Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 Cardiff - Day 1
by Extreme Sailing Series 18 Jun 2015 23:40 BST
18-21 June 2015
Ten exhausting and fast-paced, short, sharp, sprint races were the order of the day on the first of four days of racing at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4, Cardiff presented by Land Rover. The eight international elite level Extreme 40 teams were put to the test on a typically tricky Cardiff racecourse, contending with 40-degree shifts and gusts from 10 to 23 knots.
Winning the day with an 11-point lead at the close of play, The Wave, Muscat didn't exactly have it all their own way. A collision in the third race at the windward mark with SAP Extreme Sailing Team resulted in serious damage to their tiller bar. Despite the terrific crunch of cracking carbon, fortunately none of the crew were hurt, but with the damage irreparable on the water, the team limped back to the pit lane for repairs. Five races later, The Wave, Muscat took it in their stride and came back fighting, with two wins and a third in the final three races of the day – the defending Cardiff champions top of the overnight leaderboard with redress on 90 points.
Back on dry land after a rollercoaster day, British Olympian Leigh McMillan explained: "We had a manic repair trying to get our broken tiller fixed, it was quite technical and difficult trying to get the rudders back on in a fashion where they are actually going to steer the boat." Once back out on the water the pressure was on for pre-season favourites to perform. "We really needed to nail it because the average points were going to make a massive difference to the overall scores and if we had a few bad races it really could have ruined our day. It was quite tricky to get into the rhythm, but we managed to come out on top... just."
Eleven points behind The Wave, Muscat in second place, Oman Air had an outstanding day, consistently hitting the podium in eight out of the ten races – the predominantly British crew lead by Olympian Stevie Morrison setting a course for their first podium finish of the season. "It was such a long day, but we kept consistent apart from the last couple of races which were quite frustrating; we made some sloppy mistakes, probably from tiredness, but we are happy enough," explained Morrison. "The Wave, Muscat have taken the lead with their average points, but it doesn't really matter to us this early on; we just put that down to age and experience."
Despite their chilled out approach the Oman Air boys will have to work hard to stay ahead of the game, with current overall Series leaders SAP Extreme Sailing Team just two points adrift on 77 and rounding off the overnight leaderboard. The fastest boat on the water and sailing the shortest course according to SAP Analytics, the Danish team had a shaky start to the day, but five races in the team finally clicked in to gear, finishing the day with five podium results. Delve into the stats from the day with the SAP analytics [PDF].
The final word of the day comes from British Olympian Chris Draper, who returns to the fleet as co-skipper onboard GAC Pindar after a three year absence: "It was glamour sailing and really good fun; it was perfect, it couldn't really have been any better. You could push the boats as hard as you can, and there were a few moments where we had to back off which is always exciting. The boats are still awesome to sail, but it's seriously hard work."
Racing continues tomorrow from 14.00 BST with live video and race commentary from 15.30 BST at www.extremesailingseries.com/live
Standings after Day 1, 10 races:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 90 points
2nd Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi 79 points
3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Mads Emil Stephensen, Brad Farrand 77 points
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jeremy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 74 points
5th GAC Pindar (GBR) Chris Draper, Seve Jarvin, Tyson Lamond, James Wierzbowski, Kazuhiko Sofuku 73 points
6th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov 66 points
7th Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes (TUR) Mitch Booth, Can Bayulken, Selim Kakýþ, Diogo Cayolla, Pedro Andrade 46 points
8th Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Andrea Tesei, Tom Buggy, Stefano Ciampalini 45 points
Update from Oman Sail
Stevie Morrison's Oman Air had a stunning opening day in Cardiff nipping at the heels of stable mate The Wave, Muscat right from the start and showing consistent performance throughout the day with one outright win and four seconds. Leigh McMillan's The Wave, Muscat was taken out of contention for five races after some boat on boat action during race 3 with SAP Extreme Sailing Team forced them ashore for repairs. The tried and tested two-time Extreme champions kept their heads, fixed their steering system and got back on the water to win two more races, putting them first overall after 10 rounds with Oman Air in second.
Commenting on the rear-ender by SAP Extreme Sailing Team, McMillan said: "We were in second or third place at the time, rounding the mark and SAP came in from behind with a bit more speed. The tiller arm was ripped off so we had to replace the stock and tiller bar system and it all took a bit of time.
"It was a great job by everyone and knowing we were getting average points it was important we put in a good performance in the last few races of the day."
Chatting about their ability to bounce back McMillan concluded: "It is always difficult to get into the groove again after something like that but the experience we've had over the years with similar situations has given us the ability to make the best of it when things like that happen. The key is to remain focused and just get on with it."
With a total of three wins and average points awarded for redress The Wave, Muscat now lead Act 4 by 11 points over team mates on Oman Air skippered by Stevie Morrison.
The crowds who gathered to watch the high speed Extreme 40 action in the grandstand setting of Cardiff couldn't have wished for anything more spectacular today – sunshine and a consistent 18-20 knots and some of the best racing of the season was on offer.
Oman Air enjoyed the fresher conditions and sailed impressively.
"I think the simple factor is that there was more wind today and we were able to execute a plan and it worked well. I think we learned lessons from the last Act in China, and all our hard work seemed to pay off. A couple of areas we have worked on are communication and starting, so we are hoping to continue with the improvements tomorrow."
Ali Al Balushi – bowman – was unfazed by the intensity of today's 10 races. In winds that never dropped below 15kts, it was action packed particularly at the pointy end.
"I enjoy light wind, I enjoy lots of wind and I am really enjoying the racing on the Extreme Sailing Series and the Oman Air team is getting stronger and stronger - we get on with it regardless of the weather. We had good starts today and they were tactically good races for us, so we are hoping for more of the same tomorrow."
The weather looks set to continue in a similar pattern, which bodes well for the event where crowds more spectators are expected to gather to watch the action unfold over the next three days.