Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 6, Istanbul, Turkey - Day 1
by Extreme Sailing Series 12 Sep 2014 08:11 BST
11-14 September 2014
Unprecedented day with two dismastings as teams push to the limit and beyond
Kiwis show return to form at Extreme Sailing Series™ in Istanbul
In an unprecedented opening day at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6 in Istanbul, the public and national media witnessed some extraordinary adrenaline fueled racing, with every team pushing hard – and at times too hard, with two boats dismasting; first Groupama sailing team and then Alinghi. In near perfect sailing conditions that topped out at 20 knots, the French, with too much load on their rig at the windward mark, were the first to lose their new mast during race four, which disappointingly for the French came after their best start to an event this year. In a completely unrelated incident in the seventh and final race of the day, Alinghi suffered the same fate, with both boats now out of the water and with a long night in the pitlane to be back on the water tomorrow.
Alinghi's helmsman Morgan Larson explained what happened: "In that last race we were leading at the mark, we unfurled the gennaker, got the bear away and then the rig broke in two spots. We pushed a little too hard in that puff, and then it just went. It's the first time I've broken the rig in these boats so it's probably a lesson I've learnt there. There is a limit and we found it."
With a steady north easterly breeze of 15 knots, and gusts up to 20, the fleet relished the chance to flex their seafaring muscles and stretch their legs in the open water format on the Marmara Sea, racing at the entrance to the Bosphorus, with the iconic Blue Mosque and its landmark six minarets in the background.
Emirates Team New Zealand showed a return to form after their last place in Cardiff just two weeks ago, hitting the accelerator as both the fastest average boat downwind at 16.27 knots, and upwind at 11.80, to finish the day tied on points at the top of the leaderboard with the defending Series champions, The Wave, Muscat. The Kiwi team's skipper Dean Barker remained cool and measured after racing. "There's still a lot of racing to go, but we had a good solid day. It wasn't anything flashy, there is still a lot of things we can improve on and I'm sure everyone will be feeling the same way. It's a difficult racecourse, it's hard to get your plan right all the time and you make some gains and some looses. I think today we managed the racecourse pretty well and took the opportunities when they were there."
Just one point behind them is the Danish SAP Extreme Sailing Team who took maximum points in two of the seven races sailed, with co-skippers Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner gunning for their first podium position of 2014. With just three Acts left this year, all the teams have turned it up a notch as they look to secure their positions ahead of the penultimate event in Nice, France. Red Bull Sailing Team, with Austrian double Olympic gold medallist Roman Hagara at the helm, have been relatively slow starters this year by their own accounts, but had their best start to an event, with a string of results in the top half of the fleet, leaving them in fourth place with 40 points. "We had really tricky conditions – shifty with a few gusts which mixed up throughout the day. You had to be good at the starts but there was a lot to lose and a lot to gain. We know that we can handle this breeze and our crew work today was fantastic – the boys just did a great job. We over-took people on manoeuvres and around marks which was really good," summarised Hagara.
Two points behind the Austrians are Gazprom Team Russia, who were the fastest off the startline according to the SAP analytics, with GAC Pindar just one point behind them. For skipper and Olympic champion Nathan Wilmot, this is only his second Act at the helm, and after a steep learning the curve, the team are on an upward trend, as Wilmot elaborated: "It was good out there – we had some good starts, some good races I think we're just learning how to sail the boat a bit more now, we're getting better and better each time. We've tried different things each day and we seem to be getting the boat reasonably fast – so it's all about putting it in the right spot and getting the team around the course. Today it was great out there actually, it was beautiful sailing."
The event was officially opened with the skippers press conference, attended by Turkey's top media as well as country and city officials, and co-Host Venue Partners Yandex and Palmarina. Tomorrow the event officially opens to the public, with three days of Stadium Racing, and the live video starting from 1530 local time (GMT+3) tomorrow. If today's racing is anything to go by, you don't want to miss it!
Standings after Day 1: (7 races)
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 46pts
2nd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 46pts
3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Christian Kamp, Brad Farrand 45pts
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 40pts
5th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Matt Adams, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 38pts
6th GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Jack Macartney, Ed Smyth, Seve Jarvin, Tyson Lamond 37pts
7th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Ted Hackney, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 30pts
8th Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 28pts
9th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Bleddyn Mon, Matt Cornwell 24pts
10th TeamTurx (TUR) Mitch Booth, Edhem Dirvana, Selim Kakış, Ateş Çinar, Anıl Berk Baki 21pts
11th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Tanguy Cariou, François Morvan, Romain Motteau, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 20pts
12th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem 19pts
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The Wave, Muscat shares top spot in Istanbul and Oman Air triumphs over adversity on opening day (from Oman Sail)
There were wins for both Oman Sail Extreme 40s The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air on the opening day of the Extreme Sailing Series in Istanbul and the defending champions showed few signs of the pressure building on them to retain their title.
