Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Saint Petersburg - Overall
by Extreme Sailing Series 24 Aug 2015 08:25 BST
20-23 August 2015
The Wave, Muscat claim fourth Act title of the season
The Wave, Muscat have been crowned victors at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Saint Petersburg presented by SAP, mastering the complex conditions of the River Neva in front of huge crowds, to win the Act with a race to spare. Their fourth Act win and third consecutive victory this season sees two-times Series winning skipper Leigh McMillan and his team extend their lead at the top of the 2015 leaderboard, with only two Acts left this year.
"Everything seemed to go our way from the moment we arrived and it felt good," explained McMillan. "It doesn't often happen like that and it has been a long time since everything clicked in the way it has in Russia so yes, I would say this was the best event so far this year for us. If we keep on sailing well and confidently, it would be fantastic to win a third title."
With the breeze switching from East to West the River Neva threw up a completely new set of conditions for the teams to master – something Team Turx quickly got to grips with as the top performing team of the day according to SAP Analytics.
Unfortunately for Red Bull Sailing Team the patchy eight-knot breeze and strong two-knot tide proved too big a challenge. The Austrian team led by Olympic sailing legend Roman Hagara started the day in second with a slim one-point lead over Lino Sonego Team Italia in third and the battle for second place was fierce.
The Italian's sailed clean and posted a string of podium results to leapfrog Red Bull Sailing Team to finish the day in second – Switzerland's Arnaud Psarofaghis and Skipper Enrico Zennaro together steering the Italian team to their first podium position in the 2015 Series and scooping up the Land Rover Above and Beyond Award for their efforts.
GAC Pindar turned on the afterburners over the last two days in Saint Petersburg and ever so nearly made it onto the podium under helm Adam Minoprio, but ultimately had to settle for fourth – a number of penalties for infringements of the race rules throughout the week proving costly to the British-flagged team.
Oman Air finish the Act in fifth place, with home team Gazprom Team Russia in sixth, who were greeted with cheers from over 23,000 spectators that lined the shore at the Peter and Paul Fortress over the four days.
Team Turx managed to pull it out of the bag on the final day, clocking up an impressive 64 points from the seven races sailed, more than any other team to pull themselves off the bottom of the leaderboard and finish the event in seventh. But bearing the brunt of The Wave, Muscat's tactical 'big picture' sailing, closest rivals to the Series title SAP Extreme Sailing Team suffered a heart breaking week, finishing the Act with their worst result this year one point behind in eighth.
After 30 races and as the curtains close in Saint Petersburg, the mood of the SAP Extreme Sailing Team is one of reflection with skippers Rasmus Køstner and Jes Gram-Hansen saying it's time to 'regroup' in order to hit the start line in Turkey with full speed.
With only two Acts left this season, The Wave, Muscat have a healthy advantage at the top of the Series leaderboard, with Red Bull Sailing Team eight points behind in second, and SAP Extreme Sailing Team a further point back in third. The result in Saint Petersburg was a clear statement of intent from The Wave, Muscat – Leigh McMillan is going for the treble. Next stop, Istanbul Turkey 1-4 October.
Act 6 Overall Results: (30 races)
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 234pts
2nd Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Enrico Zennaro, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bryan Mettraux, Nevio Sabadin, Tom Buggy 216pts
3rd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson, Kate Macgregor 207pts
4th GAC Pindar (GBR) Adam Minoprio, Seve Jarvin, Joel Turner, James Wierzbowski, Adam Piggot 202pts
5th Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi 198pts
6th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov 191pts
7th Team Turx (TUR) Mitch Booth, Tom Dawson, Diogo Cayolla, Can Bayülken, Henry Bomby 181pts
8th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Mads Emil Stephensen, Brad Farrand 180pts
Extreme Sailing Series™ 2015 Standings:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 57pts
2nd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 49pts
3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 48pts
4th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 38pts
5th Oman Air (OMA) 35pts
6th GAC Pindar (GBR) 31pts
7th Team Turx (TUR) 28pts
8th Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) 27pts
www.extremesailingseries.com
The Wave, Muscat wins in Russia to make it three in a row while Oman Air makes huge steps (from Oman Sail)
Leigh McMillan's The Wave, Muscat made it three in a row today when they added the St Petersburg crown to the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series set with an emphatic win achieved with a race still to go while Oman Air put another steep arc in their learning curve.
Pulling out all the stops in front of massive crowds on the River Neva, McMillan and his triumphant crew of Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth and Nasser Al Mashari started the day with a win and kept the pressure on right up to the end.
A sixth place in the penultimate race was enough to secure them the Russia title which was fortunate since they incurred a penalty for starting early in the final race. Their overall win was a resounding one, with second placed Lino Sonego Team Italia trailing by 18 points.
