Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 8, Sydney - Day 3
by Extreme Sailing Series 13 Dec 2014 11:02 GMT
11-14 December 2014
It was an action-packed, full pressure day on Sydney Harbour for the Extreme 40s at the penultimate day's racing of the 2014 global tour, where the grudge match between Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat was rife. Two race wins for the Swiss to the Omanis one, means it's advantage Alinghi as they head into tomorrow's final day – with their fellow countrymen Realteam in second place and The Wave, Muscat just two points back in third. Cool as ever, Larson commented: "We came out fighting and feel like we got hold of the event again. There's still one more day to go and I think history has proven that things can get shaken up pretty quick so we've got to keep the focus on the win. It's the end of the season, it's been a long year, but now's the time to sail at the highest level we can."
The double-defending champions on The Wave, Muscat have to win in Sydney and Alinghi has to be sixth or worse for the British Olympian McMillan and his team to make it a hatrick of Series wins – a tough but not impossible ask. The team's tactician Sarah Ayton, who sailed at the Sydney Olympic Games as a training partner before going onto compete and win gold at the 2004 and 2008 Games, commented: "If there was an opportunity to make it difficult for Alinghi today then you would take it, but there's a lot of racing and you still very much have to do your own thing, and that's what we were doing. We have a lot to do, and we'll have to put the pressure on to Alinghi tomorrow and let them make the mistakes."
Every podium place is still open at Act 8 Sydney presented by Land Rover – but with 20 points up for the taking for the Act win, the implications on the Series leaderboard are huge. Ben Ainslie and J.P. Morgan BAR will be hoping they can mount a late charge and clinch a podium place – in their way are Realteam, in pursuit of their first ever Act win to secure their position. For skipper Jérôme Clerc, the team's performance so far this year has exceeded his expectations: "It would be great for the team to finish on the podium. This was not our main target at the beginning of the year; we just wanted to get a podium at one of the venues. But if we are on the podium on Sunday, it would be a great victory. We have come a long way but I think now we are now sailing at our best."
Softening but no less testing conditions caused a shuffle on the leaderboard, with five different teams claiming maximum points (10) in the eight races sailed. J.P. Morgan BAR started the day on the back foot, when Realteam slammed into their back beam during the tight windward mark rounding, knocking out their rudders and the team out of the following three races. A points redress for the team limited the damage ahead of tomorrow's final day and the Brits are five points ahead of a seemingly revitalized SAP Extreme Sailing Team. The Danes found some of their best form of the season with an impressive four second place finishes elevating the team to fourth from seventh place at the beginning of the day. Co-skipper Jes Gram-Hansen is looking to finish the season on a high. "Our speed is good, the crew handling is good, it's a tricky place to sail but overall the day was pretty good for us. We hope we can finish the season with a good regatta here in Sydney. It's been a difficult year for us, that's no secret. So it will mean a lot for our progression for next year if we sail well here."
It was also an impressive day by GAC Pindar, whose skipper Nathan Wilmot also celebrated his 35th birthday today. Two race wins from the boys from Down Under was impressive, but not as impressive as his former Australian Olympic team mate Tom Slingsby on Oman Air, who was rarely out of the top three. The Omani team finish the day in seventh place, four points ahead of Phil Robertson and Gazprom Team Russia, who lead GAC Pindar by another four points, with Groupama sailing team languishing in tenth.
As the fleet head into the end game, tonight's team debriefs will be some of the most important of the season, with points, the Act and the championship at stake. With the Act and the final race worth double points, it is going down to the wire. Will Realteam win their first ever Act and secure their place on the 2014 podium? Can the four-times Olympic champion Ben Ainslie and the Brits pull off their best day of the season? Can Alinghi take victory in the 2014 Series, or will Leigh McMillan and The Wave, Muscat ruin their plans? Watch the final races of the Series live at 1530 local time (GMT+11), www.extremesailingseries.com to find out!
Act 8 standings after Day 3 (18 races):
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Alinghi (SUI), Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre‑Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey | 127 |
| 2 | Realteam by Realstone (SUI), Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wasem | 125 |
| 3 | The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari | 120 |
| 4 | J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR), Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Campbell‑James, Bleddyn Mon, Matt Cornwell | 108 |
| 5 | SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN), Jes Gram‑Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Christian Kamp, Brad Farrand | 103 |
| 6 | Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT), Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodso | 100 |
| 7 | Oman Air (OMA), Tom Slingsby, Ted Hackney, Kyle Langford, Joey Newton, Ali Al Balashi | 87 |
| 8 | Gazprom Team Russia (RUS), Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov | 83 |
| 9 | GAC Pindar (AUS), Nathan Wilmot, Seve Jarvin, Matt Mitchell, Tyson Lamond, James Wierzbowski | 79 |
| 10 | Groupama sailing team (FRA), Franck Cammas, Tanguy Cariou, Romain Motteau, Thierry Fouchier, Hervé Cunningham | 73 |
Update from Oman Sail
Despite a lighter breeze of around 12 knots, the action was faster than ever with collisions, breakages and umpires red flags impacting heavily on performances and rankings. These worked against The Wave, Muscat who twice found themselves adjudged over the line at the start.
