Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 7, Nice, France - Day 2
by Extreme Sailing Series 4 Oct 2014 00:42 BST
3-5 October 2014
Swiss dominate, blowing the podium wide open
Swiss skipper Jérôme Clerc managed to fight off the challenges of the encroaching pack to keep Realteam at the top of the leaderboard on the second day of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Nice as the pressure builds with just two days of racing left. The interest from the fans on the beach was huge – and so is the expectation on the teams, with all of the dockside talk already focused on the implications of this Act to the 2014 Series standings. Only 26 points separate first from eleventh place at the close of play – little more than the final double points race – in what is shaping up to be one of the closest, and most crucial, Acts of the season.
Behind Realteam a whole host of teams are beginning to really challenge. Riding on their wave of success from the 49er world championships, and their nomination for ISAF World Sailors of the year, Pete Burling and regular sailing partner Blair Tuke and the experienced hands on Emirates Team New Zealand, clearly had the winning strategy worked out. The Kiwis started the day in sixth, and a string of consistent results has elevated them to second. Talking about their crew rotation this season, Burling commented: "Every event you go into, you go in with the aim of wining it. The good thing is that I've only sailed about eight days with Jero (Lomas) and four with Glenn (Ashby) and obviously loads with Blair, but the combination is just getting stronger and stronger." Going on to talk about the day's racing: "I didn't think we actually had such a great day so thought we would be a bit further back on the scoreboard than second, but we're just a couple of points off the lead which is what we're looking at so we're really happy to be in touch and to still be improving how we're sailing."
Gazprom Team Russia continued to impress, staying in touch with the leading pack in third place, with the current Series leaders now just one point behind them. After struggling to get out of the blocks yesterday, the Swiss team was on the march today, clocking up more points than any other, taking 42 from a possible 70. Talking about the mood and communication on board that helped the team to make it their day, helm Morgan Larson commented: "Anna (Tunnicliffe) said to us during racing today: you know what? We don't need to win races, we just need to win points and if we get thirds all day long I'll be super happy. So those are words from a champion that has the confidence, and she's definitely that. It was good for all of us to hear it, because we were looking for some magic to win the races."
The battle behind is raging with J.P. Morgan BAR and GAC Pindar tied on 75 points, and the defending Series champions The Wave, Muscat a point behind – an uncomfortable position for Leigh McMillan who is gunning for his third consecutive Series win this year. But as McMillan pointed out, there is a long way to go and plenty more points for the taking. "We have got plenty of game left in us for the next few days – we did a lot right today, although it may not look like it on the leaderboard. We did a lot of things well, but unfortunately the mistakes we made were big ones and cost us a lot of points. We're working well as a team, the consistency onboard is really good – we'll keep pushing."
Seven windward-leeward races were sailed in a typical Mediterranean light sea breeze and beautiful sunshine delivering a stunning afternoon of racing. The home boat Groupama sailing team struggled to replicate yesterday's wining form, only adding one race win to their tally along with a string of results in the bottom three, which leaves the home boat in ninth place. Skipper Franck Cammas, however, was confident they could turn it around: "We won a race today and that is a positive thing and it shows what we are capable of. Now we just need to be more consistent. It's all about the details and lost metres here and there, and that's what makes all the difference."
SAP Extreme Sailing Team found the form that was missing yesterday, to secure two race wins. The team clocked up a credible 40 points, but struggled – like many – for consistency in the tricky conditions, and finish the day tied on points at the tail end of the leaderboard with Red Bull Sailing Team.
Tomorrow is the penultimate day in Nice, and the pressure on the teams is palpable, with everyone improving race by race, and the pressure mounting. The close fought racing is sure to keep the fans on the edge of their seats, right up until Sunday's double pointer – watch it live from 1530 local time, (GMT +2) with Land Rover Global Brand Ambassador Hannah White and David Carr on the YachtsandYachting.com homepage and at www.extremesailingseries.com.
