Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 Cardiff - Day 3
by Extreme Sailing Series 21 Jun 2015 00:31 BST
18-21 June 2015
Another relentless day at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4, Cardiff presented by Land Rover saw the Extreme 40 fleet complete eight fast paced races on a course that varied from 10-23knots over the short 550m track. With no runaway leader of the day, there was a real mixed bag of results for the teams, as they struggled with the gusty conditions, starting penalties and gear failure.
In a change from yesterdays winning form, current Act leaders The Wave, Muscat had an unusually low scoring day. Their string of race wins from yesterday were replaced with a string of fourth place finishes adding a conservative (by their standard) 57 points to their total; a respectable result on a day where most teams struggled. Having won in Cardiff for the past two years, McMillan and his experienced crew, including Double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton, go into the final day with a 15-point cushion.
Chasing hard in second place, SAP Extreme Sailing Team on 195 points could easily bridge the gap tomorrow, but they will need to minimise mistakes. Today the team suffered from a series of start line penalties which cost them, as co-skipper Rasmus Køstner explained: "It was a pretty full on day today with a lot of intense racing and good conditions; it is incredible that it is the third day in a row with 20knots and a lot of action on the racecourse. We stepped it up, the starts weren't perfect but we still managed to catch some points on The Wave, Muscat. We got a couple of OCS' (false starts) and got into trouble but we managed to gain the positions back, so it looks like we are in striking distance for tomorrow."
The real battle of the leaderboard today was for third place between GAC Pindar and Red Bull Sailing Team. After an excellent days racing yesterday, British syndicate GAC Pindar, co-skippered by Seve Jarvin and Chris Draper, struggled with consistency and penalties today, posting results that yo-yoed from first to sixth place, which ultimately left them in fourth place at the close of play. "I was silly and I didn't really do the lads proud today, I got us into trouble quite a few times but it could have easily escalated and turned into an absolute shocker of a day – we kind of salvaged it with a few race wins," explained Draper on the dock.
Red Bull Sailing Team were the team of the day, with an impressive three race wins on the tricky, gusty course, moving them up to third overall on 183 points going in to the final days racing, with GAC Pindar seven points behind in forth. Skipper on board Red Bull Sailing Team, Hans Peter Steinacher commented: "The whole course is quite tricky, coming into the finish you head into a lull and the other teams would come flying in with the pressure doing everything they could to get ahead, whilst all you are trying to do is defend your position. But that is just how it is in short course racing, we love it!"
In the chasing pack several teams suffered gear failure today as the boats and crews were put under pressure, dealing with the gusty conditions on the racecourse. Gazprom Team Russia finish the day with 163 points in fifth place despite a broken winch, but worst hit were Oman Air, who after four good races had to call it a day when their starboard mainsheet winch pulled clean off the deck, leaving the boys to limp ashore for overnight repairs ready for tomorrows showdown.
Going into the final day of racing just 27 point separates the top three boat and with conditions like today forecast and up to eight races expected the Act is still very much all to play for. Racing kicks off tomorrow from 14.00 BST.
www.extremesailingseries.com
Standings after Day 3, 25 races:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 210 points
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Mads Emil Stephensen, Brad Farrand 195 points
3rd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jeremy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 183 points
4th GAC Pindar (GBR) Chris Draper, Seve Jarvin, Tyson Lamond, James Wierzbowski, Kazuhiko Sofuku 176 points
5th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov 163 points
6th Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Bernardo Freitas, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi 137 points
7th Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes (TUR) Mitch Booth, Can Bayulken, Selim Kakýþ, Diogo Cayolla, Pedro Andrade 137 points
8th Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Andrea Tesei, Tom Buggy, Stefano Ciampalini 113 points
Update from Oman Sail
The Omani sailing teams revelled in the glorious breezy conditions on Cardiff Bay on day three of the Extreme Sailing Series. Having started the day with a first race win and then a second place, Stevie Morrison and team on Oman Air were put out of contention when a winch pulled out of the boat, putting an end to their stunning performance. Elsewhere in the Oman Sail squad, teammates on The Wave, Muscat kept the momentum of the first two days going with a series of impressive results that included a first and a second. They now lead Act 4 by 15pts from SAP Extreme Sailing Team going into tomorrow's final races.
Stevie Morrison and his Oman Air team crewed by Ali Al Balushi, Ed Powys, Nic Asher and Ted Hackney put yesterday's disappointing performance behind them and in the opening race were unstoppable and notably fast downwind.
In the fresh south-westerly breeze gusting 23 knots at times, they led the race more or less from start to finish and then went on to add a second place to an impressive scoreline in the fourth race of the day. Their luck came to an abrupt halt though halfway through race five when a winch failed putting them out of racing for the rest of the day.
Morrison commented: "These boats get a lot of use and are under high loads and these things sometimes happen. Although everything is constantly maintained unfortunately something went wrong today and it is not a quick fix... We will be ready tomorrow."
Chatting about their significantly improved performance today, Morrison added: "Yesterday we were last at the first mark in most of the races, so the aim today was to pull ourselves together. Thankfully it worked well and we led at the first mark in three of the four races we completed. That was a great result for the guys - it is good for morale. Sadly, having missed four races today, our podium position looks fairly unachievable now so tomorrow we'll be looking at a good day of practice ready for the next stop in Hamburg."
Teammates Leigh McMillan, Nasser Al Mashari, Pete Greenhalgh, Sarah Ayton, and Ed Smyth on The Wave, Muscat continued to dominate proceedings. Although they had a couple of less impressive starts today, they managed to bounce back.
After another physically demanding day on the water, Ayton – the only female in the competition – explained what process they have in place to improve their performance race-by-race: "We have a quick de-brief after each round and chat about the things we could improve on, and then execute in the next race."
Looking ahead at the team approach as they enter the final day, Ayton said it's all about taking one step at a time: "As we reach the halfway stage tomorrow we can then start being a bit more strategic, but the first few races will be about getting good starts, and focusing on the process rather than the outcome."
Commenting on sailing on home waters in the fantastic stage setting in Cardiff Bay, Ayton added: "It is a great atmosphere with so many supporters. All of our families are here and it is really great to see so many people turn out to watch all the excitement – this is what it is all about really, bringing sailing close in to the shore, inspiring people and drawing them to our sport."
Nasser Al Mashari who learned his professional skills as bowman through the Oman Sail Programme said he is delighted to be in such a prominent position as The Wave, Muscat enters the final day of racing: "The wind is very shifty here so I think we sailed well today. It is great that we have retained our overall lead and we are looking forward to doing even better tomorrow."
Update from GAC Pindar
The presence of British Olympian Chris Draper has made an immediate impact on the GAC Pindar crew this week, and his experience helped guide the team to two convincing race victories to the delight of the home crowd.
Conditions have suited the GAC Pindar crew in Cardiff Bay this week, and the team arguably deserved more on day 3 in Cardiff, but frustratingly, their eagerness to get off to a good start saw them penalised for crossing the start line early.
With one day remaining in Act 4, GAC Pindar lies in 4th place with 176 points, just seven points behind Team Red Bull in third place.
Co-skipper Draper comments: "We're pleased to still be in contention for a podium place here in Cardiff and I'm delighted with our two race victories today. If we pay slightly more attention to our starts we stand a real chance of making the podium tomorrow."
GAC Pindar Team Principal Andrew Pindar comments: "It's a shame we didn't quite kick on from the first two days of racing as we had hoped, but the guys worked hard and won two fine races. It would be fantastic to see this immensely talented crew make the podium at our home leg of the series, so we're very excited about the final day of racing tomorrow."