The frustration took its toll with the final few races effectively seeing their chances of retaining the Extreme title for the third consecutive year slip away.
"We had a frustrating day – it's been very tough for the team," said disappointed skipper McMillan.
"We had a good start then a couple of OCS [on course side] which we were disappointed with because we thought we had it nailed. That set us on a downward spiral and suddenly the whole day turned on its head.
"We have not done enough today to give ourselves a chance tomorrow to win the 2014 title so our aim is to go out tomorrow, sail well and try and win the Sydney event."
The Wave, Muscat started the day at the top of the leaderboard with a five point lead over Alinghi and got off to a great start with a win and a second place in the opening races.
By the end of the day, they had moved to third place in the rankings and Morgan Larson's Alinghi had replaced them at the top with three consecutive podium places in the last three races of the day.
Barring disaster on the final day of racing in Sydney, the Swiss team will take over the coveted 2014 Extreme crown from Oman tomorrow night.
The mood on Oman Sail's sister ship Oman Air was a good deal happier after Slingsby and his crew rose through the ranks with five successive podium places in six races, showing a super quick grasp of Extreme 40 racing and an enviable knowledge of local Sydney Harbour waters.
"Things are a lot better tonight," said the Australian Olympic gold medal and America's Cup winner.
"Another day in the boat made all the difference and we executed everything a bit better. Once again, I got more penalties for avoiding collisions than before so I'm perplexed over how the jury are making their decisions.
"I feel now like we are on a roll. Yesterday we were worst boat but today we had the best score so we feel we are getting there so hopefully we can race well again on Sunday and jump into the top five."
After 18 races, Oman Air is sitting in 7th place, having jumped from 10th and given another day of dogged consistency, the Omani boat could achieve their best result of the series in this double points event.
Slingsby has attracted attention outside of the competition as well as on the water with guest visits from America's Cup winning skipper Jimmy Spithill, plus George Gregan, Wallaby scrum half legend.
Gregan raced on board as a guest of Oman Air and The Wave, Muscat on Saturday and was looking forward to getting wet.
"My mission today is just to survive my experiences on The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air," he said.
"It's my first time on these boats and I'm really excited and thank goodness Sydney has turned on the weather.
"I have sailed on skiffs with my rugby team mates which was good fun – competition team building – but I'm very raw though I am good at following instructions and at staying still!
"I don't think I will stay dry. I have seen the way these boats cut through the water so am expecting a bit of spray but that's all part of it.
"I am really hoping that The Wave, Muscat and Oman continue their good form because they have been sailing really well. I take my hat off to these guys who sail – it's a great skill set to have because you are being constantly challenged by the elements."
Update from J.P. Morgan BAR
After a positive start, the team was taken out of action in the second race of the day after a collision with Swiss entry, RealTeam. It forced them to miss the following two races as the shore team assessed and repaired the damage.
Bowman, Matt Cornwell, talked through the collision, "We had just gone round the top mark and found ourselves in a bit of a lull, so we were about to gybe when we saw RealTeam coming in. We were pretty slow and they were gaining pace and they couldn't get round us in time, resulting in a breakage of both our rudderstocks. We were out of that race and took ourselves off to assess and make the repairs to the boat.
"It was a great effort by the shore team and everyone involved to get back out there, we were really hustling – we wanted to be back racing."
J.P. Morgan BAR shore team boat builder, Ian 'Mucky' McCabe, continued, "The main damage to the Extreme 40 was to the port and starboard rudderstocks. We took the boat back to the dock and managed to retrieve some spare stocks and rudders from the technical zone. We fitted a new tiller bar to the boat and managed to get the guys back out, having only missed two races.
"Initially after an impact you worry about not making it back out and it's your day over. But, we were lucky that didn't occur and we could get back on the racecourse."
At the end of the second day on the water the team had moved up to fourth place overall with 108 points. Tactician, Paul Campbell-James, on the progress so far, "Not many of our races have been finished in the back two. We have fought hard throughout – despite today's set back.
"The shore team absolutely went above and beyond today by getting us back out and on the water in record time so thankfully, we are still in the hunt and ready to race on our final day of the series tomorrow. "