Standings after Day 2: (15 races)
1st Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wasem 92pts
2nd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling, Glenn Ashby, Blair Tuke, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 84pts
3rd Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 82pts
4th Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 81pts
5th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Campbell-James, Bleddyn Mon, Matt Cornwell 75pts
6th GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Seve Jarvin, Hugh Styles, Tyson Lamond, James Wierzbowski 75pts
7th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 74pts
8th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Ted Hackney, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 73pts
9th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Tanguy Cariou, Valentin Bellet, Arnaud Jarlegan, Devan Le Bihan 71pts
10th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Christian Kamp, Brad Farrand 66pts
11th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Thomas Czajka, Stewart Dodson 66pts
A Consistently Inconsistent Day at Act 7, Nice (from J.P. Morgan BAR)
Day two of the Extreme Sailing Series, Act 7, was a day of consistently inconsistent racing, which left J.P. Morgan BAR delivering a mixed bag of results. Despite another day of light conditions, the British team did enough to claim a win in race six, their second of the penultimate event.
So far the final European Act of the global series has offered a different show compared to the previous six. A series of upwind starts in under five knots has contrasted to the reaching starts in 15 knots that took place in Istanbul and it has forced the sailors to change their approach and mindset for the racing.
Across the 11 strong fleet all the teams are finding it difficult to string a set of solid results together, and after today's seven races – making it 15 in total – the team remain in fifth place overall, tied on 75 points with the Australian entry, GAC Pindar. Team tactician, Paul Campbell-James, gave his thoughts at the half-way point.
"It didn't really feel like a particularly good day and we haven't moved up on the leader board – but, we are feeling positive and are still in the fight for the podium.
"We made a conscious decision after a couple of races that we were just going to battle hard to win the pin, and sail fast for the whole race and sometimes when you take it back to basics that's when you do well, and deliver your best.
"Generally everyone is really up and down, and as a team we had a few good races, a few bad races, but I think we all feel that we can do better than we did today. There're two days left and if we have a couple of good solid days we can be up there and be in with a chance for the lead."
Team trimmer, Nick Hutton continued, "I've raced in Nice on the circuit before, and we had the same conditions – it's always sunny, always warm and it is generally really nice sailing although it is so light.
"The light conditions are more of a challenge than the breezy ones, it's a lot more technical, more tweaky and you really have to concentrate and focus because the differences between a good and bad decision mean so much more."
"Tomorrow the forecast is looking the same but hopefully the breeze will pick up in the afternoon, we will just keep doing our best and enjoying the racing."
Oman Air and The Wave, Muscat firmly in contention after another challenging day on the racetrack (from Oman Sail)
Light airs in Nice conspired to create another day of up and down performances across the Extreme Sailing Series fleet but Oman Sail's crews on The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air were able to build enough consistency to stay in contention with two day's racing remaining.
With Friday's seven races producing six different winners, a light and shifty breeze, while stronger than on day one, continued to make life extremely tricky for the teams and Leigh McMillan had to wait until the third race of the day, the 11th of the event, to post a first victory for The Wave, Muscat with a second coming three races later.
Oman Air also claimed a couple of podium places to finish the day in eighth place but just 19 points separate the top eight teams, reflecting a tight and compact contest and turning Act 7 into the closest event of the series so far.
The action took place on the Baie des Anges just off the crowded beach in front of the Extreme Race Village on the Promenade des Anglais, providing beach-goers with some exciting viewing!
Racing was tight, the starts were hard fought and any mistakes proved costly, said McMillan, racing with his regular crew of Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler and Nasser Al Mashari.
"It was an up and down day and although we did a lot of things well, the mistakes we made were big ones and cost us a lot of points.
"We kept on battling, it's always a bit trickier in light airs, and there are holes all over the race course. It's difficult, but it's difficult for everyone.
"We have got plenty of game left in us for the next few days. We will be focussed on continuing to improve and come back strong," he said.
Nasser Al Mashari, bowman on The Wave, Muscat said the mixed results across the fleet showed how big a part luck played in the outcomes.
"It was a very hard day. We had good boat handling, good starts but we were unlucky on the course. The second day was better than the first, but hopefully we will do better tomorrow," he said.
The intensity on board Oman Air was just as apparent but Kyle Langford said they were happy to still be in the hunt for honours with around another 15 races remaining on Saturday and Sunday.
"It was a tough day, but we felt like we did alright, we are certainly still in the hunt," he said.
"It's hard to keep track of the results out there with so many races but we improved throughout the day, and our last few races were quite good.
"The biggest difference today was that we got better and better as the day progressed so got some decent results towards the end.
"It's supposed to be light for the next few days - we'll have the same strategy to be trying to do as well as we can in every race and hopefully we'll be in the mix for the last day.
"We learn something new every race we do and just have to make sure we don't make the same mistakes twice!"