In fact, Leigh McMillan's team were quick out of the blocks, winning the first race of the event and taking another victory in the fourth to finish the first day as joint leaders with Emirates Team New Zealand.
This time it was Rob Greenhalgh's Oman Air that proved slow to start, taking things quietly after the drama of the practice day on Wednesday when their boat was damaged by the Kiwis forcing the shore crew to spend all night making repairs. But their caution did not last long and by Race 5 they were racing at full tilt and posting their first win of Act 6 that put them in 7th place on the leaderboard overnight.
For McMillan and his crew of Sarah Ayton, Nasser Al Mashari, Pete Greenhalgh and Kinley Fowler, a day's racing out on the open water of the Marmara Sea, at the entrance to the Bosphorus Straits, allowed them to get a feel for the 20 knot breeze and 'glamour' conditions.
It had taken the practice day to acclimatise, he said. "We had to remind ourselves about open water racing and what windshifts are – the sorts of things you don't have time to see in 'Stadium Racing'. With the changing venues it takes a while to get used to the different conditions but we will keep learning and developing as best we can.
"Our day was a solid one. Not spectacular but solid. The conditions were fantastic and I think everyone enjoyed having a bit of space because it allowed for normal racing. It was brilliant."
Normal racing was suspended however when Groupama and then Alinghi, The Wave, Muscat's great challenger for the 2014 Extreme title, both lost their masts in separate incidents and quick succession forcing both off the race course.
"It came from nowhere and it was a shock," said McMillan.
"We were very close by when Alinghi's mast came down and I heard the crash and saw it crumble into a bit of mess. It is not nice to see gear failure like that and it is really tough for a team to lose a race in that way. There is nothing you can do about it - some of these masts are older than others but we don't know exactly what happened.
"These boats have been around for a long time and have taken a lot of beatings. It was not a nice way for Alinghi to lose a race – it was quite upsetting."
Maryam Al Jadidi, who works as Oman Sail's Operations Specialist & Project Manager to the Extreme 40 crews, is likely to be at the heart of operations this evening to make sure the boats are up and running in time for racing on Friday as she is currently working with the Oman Sail shore team to learn more about what they do. Her secondment is part of Oman Sail's aim to give talented team members opportunities to develop skills through new experiences.
Back on the water, both Oman Sail teams were reviewing their performances and looking for opportunities for the remaining three days of racing.
"It was a great first day with a number of good starts," commented The Wave, Muscat's Nasser Al Mashari.
"We were able to gain points that distance us from other rivals. We will try to maintain this performance in the coming days."
Istanbul delivers near perfect racing conditions for Act 6 opener (from J.P. Morgan BAR)
Day one, Act 6 – and tensions were understandably high. J.P. Morgan BAR and the 11 other Extreme teams pushed hard and delivered an action packed opener.
Despite the perfect racing conditions in open water, the course was still tough to manage and in true Extreme-style, the racing close and tight. Seven races were completed in a steady north-easterly breeze, around 15 knots with gusts up to 20 and, in a dramatic twist, two teams were dismasted; Alinghi and Groupama.
Tactician, Paul Goodison, gave his thoughts on the first day, "The conditions were really nice out there today, a bit of a breeze and at times a bit shifty.
"We started the day OK, but it felt like we always ended up in clusters at marks and never seemed to come out of them in good shape, so a little frustrating at times but, we will move forward tomorrow.
"It's great to be back sailing with the guys again, it's the first time I've sailed with Bleddyn [Mon], who's a real asset to the team, and the boat work seemed really nice but we just need to avoid some of the action at the marks."
The racing was inconsistent, leaving results changeable throughout the day. Across the board, the elite teams were left questioning what was working, and what they needed to nail, to claim the points.
J.P. Morgan BAR 5th man, Bleddyn Mon continued, "Generally, it was a pretty good day for us, you couldn't ask for better conditions and it was great racing, but we didn't have the best of days.
"Our starts were solid but we were a little unlucky at times and a few incidents happened in front of us which meant we lost a couple of places. But, we still have the rig in the sky, unlike some of the other teams, so we will come back fighting tomorrow."