.
Ten races were completed, each one a highly competitive battle throughout. Thankfully, the wind played ball for the 12 strong Extreme 40 fleet, coming in against the strong Neva current, making it easier for the boats to gain pace.
The British team had good speed, communication, and clean starts, staying close to the shore to sail out of the ripping tide. Using their knowledge of the Saint Petersburg venue, they took the best from the racetrack, consistently sailing stronger as the day progressed.
The highlight came in race nine, when they showed their strength to claim a race win, their second of the event. J.P. Morgan BAR Skipper, Ben Ainslie, was positive on the team's performance;
"It was a great day on the water today, we performed well and enjoyed the fantastic race conditions."
He continued "With the improved conditions on day three, Phil Lawrence and the [Extreme Sailing Series] Race Management Team did a great job to get as many races in as they could."
"It was solid racing and it was still a real challenge for everybody to compete on such a tight course with so much current. For us, we had a really good day, like everybody else we had a few ups and downs, but in general it was a positive day for us."
J.P. Morgan BAR now sit in fourth place overall, with 85 points, to head into the final day of racing as strong contenders for a podium finish.
Ainslie concluded, "I think we've improved a lot this season and we felt good about the way we were sailing today."
"Tomorrow we need to try and win some more races. If we can do that and continue to improve as a team, the results will come from there."
Racing continues tomorrow from 14:30 – 17:30 with the final race of the Act counting as double points.