It was one of their finest wins this year, said a delighted McMillan who first won the Extreme Sailing Series in 2012 then retained the title the following year, and edges them one step closer to winning the title for the third time.
"Everything seemed to go our way from the moment we arrived and it felt good," said McMillan.
"It doesn't often happen like that and it has been a long time since everything clicked in the way it has in Russia so yes, I would say this was the best event so far this year for us.
"But there are still two events to go this year in Istanbul and Sydney so we are not getting carried away but this has been a game changer and if we keep on sailing well and confidently, it would be fantastic to win a third title."
Their success comes on the back of wins in Cardiff in June and Hamburg last month and reflects a lot of hard work and a growing confidence, said Al Mashari.
"The win in Cardiff was important for us and we have been a lot more confident and relaxed since then which has been reflected in our performances and results. But we are happy with this result. Very happy and proud to add another win for Oman."
Oman Air finished in fifth place after a day of mixed fortunes which included a win in the second race and a string of fourth places. It left them nine points off the podium but served as a valuable learning experience, said skipper Stevie Morrison.
"We are sailing well and had we pulled off something special in the last double points race, could have finished on the podium because it was very tight between third and sixth. But it wasn't to be this time even though we tried our best."
"Our teamwork is good and we loved this venue because it was such a challenge with the light winds and strong currents but experience pays in this sort of racing and we are still a relatively new team so we are already looking ahead to Istanbul and making plans."
GAC Pindar leave rivals trailing in their wake on dominant final day in St Petersburg (from GAC Pindar)
GAC Pindar showed what they are truly capable of on a podium filled final day of racing in the Extreme Sailing Series in St Petersburg. GAC Pindar was the form team throughout, emerging with the most points on day four.
Adam Minoprio and his team completely dominated the field with five podium finishes, including three first place finishes in a row, propelling them up the leader board into fourth place, missing out on a podium finish by just five points.
GAC started the day as they meant to go on, with a third place finish in a tightly contested first race. A momentary blip in form then saw them finish last in the second race of the day. The last place finish clearly acted as a wake up call for Minoprio and his crew, who then went on a remarkable run of race results, finishing second in race 26 and then claiming top spot in the three following races.
A fifth place finish in the final race of the day didn't detract from what was an incredible performance from GAC Pindar. It was their most successful day of racing yet in the Extreme Sailing Series and they really look to have found a winning combination with Adam Minoprio at the helm and Seve Jarvin on tactics.
Commenting on the days racing, Adam Minoprio said: "Today was a great day for us. We ended yesterday's racing really well and were determined to carry that form over into today. Things couldn't have gone much better for us today – to claim three race wins in a row is almost unheard of and really proves to us that if we are on form we can compete with anyone in this competition."
GAC Pindar Team Principal Andrew Pindar commented on the weekend's action: "What a day today was for GAC Pindar. I couldn't be happier for the boys in what was our most successful ever day of racing at the Extreme Sailing Series. The way the team dominated the field today fills us with confidence for the rest of the series, where we'll go into Istanbul looking to claim our first top three finish of the season. We're not far away and just need to improve on our consistency levels. If we can do that then we'll be competing at the top of the leader board week in week out."
GAC Pindar will be back in action at leg seven of the Extreme Sailing Series in Istanbul (1-4 October).
Swiss helm steers Italians to best performance this Series, earning Lino Sonego the
Land Rover Above and Beyond Award (from Land Rover Sailing)
Swiss sailing star Arnaud Psarofaghis's performance as helm of Lino Sonego Team Italia has not only helped steer the Italian team to their first podium position in the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series™, but has also won them the coveted Land Rover Above and Beyond Award. Land Rover Brand Ambassador Hannah White commented, "Lino Sonego truly deserve this Award for their outstanding and transformative performance despite the unpredictable and challenging conditions experienced here in Saint Petersburg."
Under the guidance of Skipper Enrico Zennaro, Psarofaghis, the 2014 Swiss Sailor of the Year, helmed the crew to five wins and 14 podium positions over four days of racing.
The Land Rover Above and Beyond Award is presented to the team or individual who has demonstrated outstanding determination, skill, teamwork and composure. Lino Sonego Team Italia's breakthrough marks a dramatic change of fortune for the Italian team, who have languished at the bottom of the leaderboard so far this season, never reaching higher than seventh position as they struggled to master the Stadium Racecourses that are unique to the Extreme Sailing Series™ circuit.
With double Olympic champion Roman Hagara back from injury, Land Rover sponsored Red Bull Sailing Team delivered another podium position, keeping them in contention for the overall Series trophy, which will be presented in Sydney in December.